Operavox

Rating:
Summary: "Heavy Metal" goes to the Opera
Review: A mixture of animation styles: drawn, rotoscope, and stop-action puppets. Some adaptations are more successful than others: "Das Rheingold" looks like a Stan Lee/Saturday morning kids' cartoon, but the stop-action puppetry of "The Barber of Seville" works well for this comic opera. "Carmen" is rotoscoped, rather like the animated "Lord of the Ring". Taken for what it is ( 3-hour long operas reduced to 30 minute cartoons ), I recommend it to fans of animation, and opera goers with a taste for the unconventional.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointment
Review: I had eagerly anticipated this disc, but was greatly disappointed in the quality of the sound and the animation. Each of the segments was animated in a different style, and some of them worked OK but some did not work well at all. The Rigoletto, for example, was entertaining and imaginative, but the Magic Flute was disorganized and the story line was almost missing. The Carmen was probably the best of the bunch and the Turandot was probably overall the worst--bad, in fact.

The sound was disappointing because the balance was off-the orchestra sometimes overpowered the singers. The singers were generally quite good. The singers were sometimes hard to understand, and the disc would have been better with subtitles, even though all the singing was in English. I love good animation and opera but this just wasn't it.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointment
Review: I had eagerly anticipated this disc, but was greatly disappointed in the quality of the sound and the animation. Each of the segments was animated in a different style, and some of them worked OK but some did not work well at all. The Rigoletto, for example, was entertaining and imaginative, but the Magic Flute was disorganized and the story line was almost missing. The Carmen was probably the best of the bunch and the Turandot was probably overall the worst--bad, in fact.

The sound was disappointing because the balance was off-the orchestra sometimes overpowered the singers. The singers were generally quite good. The singers were sometimes hard to understand, and the disc would have been better with subtitles, even though all the singing was in English. I love good animation and opera but this just wasn't it.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome! A great intro to opera.
Review: I know that lots of people where disappointed with these 30 minute cartoon versions of 3 hour operas, but I guess I just loved 'em.

I'm 13 and for years I have been shoved into an image of opera as uptight garbage for people with a strange taste for boredom, but while searching thru the DVD section at my library, I found OperaVox and my mind just opened up to opera. I discovered operas to have exciting storylines, beautiful characters, and music that is much more than a bunch of Italian gobbledygook.

Okay, so they where in English and didn't fully express the grandeur of opera, but for young people and those who find opera to be a foreign mess not to be touched upon by the average person, it can inspire further exploration and appreciation of opera.

I have tickets to see Turandot (with real people, nice seats, supertitles...) and I hope to see more in the future. It's all thanks to OperaVox.

I recommend OperaVox to anyone who thinks opera is boring. They are about to be proven wrong.

I must warn you that you should not show Rigoletto to too young of people. Naked puppets can be a little scary.

Rating:
Summary: Operavox.
Review: Operavox is a series of six animated operas- Verdi's "Rigoletto", Bizet's "Carmen", Rossini's "The Barber of Seville", Wagner's "Rhinegold", Mozart's "The Magic Flute" and Puccini's "Turandot". Each of the operas has been adapted into half-hour animations- each one in a different style and translated into English, to make the story easier to follow.
Even as a teenager with a keen interest in music, I find that Operas are too long and too involved to take much interest in; however, Operavox was fantastic. It wasn't too long, it contained all the main points in the story, and it was interesting to the eye.
I would describe Operavox as "Opera for beginners". It's perfect for anybody studying Opera in music, anybody who cannot sit through hours of Music, or even just for the mildly curious. The only thing that comes a disappointment is that there were only six of them made.

Rating:
Summary: Operavox.
Review: Operavox is a series of six animated operas- Verdi's "Rigoletto", Bizet's "Carmen", Rossini's "The Barber of Seville", Wagner's "Rhinegold", Mozart's "The Magic Flute" and Puccini's "Turandot". Each of the operas has been adapted into half-hour animations- each one in a different style and translated into English, to make the story easier to follow.
Even as a teenager with a keen interest in music, I find that Operas are too long and too involved to take much interest in; however, Operavox was fantastic. It wasn't too long, it contained all the main points in the story, and it was interesting to the eye.
I would describe Operavox as "Opera for beginners". It's perfect for anybody studying Opera in music, anybody who cannot sit through hours of Music, or even just for the mildly curious. The only thing that comes a disappointment is that there were only six of them made.

Rating:
Summary: "Heavy Metal" goes to the Opera
Review: Operavox is a series of six opera performances with animated action. The operas are sung in English. Each opera is abbreviated to 1/2 hour long. Some of these operas "rock", but others are mediocre at best.

The highlights: The Magic Flute is awesome, with good singing and imaginative animation. Turandot is wonderful, with the great Jane Eaglen singing the title role, and very good animation. I was disappointed with "The Rhinegold" (Das Rheingold) because while the animation is top notch, the singing and English translation was very, very mediocre. Alberich, in particular was extremely disappointing (if they can get superstars like Eaglen to sing in Turandot, why can't they afford a good cast for Rhinegold?) However, Wagner fans should still see the video, for it's dynamic "Lord of the Rings" reading of Rhinegold. The Rigoletto performance was disturbing in terms of visuals, and I didn't watch this one all the way through. The other operas represented are "Carmen" and "The Barber of Serville".

Some of the animations are quite violent, and not suitable for children. In particular, The Rhinegold and Rigoletto (and maybe Carmen) are more adult oriented.

Rating:
Summary: A mixed bag
Review: Operavox is a series of six opera performances with animated action. The operas are sung in English. Each opera is abbreviated to 1/2 hour long. Some of these operas "rock", but others are mediocre at best.

The highlights: The Magic Flute is awesome, with good singing and imaginative animation. Turandot is wonderful, with the great Jane Eaglen singing the title role, and very good animation. I was disappointed with "The Rhinegold" (Das Rheingold) because while the animation is top notch, the singing and English translation was very, very mediocre. Alberich, in particular was extremely disappointing (if they can get superstars like Eaglen to sing in Turandot, why can't they afford a good cast for Rhinegold?) However, Wagner fans should still see the video, for it's dynamic "Lord of the Rings" reading of Rhinegold. The Rigoletto performance was disturbing in terms of visuals, and I didn't watch this one all the way through. The other operas represented are "Carmen" and "The Barber of Serville".

Some of the animations are quite violent, and not suitable for children. In particular, The Rhinegold and Rigoletto (and maybe Carmen) are more adult oriented.

Rating:
Summary: Opera for little ones.....not really...read on
Review: Simple put, I have seen most of these Operas in one iteration or another. I actually bought it for my daughters (3 and 5) after seeing an excerpt of "Barber of Seville" on a cable station. My wife and I love the ballet and Opera and want our children to do the same.

The stop action puppeteering on "BoS" is amazing and suitable for little ones, who might appreciate the arts. That being said, the rest of the Operas are questionable (for little eyes). Since the girls have seen "Carmen", and love it, it seemed digestible; with "The Magic Flute" a close third (very "Yellow Submarine-ish" and a little scary, like most good opera). The other 3 are confusing and dark and I will not show them until they are older (say 10 or so). Opera's need more exposure to younger viewers and this is a fair start. I wouldn't recommend for anyone who's looking to enrich little minds...they might have nightmares. If anyone knows of an Opera compilation for little ones, pass it on!

Rating:
Summary: Opera for little ones.....not really...read on
Review: Simple put, I have seen most of these Operas in one iteration or another. I actually bought it for my daughters (3 and 5) after seeing an excerpt of "Barber of Seville" on a cable station. My wife and I love the ballet and Opera and want our children to do the same.

The stop action puppeteering on "BoS" is amazing and suitable for little ones, who might appreciate the arts. That being said, the rest of the Operas are questionable (for little eyes). Since the girls have seen "Carmen", and love it, it seemed digestible; with "The Magic Flute" a close third (very "Yellow Submarine-ish" and a little scary, like most good opera). The other 3 are confusing and dark and I will not show them until they are older (say 10 or so). Opera's need more exposure to younger viewers and this is a fair start. I wouldn't recommend for anyone who's looking to enrich little minds...they might have nightmares. If anyone knows of an Opera compilation for little ones, pass it on!