Rating: 
Summary: "A Mixed Bag" is Right
Review: The most interesting of the animations on this DVD is the Aubrey-Beardsley-inspired "Magic Flute". The least is "Rheingold" which seems to draw its artistic influence from the dullest of superhero comic books; it's also the worst performance of the lot. Two of the segments, "The Barber of Seville" and "Rigoletto", are stop-action marionette animations. "Carmen" is made with "cartoonized" live actors.The most frustrating aspect of the films is their condensation. For those familiar with the operas, the cutting of ensembles and arias are only annoying, and I imagine that the stories are even more confusing than usual for those who are not. "Rheingold" in particular seems unnecessarily abrupt and choppy. I don't know what audience this DVD was made for. It's too confusing for children, too condensed for opera-lovers, and too obscure for neophytes. I would have preferred the makers doing the complete operas and putting them on several DVDs or even just doing complete segments without trying to fit 2-3 hour operas into 30-minute segments.
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