Rating: 
Summary: Teens to Elders will get a laugh
Review: Having loved this video for years, I sat down my extended family over Thanksgiving and showed to the lot of them (17 total). Two teenagers, 4 in the 20's, up to our 84 year-old-neighbor lady. Everyone loved it! Even the teenagers. I'm buying a copy to give the teens for Hannukah! It's got broad humor, subtle humor, general music humor, specific opera humor, slapstick, sly wit. I'm so glad I shared it!
Rating: 
Summary: Coming out on DVD soon
Review: I've been waiting a long time for this amazing spoof to come out on DVD, and it has finally been announced for early 2004.
Amazon is taking pre-orders. I'n not sure how old Peter Schickele is, but he is still going strong. I saw him give a performance with the Utah Symphony in Salt Lake on Dec. 20, 2003, and he was brilliant - brought the house down.
Rating:
Summary: Coming out on DVD soon
Review: I've been waiting a long time for this amazing spoof to come out on DVD, and it has finally been announced for early 2004.
Amazon is taking pre-orders. I'n not sure how old Peter Schickele is, but he is still going strong. I saw him give a performance with the Utah Symphony in Salt Lake on Dec. 20, 2003, and he was brilliant - brought the house down.
Rating:
Summary: HYSTERICAL!
Review: It helps to have some understanding of opera, but I have used this to introduce novices to the style since it's so darn funny. Even kids will get some of the jokes.
Rating:
Summary: HYSTERICAL!
Review: It helps to have some understanding of opera, but I have used this to introduce novices to the style since it's so darn funny. Even kids will get some of the jokes.
Rating:
Summary: Fun at (the expense of) the opera
Review: This is a melange of the various aspects of the PDQ genre. It includes silly biographic information, a "terrible" overture and lots of arias, some humorous, some satirical, some parodistic, and some just plain beautiful. Also included are some ballet seqences that cannot be described without laughing (such as the "Dance of the Seven Pails"!) The voices are excellent, as well as the acting, by singers who are really enjoying themselves. The announcer (a familiar voice to listeners of the Met radio braodcasts) is serious tongue-in-cheek. Listen carefully to both the music and the words, because this opera is replete with humor.
Rating:
Summary: Fun at (the expense of) the opera
Review: This is a melange of the various aspects of the PDQ genre. It includes silly biographic information, a "terrible" overture and lots of arias, some humorous, some satirical, some parodistic, and some just plain beautiful. Also included are some ballet seqences that cannot be described without laughing (such as the "Dance of the Seven Pails"!) The voices are excellent, as well as the acting, by singers who are really enjoying themselves. The announcer (a familiar voice to listeners of the Met radio braodcasts) is serious tongue-in-cheek. Listen carefully to both the music and the words, because this opera is replete with humor.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious!
Review: This is the funniest movie ever! Even if you have never seen an opera in your life, you are sure to understand the jokes! Besides including allusions to theatre, the opera includes allusions to popular songs and books everyone has enjoyed at least at one time during their life. I have watched this movie at least five times already and plan to watch it many more. It is the best!
Rating:
Summary: An Example of Deranged Genius
Review: We first saw "The Abduction of Figaro" on PBS at least ten years ago, and vowed that someday we'd own a copy. This is Peter Schickele's humor at its best. (For those unfamiliar with Professor Schickele's works, he is a musician who possesses genuine talent and a warped sense of the bizarre.) Over two hours long, this is not a tape for the squeamish or those with a short attention span, and it helps to have some classical music background. Even so, don't worry; most people will appreciate the juxtaposition of honest-to-goodness opera with snatches of popular songs. The things this man blends together are just plain wrong and yet somehow they fit. Schickele also spoofs all of the cliches of opera itself, from the pompous hero to the drippy heroine, with a cast of superb musicians who have the ability to sing wrongfully on command. The scenery is cheap and gaudy, the staging awkward and painfully funny, and the result is an evening of pomposity skewered by a sick mind. One of the best parts is the PBS-style host wearing a flannel shirt and workboots. Highly recommended for serious and not-so-serious musicians, and for anyone who finds opera annoying. Enjoy with a glass of really cheap wine or, better yet, a can of beer.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent spoof of Mozart's Operas
Review: Whether or not you are an opera fan, if you enjoy fun music you will enjoy this performance. The story is a playful merger of The Abduction from the Sarai, Cosi fan Tutti, Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Die Zauberflote. Although the humor is better appreciated if you are familiar to these works, it is definately not required. Overall, it is a good watch!
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