5つ星のうち3.0Great musical performances, distracting production
2009年4月13日にアメリカ合衆国でレビュー済み
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It seems that the directors of the 2006 Salzburg productions of Mozart's operas -- the M22 set -- think that the audience doesn't really want to concentrate on the music, and have to be distracted during the performance as much as possible. "Lucio Silla" is a case in point: Working on a huge stage, director Jürgen Flimm creates a three-ring circus, with the action in the center, various male characters moving around on stage right, and women on stage left. A motley array of unidentified people -- chorus members apparently -- wander through during orchestral introductions to arias, and sometimes during the arias. It's all way too much -- notice how often the camera is on something that has nothing to do with what is being sung -- and it detracts from some wonderful musical performances.
Part of the problem is that the production takes place in an enormous space -- rather like a large sports arena -- so the stage is both wide and deep. (In some shots you can see banks of empty stadium seats far in the background.) That kind of space presents a huge challenge, but the result here does not support the work, or the singers, at all.
Because of the terrific singing, and the fact that the singers at least are performing the story Mozart intended, this is step above some of the other M22 productions. Except, as others have noted, for the ending, which is not at all what Mozart intended. While I understand the director's discomfort with the opera seria convention of a sudden (and unmotivated) happy ending, Flimm's solution goes against both the text and the music.
Finally, I agree completely with those who praise the women in the cast. This is indeed some of Mozart's most difficult music, which is probably why there are no other DVDs to choose from. And here you have singers, especially the terrific Annick Massis, who manage the incredible runs, leaps and decorations beautifully. They alone are worth the price of the 2-DVD set. All the others are more than competent, with some moments of great musical drama. Roberto Saccá, the tenor playing Silla, is quite good, and I did not find the costumes as annoying as some did -- although it is certainly not clear why some of the characters keep removing or putting on parts of their costumes on stage while others are singing. All-in-all, this is a worthy addition to any Mozart lover's collection, in spite of the distracting physical production, and unlikely to be replaced soon.
The singers are excellent; especially Annick Massis, Julia Kleiter and Veronica Cangemi. The rest of the cast is actually very fine. To be honest the singers carry the day. The conductor and orchestra are also on a very high level. WHAT'S WRONG? The production! Strange costumes, some bizarre staging , fair set and cuts in the score! Why would Salzburg condone cuts in a great early work of Mozart - a genius? The music is beautiful... one glorious aria or number after another. The music and all musicians deserve FIVE STARS; only the production and cuts bring it down to THREE STARS! Don't miss Annick Massis or Julia Kleiter in any of their other CDS or DVDS. I'll listen to this DVD again just because of the singers, conductor and orchestra.