Rating: 
Summary: Babylon circa 1200 BC
Review: Samuel Ramey's international career began in earnest when he sang the role of Assur in Rossini's "Semiramide" at the 1980 Aix-en-Provence Festival. Two of his co-stars were no slouches, either: Marilyn Horne and Montserrat Caballé.Horne and Ramey both repeat their roles in this 1990 New York Metropolitan Opera version of Rossini's last great dramatic opera, with Horne singing the trousers role of the young hero, Arsace. This is the opera video I'm going to wear out first because the singers are so perfectly cast (and because I'm a Rossini nut). Luckily, I've got a second copy. I also have a video of the Aix-en-Provence "Semiramide," but the tenor was terrible and the costumes were atrocious--almost everyone was dressed up to look like chunks of ancient Assyrian architecture (perhaps because the soprano resembled a chunk of ancient Assyrian architecture, even without a costume). I'd give Caballé the edge over June Anderson vocally, but dramatically Anderson is 'the' personification of the flamboyant Met Semiramide. Ramey is superb both vocally and dramatically in the role of the villain Assur. His powerful, agile bass is displayed to perfection in the long and very difficult duets with Semiramide ("Se la vita ancor t'è cara") and Arsace ("Bella imago degli Dei"), and in his own aria, "Il di già cade" toward the end of the opera. His singing is always elegant, never over the top, even in the basso mad scene (with chorus) when he sees the ghost of the king he and Semiramide had murdered. The role of Arsace was practically invented by Marilyn Horne. She has trouble moving around the stage in this Met production and she is quite a bit shorter than the other principals, but that's not what you'll notice when she sings. Lovely. The notes just pour out in rich, musical passages with all of the dark coloring that makes her perfect for this role. I've got a CD of Jennifer Larmore singing Arsace (to Cheryl Studer's Semiramide) and as much as I love her voice, I've got to give my vote to Horne. Stanford Olsen does a fine job as the thwarted Indian prince, Idreno (he has a much more brilliant and disciplined tenor than the Idreno in Aix-en-Provence). The Met chorus performs with distinction in the grand manner but rather static staging of this John Copley production.
Rating:
Summary: Babylon circa 1200 BC
Review: Samuel Ramey's international career began in earnest when he sang the role of Assur in Rossini's "Semiramide" at the 1980 Aix-en-Provence Festival. Two of his co-stars were no slouches, either: Marilyn Horne and Montserrat Caballé. Horne and Ramey both repeat their roles in this 1990 New York Metropolitan Opera version of Rossini's last great dramatic opera, with Horne singing the trousers role of the young hero, Arsace. This is the opera video I'm going to wear out first because the singers are so perfectly cast (and because I'm a Rossini nut). Luckily, I've got a second copy. I also have a video of the Aix-en-Provence "Semiramide," but the tenor was terrible and the costumes were atrocious--almost everyone was dressed up to look like chunks of ancient Assyrian architecture (perhaps because the soprano resembled a chunk of ancient Assyrian architecture, even without a costume). I'd give Caballé the edge over June Anderson vocally, but dramatically Anderson is 'the' personification of the flamboyant Met Semiramide. Ramey is superb both vocally and dramatically in the role of the villain Assur. His powerful, agile bass is displayed to perfection in the long and very difficult duets with Semiramide ("Se la vita ancor t'è cara") and Arsace ("Bella imago degli Dei"), and in his own aria, "Il di già cade" toward the end of the opera. His singing is always elegant, never over the top, even in the basso mad scene (with chorus) when he sees the ghost of the king he and Semiramide had murdered. The role of Arsace was practically invented by Marilyn Horne. She has trouble moving around the stage in this Met production and she is quite a bit shorter than the other principals, but that's not what you'll notice when she sings. Lovely. The notes just pour out in rich, musical passages with all of the dark coloring that makes her perfect for this role. I've got a CD of Jennifer Larmore singing Arsace (to Cheryl Studer's Semiramide) and as much as I love her voice, I've got to give my vote to Horne. Stanford Olsen does a fine job as the thwarted Indian prince, Idreno (he has a much more brilliant and disciplined tenor than the Idreno in Aix-en-Provence). The Met chorus performs with distinction in the grand manner but rather static staging of this John Copley production.
Rating: 
Summary: Musically and visually gorgeous, but a dramatic flop
Review: The sets and backdrops are up to Met standards, i.e., gorgeous and sumptuous. I have no reason to complain about the music and singing. Horne's deep voice is stunning in its power--more on the other aspects later. I haven't heard Anderson before, but her singing here gives me no reason to doubt promo claims that she IS Semiramide.
Alas, as drama this performance left me unmoved. Two huge problems: there is no way costumes and headdresses can tart up Horne to be a young pubescent warrior about to take over the throne of the greatest world power of its day. I realize this is partly Rossini's fault requiring a female voice, but Horne is too short, too fat, too old--in a word, too matronly.
Second big problem: Anderson can't act. In the ghost scene at the end of Act one, she is supposed to be acting horrified. Instead, her gestures and expressions are standard operatic, "oh poor pitiful me." The opera is full of opportunities for subtle psychological games by Semiramide: cunning, betrayal, lust, greed, revived maternal love. She only gives us pointing, heart grasping, throat clutching gestures. Yuk. I've watched enough opera on video to know that there are plenty of great singers who are also great actors. The only exception is at the beginning of Act 2, with Ramey as Asshur. It is as if Ramey's maleness brings out her female wiles--for about five minutes.
Apparently, this opera is meant to be heard rather than seen.
Singing: 5
Visuals: 4
Acting: 2
Overall: 3
Rating: 
Summary: Lovely to view, but a very sloppy performance
Review: The sets and costumes of this production are absolutely stunning. If you're a fan of this opera, as I became after hearing Ion Marin's gorgeous studio recording, it's very nice to experience someone's visual realization of it, but the pleasure really ends there. It's hard to believe that there was ever a complete rehearsal of this production with all the performers present. The chorus is absolutely never on the beat, and always lag behind. The singers, who of course are very respectable performers with great voices, seem to be at constant odds with the conductor and with each other over the tempo, and there are some unpleasantly jarring moments of abrupt tempo shifts that simply cannot be justified. The conducting is very tenuous and uninspired, so one frequently wonders if anyone is in control. I am shocked that this level of performance is tolerated at a major opera house.
Rating:
Summary: The greatest Bel Canto opera on DVD
Review: The VHS version had no subtitle and the quality of video/sound wasn't quite good. So I switched to this DVD version. It's just great. The sound is remastered to Dolby Digital 5.1 and the video is so clear, much brighter and it makes the decor and the costumes look even more authentic. Of course it came with English subtitle which you can put on/off as you wish.
June Anderson is superb. Her Bel Raggio is impeccable and she receives a huge applause. Horne is still great, just like 30 years ago. Her voice and technics didn't fade at all. Amazing. This opera has so many beautiful arias and duets. Anderson/Horne's duets are particularly memorable.
Great opera! Great performance!
Rating:
Summary: Semiramide is the best Rossini opera!!
Review: This DVD of Semiramide is fantastic!! The singing and the music were very beautiful. June Anderson is a great Semiramide, and Marilyn Horne with a beautiful mezzo-voice was amazing as Arsace.
The rest of the cast was incredible!! You should get this DVD because the music of Rossini was beautiful. It's the best!!
Rating:
Summary: Semiramide is the best Rossini opera!!
Review: This DVD of Semiramide is fantastic!! The singing and the music were very beautiful. June Anderson is a great Semiramide, and Marilyn Horne with a beautiful mezzo-voice was amazing as Arsace.
The rest of the cast was incredible!! You should get this DVD because the music of Rossini was beautiful. It's the best!!
Rating:
Summary: Bravi!
Review: This recording of Semiramide captures an all-star cast of Rossini specialists all in good voice and clearly "on" for the evening's performance. There are some glorious examples of duet singing for the soprano and mezzo executed with brilliance and style by June Anderson and Marilyn Horne. I own a CD recording of this opera with Marilyn Horne made back in the 1960s. The quality of Marilyn Horne's singing in the DVD makes it hard to believe that some 30 years separates her audio recording and this taped performance at the Met! Having seen this production of Semiramide at the Met (unfortunately with a different cast) the DVD captures the lavish scenery and costumes of the opera production well. The tracking on the DVD is well done and permits one to skip through the entire performance and get all major segments of music (arias, ensembles, etc.) with relative ease. The special features could stand to be beefed up some more but the ability to turn the multi-language subtitles on and off is an added bonus Iuseful. The other (minor) draw back I noticed was that in certain scenes, the reflection of the opera house lights off of certain character's costumes (i.e., Semiramide's crown) in several scenes created a split-second glare that was distracting at times. Despite this, I still give this five stars and would more than tolerate that minor distraction for the quality of picture and clarity of the DVD provided. Overall, a good addition to anyone's home viewing opera collection. With the aid of surround sound speakers as part of a home theater system, this DVD is the next best thing to actually seeing the performance live.
Rating:
Summary: Bravi!
Review: This recording of Semiramide captures an all-star cast of Rossini specialists all in good voice and clearly "on" for the evening's performance. There are some glorious examples of duet singing for the soprano and mezzo executed with brilliance and style by June Anderson and Marilyn Horne. I own a CD recording of this opera with Marilyn Horne made back in the 1960s. The quality of Marilyn Horne's singing in the DVD makes it hard to believe that some 30 years separates her audio recording and this taped performance at the Met! Having seen this production of Semiramide at the Met (unfortunately with a different cast) the DVD captures the lavish scenery and costumes of the opera production well. The tracking on the DVD is well done and permits one to skip through the entire performance and get all major segments of music (arias, ensembles, etc.) with relative ease. The special features could stand to be beefed up some more but the ability to turn the multi-language subtitles on and off is an added bonus Iuseful. The other (minor) draw back I noticed was that in certain scenes, the reflection of the opera house lights off of certain character's costumes (i.e., Semiramide's crown) in several scenes created a split-second glare that was distracting at times. Despite this, I still give this five stars and would more than tolerate that minor distraction for the quality of picture and clarity of the DVD provided. Overall, a good addition to anyone's home viewing opera collection. With the aid of surround sound speakers as part of a home theater system, this DVD is the next best thing to actually seeing the performance live.
Rating:
Summary: Drama con final feliz
Review: Una ópera que tarda tres horas y media sin que usted se mueva del asiento. La gocé plenamente luego de verla por segunda vez. Confieso que al verla por primera vez para mí fue el argumento lo más interesante, pero después de conocer la trama uno quiere escuchar una y otra vez cada melodía. El dúo entre Horne y Anderson es fantástico. Ramey demuestra que su voz y su capacidad histriónica llegan juntos al tope. La escenografía y los coros son impresionantes. La orquesta que dirige Conlon es impecable. Pero me impresionó June Anderson a quien considero una seria competidora de Callas. Recomiendo que usted tenga en su colección esta joya musical.
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