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Rating: 
Summary: Don't wait!
Review: I feel I have little to add to the other reviewers' comments, but am so enthusiastic about this performance / recording that I am compelled to add my own endorsement. Finally, a performance of Ulisse that makes its spendid case for Monteverdi's brilliant, late opera without resorting to muscial gimmicks to make it more "appealing" to modern audiences (though one might argue about the dramatic rationale for a naked Human Frailty, this is not without precedent and if it sells a few a more DVD's that's all the better). I believe this performance owes much to Alan Curtis's recently published edition of the work (available from Novello), and I very much enjoyed following the score. The staging is simple and elegant. Characterizations are clear but never caricatures. Some of the "smaller" roles emerge brilliantly - especially the Eumete of Joseph Cornwell - but there really are no weak links. So don't wait....it probably won't get any better than this in either audio or video formats. I wouldn't discourage anyone from also buying the Jacobs audio recording (Harmonia Mundi) - and I for one will enjoy both and feel grateful that we now have two great recordings of this long-neglected work.
Rating:
Summary: Perfection!
Review: Opera on DVD as it should be, here in this flawless presentation. BUY IT!!!
Rating:
Summary: A gem
Review: This is opera as theatre, this is opera as it should always be. This elegant and very effective production from France is gorgeous to look at and marvelous to hear. All the singers were chosen for their looks: they all look young, slim and attractive, but they all are also stylish, musical, and imaginative. Marijana Mijanovic (better known for her Giulio Cesare recording under Minkowski) is a poignant Penelope, and there is obvious rapport with her husband who sings Ulisse. Monteverdi's marvelous opera is taken seriously, thank God, there is nothing to contradict him, as in so many contemporary productions.
Everybody involved in this unforgetable production deserves a standing ovation, but none more than William Christie who makes a work of art out of Ulisse.
This is truly one of the finest dvds in the market, it would be ridiculous to miss it.
Rating:
Summary: Magisterial
Review: Well, I wish I had time to write a full, considered review of this performance. But it is more important to get the word out that this is a first-rate performance and indispensable addition to early opera on DVD. If you check out my other reviews, you will see that I think very highly of the Jacobs recording from harmonia mundi france, on CD. This is no less magnificent a performance, plus it is a DVD, with superb sound, a compelling staging -- and, at one disk, about 40% the cost of a performance on CD!Musically, the ensembles in the prologue are not as refined as in the Jacobs performance, and the Tempo / Nettuno is a weak but not disabling link in the cast. Otherwise, this is a performance that cannot be faulted ... in fact, deeply moving. I saw the performance on stage at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and found myself just as absorbed, just as awe-struck as I was experiencing it live. Human Frailty is sung completely nude -- which is not a distraction but a deepening of the pathos in the allegorical introduction, which can otherwise be rather abstract, removed as it is from the immediate action of the opera. There are many many high points in the cast and in the opera. The Penelope is intense and regal, the Ulisse burly and heroic with a ringing tenor, the Minerva an assured singer and amazing actress, the Eumete charmingly characterized and beautifully sung, the buffoon Iro expertly integrated musically and dramatically into the more serious surroundings, and the Telemaco fervent and accomplished. Giove is interestingly portrayed -- the singer's fairly light tenor is a Zen-like presence. With many beautiful moments all the way up to the ecstatic recognition and finale, the most beautiful on purely musical terms is the Ulisse / Eumete duet as they address Telemaco. For bear-watchers, this DVD is a feast. Bravo, maestro Christie! This is my favorite musical DVD. It is far superior to the Harnoncourt competitor, which I would give maybe 3 stars, although Kasarova is no less formidable a Penelope.
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