Rating: 
Summary: A good performance...not the best
Review: I was very pleased with the clear focus, the perfect sound level (did not sound like a distant voice singing like many theater recordings do)and ease of use. The menu was adequate and I expected much less when ordering this DVD, therefore I was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable the show was. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys opera, since it gives a person a chance to enjoy the theatre even when we do not have a chance to get to the opera house.
Rating: 
Summary: Great entertainment!
Review: I was very pleased with the clear focus, the perfect sound level (did not sound like a distant voice singing like many theater recordings do)and ease of use. The menu was adequate and I expected much less when ordering this DVD, therefore I was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable the show was. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys opera, since it gives a person a chance to enjoy the theatre even when we do not have a chance to get to the opera house.
Rating:
Summary: After all, it is about Carmen
Review: Maria Ewing is at her usual. To me, the best Carmen, ever. This is of course from the point of view of an opera lover who believes that opera is theater, not just singing. From that point of view only, Leontina Vaduva is a compromise.She sings well, but not credible as a 17-year old (Micaela).
But... Ewing is Ewing and this is one of her best, perhaps the Glyndebourne performance (Bernard Haitink conducting) was a little better for the drama that Ewing can provide (the first appearance of Carmen on the square at Glyndebourne is unforgettable), but that performance may not be available on DVD. Recommendation: buy it.
Rating: 
Summary: Good performance excepted poor audio quality for DVD
Review: The performance were grate, Flamenco dance not as grand as expected, Opera sang in French not Italian. Audio quality may occured on my dics only, IE should try to add more sofeware available to DVD on their next release ie. AIDA.
Rating: 
Summary: What are they saying?
Review: The subtitles on this film are quite poorly done. There are large portions of singing or dialogue where there are no subtitles on the screen at all. Part of the fun of watching opera on DVD is to have an English translation of what is being sung or said right there in front of you. There is little excuse here as translations of Carmen are readily available from many sources. Hopefully, this is something that can be corrected in a future re-release as the performances were otherwise very good.
Rating:
Summary: Ewing is Carmen!
Review: This is the Carmen which I have in my imagination. In spite of the great performance by Migenes and Domingo on the other DVD, I have some reservations about a movie-style Carmen with its lip-synching and the explicit 'realism'. I still prefer a 'live' stage performance where the excitement is all there in the singing.Of the video recordings of stage performances I've seen, this is the most moving. Baltsa and Berganza might sing the role better, but Ewing's characterization is the best. Baltsa's Carmen (at the Met) sometimes seem to exhibit pre-adolescent playfulness and Berganza's is a sweetie-pie Carmen. None of them are dangerous, as Carmen should be. I do not agree with a viewer that Ewing's Carmen is Machiavellian. If that's the case, so is Callas' Carmen on EMI. Carmen is a self-assured woman who follows her instinct, and fearlessly. She goes all out to get what she wants. The seguidilla scene is so convincing compared to the others. Ewing's Carmen's character does not change in the course of the opera. She remains steadfastly what she is, from the day she picked up Don Jose to the day she got stabbed by him. We have here also a very convincing Don Jose in Luis Lima, even though Domingo is a better singer. Just watch the finale scene and compare him with Carerras opposite Baltsa. Neither of them can compare with Lima or Ewing. Just watch Lima's frustration and fury. Another wonderful point about this production is its faithfulness to the score in putting back those traditional cuts, even in the dialogues. It makes so much more sense. Vaduva is a pretty Michaela and well-liked by the audience. Quilico is rather cold and self-absorbed as Escamillo. He could have been more flirtatious at least if not passionate. In this respect Samuel Ramey is better, in the Baltsa Carmen. Overall a wonder production, with beautiful costumes and settings. Mehta conducted wonderfully, better than Levine in the Met production.
Rating:
Summary: Great DVD
Review: Whoever said no big stars, please take back your words! I am an opera fanatic, conductor, and composer and I have been studying the art seriously for years. If you haven't heard of Maria Ewing or Gino Quilico, please open your ears and your eyes! This is a star-studded cast with great truth to Bizet's critical score and also, to the gentlemen who reviewed this DVD above my review, Carmen is SUPPOSED to be in French. I hope you didn't think it was in Italian.
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