|
|
List Price: $29.98 Amazon.com's Price: $19.97 You Save: $10.01 (33%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: DVD EAN: 0044007043493 Format: Classical, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC Label: Philips Languages: Manufacturer: Philips MPN: 070434 Number Of Discs: 1 Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Philips Region Code: 1 Release Date: July 16, 2002 Running Time: 179 minutes Studio: Philips Theatrical Release Date: 1992 Editorial Review: Amazon.com: In terms of vocal power, lyrical beauty, and idiomatic authenticity, the casting for this 1992 live recording of the Kirov production of Pique Dame ("The Queen of Spades") could hardly be bettered. Gegam Grigorian (Herman) hits his fearsome, anguished high notes with the accuracy of a laser, and Maria Gulegina (Liza) has a huge voice but uses it with great subtlety--her opening duet with Pauline floats like gossamer, and her declarations of love for Herman at the end of Act 1 are spine tingling. Kirov superstars Sergei Leiferkus (Tomsky) and the rich-toned Olga Borodina (Pauline) also sound divine. In the pit Valery Gergiev renders every nuance of Tchaikovsky's score with clarity and drives the strings to produce an almost unbearably tense atmosphere of foreboding. It isn't all rosy, however. The production comes from the traditional Kirov "stand-and-sing" tradition and is somewhat static. For a more gripping production (though not quite as well sung), try the Glyndebourne performance. But for sheer musical pleasure, you won't find anything to beat this. --Warwick Thomson Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Pique DameRecently I bought some DVDs of Russian operas from Amazon. I have been quite happy with most of them; but there is something wrong with the DVD of Pique Dame. Apparently, act 1, scene 1 is damaged in my copy. Sometimes the music fades away, or there are jumps in the performance. This is not the case with the rest of the DVD, but here there are other technical failures. Sometimes, but not always, the picture and sound are not synchronized which clearly can be seen by the moving of the lips of the ... Read More Rating:  - Pretty good productionThis is pretty good opera, considering that it was recorded over 10 years ago. Typical sets and singing manner of Russian vocal school of that era (and I grew up there). Of course, it is not comparable to any of the newer productions from Met or La Scala; however, considering that this opera is not a very popular choice for opera houses by some reason (although I truly think that this is one of the best operas by Thaikovsky), it is worth to buy. Rating:  - Your positive reviews have convinced me to get this DVD.Being a complete fan of all Peter I. Tchaikovsky works I will get this DVD. I have recently purchased "The Tchaikovsky Handbook, A Guide to the Man and His Music, Volume 1 by Alexander Poznansky. In this book it says that Tchaikovsky wrote 11 operas and that there were many, many more that were "unrealized" as Poznansky stated. I will get all the ones that Amazon offers. After all, the more Tchaikovsky tunes the merrier! I will never get bored with his music. Rating:  - Not too bad but could have been much betterThis is such a mediocre routine performance that I don't understand how it made to a DVD. The singers are good, but they sound ordinary and uninspired. The costumes are visibly old. Gegam Grigorian's gorgeous voice is the only highlight of this recording for me. If I were to choose I would have put on DVD a Kirov performance of this opera in Met with Gorchakova and Hvorostovski, although I would replace omnipresent Domingo with the best Hermann of our time Vladimir Galuzin. Rating: - Stunning production, but..I completely agree with artlover's review, but I would like to add a correction and a complaint. Contrary to what the reviewer says, "Pique Dame" was not Tchaikovsky's last opera, but his next to last. "Iolanthe" (1891) was his last. I would like to warn possible purchasers that the level of recording is rather low, and one has to increase the volume to get a satisfactory reproduction. As for the cast and musical direction, there is not a word to add to artlover's ... Read More |
