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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: DVD EAN: 9780769700588 Format: Classical, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC ISBN: 0769700586 Label: Kultur Video Languages: Manufacturer: Kultur Video Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Kultur Video Region Code: 1 Release Date: November 20, 2001 Running Time: 80 minutes Studio: Kultur Video Theatrical Release Date: 1991 Editorial Review: Amazon.com: Gluck told the story of Orpheus (really a meditation on the power of music) with a simple directness that has survived more than two centuries of changing musical fashions. In this 1991 modernization and wild elaboration, Orpheus is visually a guitar-toting, leather-clad rocker. But Gluck's music exerts its character and its special charm, no matter whether one accepts the visual concepts of director Harry Kupfer or dismisses them as self-indulgent. German countertenor Jochen Kowalski has exactly the right kind of voice, and he conveys powerfully the varied emotions in this story of a titanic struggle between love and death. The supporting cast is small but well-chosen, with a boy soprano in the role of Amor and a Euridice, Gillian Webster, who is as good at acting as she is at singing. Hartmut Haenchen's conducting catches the spirit of Gluck's music. --Joe McLellan Average Rating:
 Rating:  - a little outdated?The singing is quite good. But the costumes, in my opinion, are outdated to the point that they become distracted. I was not aware that it was a modern version until I watched it. (Modern meaning the early nineties--think acid watched jeans and leather jacket for Orfeo). Rating:  - Distasteful modern mis-interpretationThere are so many reasons, why we should NOT buy or not even watch this DVD wasting our valuable time. For one, this version of opera is missing many pieces. For example, you will find in many places a piece called, "Melodie from Orfeo and Euridice", which is performed by various instruments including violin and piano, solo piano, or flute. This is a very beautiful piece, which is why it is so popular. Just search on the web or YouTube. This piece is from the ... Read More Rating:  - kowalski disappointed meI neither was thrilled by nor disliked most of the staging. I did like the use of the small television Orfeo carries as he tries to lead Eurydice up from the underworld. I also enjoyed the voices and most of the performances. I thought Webster was excellent, and I was impressed with Kowalski until he wrecked "Che faro senza Eurydice?" with excessive ornamentation. This is the crucial aria of the opera and, when sung well, one of the most beautiful arias in all of opera. Kowalski's flourishes ruin the ... Read More Rating: - ouch!The music is beautiful, the singing is very good but the staging is an arrogant mess. Close your eyes and enjoy it but why not get a cd? Rating:  - Modernist MasterpieceHaving seen this production live in (then East) Berlin and in London, as well as on video, I disagree with the dismissive attitude of the preceding reviewer. This is a masterful video--arguably a candidate for "top 10" desert island lists. It is a splendid example of the power of "contemporary" resettings of great operas--and great myths. Orfeo, generally surrounded by abstract or elegantly classical sets, becomes a young man in a leather jacket whose girlfriend is killed in a car crash, and ... Read More |
