Rating: 
Summary: a decent version
Review: Although parts of the score and Boris' ghost were cut, this was a decent rendition of Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk. The movie featured wonderful singing (despite the obvious lip synching) and the actors were well suited for their respective parts.
Rating:
Summary: Good, if you don't mind cuts to the score
Review: Another reviewer here mentioned that the DVD costs less than the price of the audio CDs. That's true, but please be aware that the DVD version is significantly cut: the audio CDs run to 154 mins., whereas the DVD presentation is only 100 mins. So if you want to hear this recording in full - and I recommend that you do - you'll need to buy the CDs.The director "smoothes over" Shostakovich's 4 act structure in an attempt to create a single dramatic and cinematic arc. This is the source of many of the cuts, but others I don't understand. Surely the appearance of Boris' ghost in Katya's bedroom could have been effectively filmed, yet it's not in in the DVD. Enjoyable nonetheless, with reservations.
Rating:
Summary: Good, if you don't mind cuts to the score
Review: Another reviewer here mentioned that the DVD costs less than the price of the audio CDs. That's true, but please be aware that the DVD version is significantly cut: the audio CDs run to 154 mins., whereas the DVD presentation is only 100 mins. So if you want to hear this recording in full - and I recommend that you do - you'll need to buy the CDs. The director "smoothes over" Shostakovich's 4 act structure in an attempt to create a single dramatic and cinematic arc. This is the source of many of the cuts, but others I don't understand. Surely the appearance of Boris' ghost in Katya's bedroom could have been effectively filmed, yet it's not in in the DVD. Enjoyable nonetheless, with reservations.
Rating: 
Summary: very enjoyable
Review: I agree in principle with the previous reviewers, but I feel the films' faults have been exaggerated. It follows a set format of opera films, of the kind that are broadcast a lot on German and Austrian TV channels. This genre is harmless enough, and at worst it serves to illustrate the action (and provides a translation). I found this DVD very enjoyable. I have more issues with the libretto itself. What is the dramatic value of act IV (Siberia)? I feel it doesn't only illustrate how low the protagonists fell, but also drags this whole mediocre piece very low. It's almost as if a bourgeois (or even religious) morality rears its head in this Stalinist - era work, depicting rather crudely sin's punishment.
Rating:
Summary: Hot & Cold
Review: I found this video, of actors lip-synching to the Vishnevskaya/Rostropovich recording of the opera, to be very interesting in a number of ways, but also a bit disappointing. On the plus side, the actors are certainly not shy, with full frontal nudity of both men and women in the crucial sex scenes, which are energetic, to say the least. Katerina, the central character of the opera, is gorgeous, and emotes very well. On the minus side, the translations given in the subtitles are not always reliable, with some translations actually giving an opposite meaning to the sung text. There are large cuts, as the film runs only 100 minutes, but interest is maintained throughout. I thought the ending was anticlimactic in the extreme, and was somewhat disappointed. Overall, the film is a must for devoted fans of Dmitri Shostakovich, but I am still waiting for a definitive filmed version, which I believe we all deserve!
Rating:
Summary: Weigl is wonderful
Review: I have been an unabashed fan of Petr Weigl even since I obtained his productions of "Eugene Onegin", "The Turn of the Screw", "A Village Romeo and Juliet" in VHS format (all, alas, delisted). Cinematic interpretations of operas are, I believe, another artistic approach to these works. Even the live performance recordings come close to this freedom with elaborate sets and camera play. Admittedly Weigl tends to abridge and perhaps offends the purists, but he does end up with a very tight production. (After all, even in live productions, cuts are often made -- sometimes for no greater reason than to avoid paying overtime. Opera is theatre and Weigl brings it all to life. His actors all look the part, can really act, and do more than lip-synch -- they sing on the set, although their voices are not used. Most importantly, he has a great sense of setting, costumes, and camera angles. Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk is a very vivid, emotional, opera. I understand that Shostakovitch planned it to be the first of three about the plight of Russian women through the ages. Unfortunately, Stalin had a hissy fit and Shostakovitch wrote no more operas. This production does great justice to the work. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Rating:
Summary: Weigl is wonderful
Review: I have been an unabashed fan of Petr Weigl even since I obtained his productions of "Eugene Onegin", "The Turn of the Screw", "A Village Romeo and Juliet" in VHS format (all, alas, delisted). Cinematic interpretations of operas are, I believe, another artistic approach to these works. Even the live performance recordings come close to this freedom with elaborate sets and camera play. Admittedly Weigl tends to abridge and perhaps offends the purists, but he does end up with a very tight production. (After all, even in live productions, cuts are often made -- sometimes for no greater reason than to avoid paying overtime. Opera is theatre and Weigl brings it all to life. His actors all look the part, can really act, and do more than lip-synch -- they sing on the set, although their voices are not used. Most importantly, he has a great sense of setting, costumes, and camera angles. Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk is a very vivid, emotional, opera. I understand that Shostakovitch planned it to be the first of three about the plight of Russian women through the ages. Unfortunately, Stalin had a hissy fit and Shostakovitch wrote no more operas. This production does great justice to the work. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful and emotional
Review: I think this is a very successful interpretation of the book by an obviously obscured to western audiences Russian writer Leskov. Although the purists would abhor some cuts in the opera itself, I think the singing and acting convey very well the primordial desire. Katerina never regretted the killing of her husband, according to the book - she was totally consumed by her lust to Sergei. And she despised her life in her husband's family. I give this work credit for the freedom of the artistic representation - Shostakovich did not follow the book to the last letter, so the creator of this film did not do it to his complete score, too. The perception of this work depends on a personal taste, as everything else, but I liked that the torment of Russian soul was there, and the film was generally quite successful in showing Russian way of life. I also liked that it was graphic enough for the theme, and also the actors looked credible for their roles. After all, this is a movie, not a recording of a real opera performance, and in the movie/opera hybrid I believe it was very successful. If you compare the realism of this DVD to another one, Khovanschina, you'll see the difference. At least for me, as a Russian, this is evident. I would recommend this DVD. The singing is magnificent.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful and emotional
Review: I think this is a very successful interpretation of the book by an obviously obscured to western audiences Russian writer Leskov. Although the purists would abhor some cuts in the opera itself, I think the singing and acting convey very well the primordial desire. Katerina never regretted the killing of her husband, according to the book - she was totally consumed by her lust to Sergei. And she despised her life in her husband's family. I give this work credit for the freedom of the artistic representation - Shostakovich did not follow the book to the last letter, so the creator of this film did not do it to his complete score, too. The perception of this work depends on a personal taste, as everything else, but I liked that the torment of Russian soul was there, and the film was generally quite successful in showing Russian way of life. I also liked that it was graphic enough for the theme, and also the actors looked credible for their roles. After all, this is a movie, not a recording of a real opera performance, and in the movie/opera hybrid I believe it was very successful. If you compare the realism of this DVD to another one, Khovanschina, you'll see the difference. At least for me, as a Russian, this is evident. I would recommend this DVD. The singing is magnificent.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful opera! Unacceptable cuts!
Review: Shostakovitch's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk is a masterpiece. A previous movie had been made of it, less effective than this one. Petr Weigl film is nice to watch but has a major drawback: more than 50 minutes of the score are cut. Whichever may have been the rationale for such choice, it is hardly understandable. Due to some of the cuts, the sequence of the plot even becomes somewhat strange because you feel that something must surely be missing in the action. Leaving out scenes like the Boris' ghost scene is unforgivable - this scene clearly shows that Katerina is haunted by the spirit of the man she killed (establishing the connection with Shakespeare's Macbeth and Verdi's opera). So, to me, due maily to the cuts but also to some dubious director's choices, this movie rates very low. Unfortunate, but true, considering that it could easily have been otherwise. Respecting the whole score, for instance, would have done a much better job.
|
