La Rondine details
| Format: | Ex DVD |
|---|---|
| Starring: | Rosanna Carteri, Giuseppe Gismondo |
| Genres: | Music/Musical - Opera/Operetta, Performing Arts, World Cinema - Italian |
| Studio: | Hardy |
| Name | Discs | |
|---|---|---|
La Rondine |
Ex Feature |
DVD Information
| Run time: | 1 hour 47 minutes |
|---|---|
| Rental release: | 09 Apr 2008 |
| Main languages: | Italian |
| Subtitles: | English |
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Most helpful review
Historic performance of a neglected masterpiece
By a customer from London , 28 Jan 2009[Highly rated reviewer]
One of the reasons usually given why La Rondine isn't performed more often, is the derivative nature of the plot, being referred to somewhat disparagingly as “the poor man’s Traviata”. However, there is much to distinguish it from Traviata, apart from the obvious fact that nobody dies coughing at the end. For one, there is the very interesting secondary love relationship between the poet, Prunier, and the maid, Lizette, whom he tries to turn into a singing star. The music, although unmistakably Puccini-esque, has a very unique flavour due to the fact that this opera started life as an attempt by Puccini to write and operetta in the style of Franz Lehar (Puccini was a great admirer of Lehar’s). An intervening war forced Puccini to abandon the idea of an operetta for Vienna, but the music retained a slight Viennese tinge, embodied most clearly for me in Magda’s first act aria, “Ore dolci e divine”. I would compare the music to a delicately painted watercolour, with the luxury and opulence of the period barely disguising the underlying yearning and nostalgia. This 1958 film recording of a live performance in Naples is in black and white, but is still fresh and relevant to today’s audiences. The quality of the singing is superlative and perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that the singers and directors of that time were so good at integrating music and drama, long before the advent of theorists like H Wesley Balk and more contemporary directing geniuses like Franco Zeffirelli, Michael Hampe and Peter Hall. In fact, this production is a lesson in how a traditional staging can be fresh, imaginative and dramatically engrossing, simply by finding creative ways to give meaning to the words that the characters are singing.- Was this review helpful to you?
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(2)Historic performance of a neglected masterpiece
By a customer from London , 28 Jan 2009One of the reasons usually given why La Rondine isn't performed more often, is the derivative nature of the plot, being referred to somewhat disparagingly as “the poor man’s Traviata”. However, there is much to distinguish it from Traviata, apart from the obvious fact that nobody dies coughing at the end. For one, there is the very interesting secondary love relationship between the poet, Prunier, and the maid, Lizette, whom he tries to turn into a singing star. The music, although unmistakably Puccini-esque, has a very unique flavour due to the fact that this opera started life as an attempt by Puccini to write and operetta in the style of Franz Lehar (Puccini was a great admirer of Lehar’s). An intervening war forced Puccini to abandon the idea of an operetta for Vienna, but the music retained a slight Viennese tinge, embodied most clearly for me in Magda’s first act aria, “Ore dolci e divine”. I would compare the music to a delicately painted watercolour, with the luxury and opulence of the period barely disguising the underlying yearning and nostalgia. This 1958 film recording of a live performance in Naples is in black and white, but is still fresh and relevant to today’s audiences. The quality of the singing is superlative and perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that the singers and directors of that time were so good at integrating music and drama, long before the advent of theorists like H Wesley Balk and more contemporary directing geniuses like Franco Zeffirelli, Michael Hampe and Peter Hall. In fact, this production is a lesson in how a traditional staging can be fresh, imaginative and dramatically engrossing, simply by finding creative ways to give meaning to the words that the characters are singing.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Historical performance in black and white
By Stanley Smith from Ashby de la Zouch, Leics. , 27 Jul 2008As the only recording of the staged performance of this opera available, I thought I would rent it to see why it is rarely performed. The opera is up with Puccini's top operas, the orchestration is similar to his others,so I see no reason why it is neglected. This recording however is not the best introduction to it. Being from 1958 it was obviously an historical performance, but I had not realised it was in black and white, as colour was around even in ttat year. As a result a lot of the spectical is lost. The sound and picture also are not of the best, even though it has been remastered. I am still glad to have seen it , if only to find out the opera is well worth seeing. Probably only for fans of historical performances and those of Puccini.- Was this review helpful to you?
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