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An ambitious experiment by the BBC that ultimately fails, Operavox attempts to condense six famous operas into animated half-hours. The limited time forces the filmmakers to present the stories in clunky English translations, while reducing the celebrated scores to musical mincemeat. The stop-motion animators come the closest to succeeding. Barry J.C. Purves captures the malevolent pleasures and crushing sorrows of the court of Mantua in his atmospheric rendition of Verdi's Rigoletto. Natalia Dabizha's softer, more traditional puppets give Rossini's The Barber of Seville the feeling of a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, but she manages to preserve a suitably comic tone. Valeri Oganov treats Mozart's sublime Magic Flute as if it were an episode from Yellow Submarine, while Graham Ralph tries to turn Wagner's Das Rheingold into Heavy Metal, with Freya in a Frazetta-esque bikini. Mario Cavalli paints over live-action footage for his singularly ugly--and barely animated--version of Bizet's Carmen, while Gary Hurst's retelling of Puccini's Turandot boasts chinoiserie backgrounds that are more interesting than the animation in front of them. The performances by the Welsh National Opera under various conductors are adequate at best, with the singers painfully overtaxed in what should be the most beautiful moments. Unrated; suitable for ages 13 and older for nudity, violence, drinking, and adult themes. --Charles Solomon
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