Rating: 
Summary: Gross beginning, but still a winner
Review: If you'd rather not see a bullfighter kill a bleeding bull, don't buy this DVD. It's rather disgusting, and especially traumatizing to children who may not realize that bull fights require the animal to be stabbed, cut, beaten, tortured, and eventually killed with a sword through its temple. And that's just the beginning of the DVD!Also rather annoying is that the opera's Overture is played over the arena's cheering crowd instead of being presented pure with just film credits showing (as on many traditional treatments of musicals in film). Those points aside, I thought the movie was very well done. The picture and sound quality is excellent, especially on DVD digital! The singing is wonderful, and everyone looks great. I completely disagree with Leonard Maltin's review above. Having not seen the competing DVD version conducted by Zubin Mehta, I can't tell you which one is better in my opinion. But I can say that this DVD is widescreen, gorgeous locations, very good acting, excellent singing, and great sound overall. (If the lip syncing is a little off at times, it's forgivable.) There's a bit too much "crowd noise" for me in some scenes where I'd really rather hear just the music, but since this is a filmed version and not a purist reproduction, I shouldn't complain :)
Rating: 
Summary: Here is Carmencita
Review: First a caveat: my recommendation is to always, if possible, buy a opera on DVD. DVD's are hypermedia and videotapes are linear media; the ability of hypermedia to jump from point to point rather linear media's limited ability to go only forward or backward gives you the ability to quickly find arias or other favorite parts and replay them to your hearts content. That being said here is a DVD that is perfect for someone who wants to begin to explore the delights of opera, or who wants to give someone a great introduction to opera, or who just wants a marvelous performance of Carmen. Set in Andulusian Spain in a beautiful ancient town with the Chorus and Childrens Chorus of Radio France and the Orchestre National de France directed by Lorin Maazel, with Placido Domingo (he had sung this role about 150 times prior to this filming) as the corporal Don Jose, Faith Esham as Micaela the maiden who loves Don Jose, Ruggero Raimondi as Escamillo the toreador, Francois Le Roux as Morales, Lilian Watson as Frasquita, and Susan Daniels as Mercedes and last but certainly not least, Julia Migenes in a sizzling performance as Carmen. This DVD is an intoxicating combination of stunning scenry, a huge colorful talented cast, Bizet's timeless music, an excellent experiened orchestra and chorus, wonderful dancing by Compagnie Antonio Gades (El Amor Brujo), director Francesco Rosi's (Three Brothers) great sense of theater and staging. The digitally remastered video and sound quality are quite good and the audio would probably be even better if your television is set up with the latest in sound and speaker systems. A few scenes in this film are staged in settings different from the libretto and this performance uses the original dialog rather than the recitatives which were composed after Bizet's death and which are generally used in contemporary performances. Since it was filmed seventeen years ago there are few extras on the DVD. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Wonderful
Review: The performances are great and the music has seldom sounded better, especially in the sections where the chorus is featured. It's hard to imagine an opera heroine who is actually sexy in a roll, but Julia Migenes-Johnson pulls it off with ease. Lest you think this is merely a sexist remark, lt me point out that the greatest divas must also be great actresses, too... Callas being a memorable case in point. The visuals and cinematography make this a total veiwing pleasure. It may well be the greatest opera done as movie ever!
Rating: 
Summary: Good casting
Review: I got this DVD and another from Baltsa/Carreras/Metropolitan Opera at the same time and I enjoy both of them. I enjoy Domingo's Don Jose quite a lot however, I just don't like Migenes-Johnson's singing that much - her singing of Carmen may be the worst that I have ever heard. Anyway, she is definitely better at acting/shaking her body (or dancing) than singing, which is good for a movie. Plus, this movie delivers much better image and sound although I cannot get Dolby surround sound as what I got from the VHS tape. I am more pleased with this movie version since I don't want to listen to the noise from the audience while I was watching it, although the singing is not as good as the others on my CDs. I just bought one more copy of this DVD and I believe my friend will definitely like it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Package
Review: First a word on DVDs. Reviewing opera on DVD is not easy, with a CD there are several factors to consider, the quality of the singing, the orchestra, the conductor, and the quality of the recording. With DVD in addition you have to worry about the acting, the casting, costumes, the setting, lighting, choreography, synchronisation between video and sound and the quality of digital transfer With so many things to go wrong it easy to pick holes in any DVD offering, but that is not the point, opera on DVD is really a tremendous development. For years I struggled to read librettos, trying to follow the plot while listening to CDs or operas broadcast live from the Met, while at the same time keeping track of the words and my place in the English translation. It was not easy, I never really managed to gain a clear picture of the characters or the plot, missed out on many of the subtleties, and was never very clear as to exactly why the soprano was singing this particular aria at this particular time. With DVDs all has changed, it is like a live performance with surtitles, you can see the drama read the words on screen and link it all to the music, wonderful. In future I will buy two version of my favorite operas, one on DVD to learn the opera and the second on CD to enjoy the recording of pre video-era stars. One word on the sound quality, currently this is really limited by the DVD player, all DVDs contain a sound track that is uncompressed and of higher quality than CD, however as far as I can see at present (Dec 2000) apart from a few high end exotica there is not a DVD player in the world capable of reproducing the sound on DVD disks at even CD quality. Hopefully this will change soon, but rest assured that the sound quality of the disk you buy today will suffice for a very long time into the future, whatever happens on the technology front. One caveat is the possibility that multichannel surround sound will take off, which may mean some current disks will be limited, but personally I doubt it will ever happen. So to Rosi's Carmen, best described as an opera shot on location, the scenery is lovely the drama all the more realistic. A video of an opera house production is often disappointing in the scenery department, what may appear realistic from a seat in the circle, may look faintly ridiculous to the camera's analytical eye; this opera completely avoid the problem. On small criticism is that the company sometimes acts as if they were still constrained by a small stage, one example is where the soldier chorus all take one step forward as they start singing, very unnatural and a bit jarring mainly because the opera looks like a film and hence we expect high quality acting. Julia Migenes is Carmen, she trained for the role for months and for me is perfect in looks and voice. Placido Domingo's singing is terrific as usual even if his acting is bit stiff, on the other hand Spaniards are reserved and Spanish soldiers quite formal and so his approach is probably correct, if severely contrasted to Carmen's liberated lifestyle. Faith Esham's role as Micaela is beautifully sung if self-consciously acted, Ruggero Raimondi is totally convincing as Escamillo. The playing of Orchestre National de France under Lorin Maazel is excellent. Sound and video quality are first class, for me the whole package is exceptional. One note: The introduction contains a grim bullfight scene, even though I have seen several on Spanish TV on the DVD it was very clear, bloody and heartbreaking, I know it is integral to the plot but skip to the next scene.
Rating:
Summary: This is why I bought a DVD player
Review: Although I like Carmen, it is not one of my favorite operas. I have seen it performed many times and have always felt somewhat let down, probably because widespread use of the music in cartoons and advertisements tends to make it seem trite. However, this is absolutely my favorite DVD and it actually is the reason that I bought my DVD player (the VCR version is pitifully truncated, especially the knife fight). Few songs are overused more than the Toreador song but I was nonetheless bowled over my the smoky masculinity of Raimondo as Escamillo and his performance of the Toreador song is far and away my favorite. Escamillo serves as a counterpoint to the tragic Don Jose who is emasculated by his desire for Carmen. Domingo is, without doubt, one of the worlds best tenors. His singing, as always, is excellent and his acting brings out the tragedy of the don Jose character. Julia Migenes is perfect as the gypsy temptress. She is dark and sexy and dangerous. Yes, she has hair under her armpits and she rolls a cigar on her thigh but I do not expect a gypsy temptress to look like Catherine Deneuve. She also sings the part of Carmen beautifully. I also like the lesser scenes which are rarely mentioned, such as the knife fight and fugue where the smugglers and the gypsy women are gathered together in the tavern. I cannot imagine which scenes are regarded as cheesy by Maltin and other critics. They must be seeing something that I miss. I consider myself to be an opera lover and an art film aficionado and this Carmen ranks in my highest category.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad.
Review: I think the intention of making this movie was to introduce opera to those who do not really enjoy it. I like this one because it's not a real opera but a movie, although I tried not to pay too much attention to Julia Migenes-Johnson while I was watching it. I wouldn't try this one if I was about to die for an opera, I would go with Victoria de Los Angeles/Nicholas Gedda.
Rating:
Summary: Silly production, get another video
Review: My first complaint is that the music wasn't done right. My second complaint is that Julia Migenes is not only not good-looking enough to be Carmen, she cannot even sing the arias well enough. Domingo, on the other hand, is perfectly cast and has a wonderful voice. The movie also has some cheezy moments, they could have been more tasteful. As Maltin puts it, this production is "overbaked." Migenes has hair on her armpits and rolls cigars on her thighs... And the music is not well performed. Poor Bizet, I wonder what he would have thought. Although there is still much to enjoy in this video, serious opera buffs may be disappointed. However, I do hope that this movie production helps reach people who are not usually into opera.
Rating:
Summary: A great film adaptation of the popular opera
Review: As a youngster, I had come across the soundtrack to this film and became completely enthralled. Unfortunately, I had to wait almost another 15 years before being able to see the movie from which it came. So it was with great enthusiasm that I purchased the DVD of Bizet's Carmen. I was not disappointed. The music is as wonderful as I remembered it and the singers are in fine form indeed. The film itself is quite good, adding great vibrancy to what is already quite a stirring opera. By producing this opera as a film rather than a static stage production, the makers had created one of the best adaptations of opera to film that I have seen. The on-location scenery is quite effective and fits in very nicely with the setting of the opera. I also liked the subtitle options on the DVD which provides the option of reading French subtitles (this is a French opera, after all) in addition to the usual English/Spanish ones. All in all, a worthwhile DVD and a great introduction to opera for any neophytes.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good but be aware...
Review: This is perhaps the difinitive version of Carmen to see on a TV set. Domingo is fantastic and so is Migenes. You should be aware that in this "Movie" there are a number of places where music was acutally composed and entered into the Bizet Score. If you know the opera, those sections stick out like a sore thumb - if not, it will pass you by and you probably will not notice any difference. Great acting, singing, and orchestral playing. Enjoy!
|
