Alzira

First, I do not mind the "shortcomings" of this DVD, which, after all, was recorded in 1991. The singers matter--and I again have to disagree with previous reviewers: ALL three principals--Graciano Pasquetto, Mauricio Frusone, and particluarly Keiko Fukushima-- were outstanding, Thanks to Hardy Classics for taking the trouble to preserve the only staged performance of this negleted opera. As for the background, no one has mentioned that the libretto was fashioned from a drama by Voltaire, just when Europe was ablaze with the theories of "the noble savage"--which he cleverly and improbably turned into "the noble European" (he hated Rousseau). I've completed my Verdi collection. By the way, he wrote 26 operas--some of which reappear up to 4 times in several revised version (Don Carlo/Carlos, for example)

Wonderfull video. Thank you for the mailing service.

At the risk of being proclaimed a heretic by opera lovers in general and Verdi afficonados in particular, I have to declare that this work by the great Italian maestro has to be his worst; well, if we were to rank his 28 operas, one of them has to be at the bottom - this is it! Surprising, because when it was originally produced in 1845, Verdi had already mounted 8 operas, including the far-superior "Nabucco", so, one would think that he was progressing steadily - and he was, because a few years later he produced a trilogy of great operas ("Rigoletto", "Il Trovatore", and "La Traviata"); there is no way, whether storywise or musically, to disguise the fact that with "Alzira", the reknowned composer hit the proverbial bump in the road to musical immortality - and he himself knew it when he called it "ugly". To the credit of the Teatro di Parma back in 1991, they courageously mounted a production of this rarely-performed work, but unfortunately, it compounded its weakness for technical reasons. Whoever was in charge of lighting must have been using flashlights instead of spotlights; or is the problem with the dvd cameras? In any case, there are long stretches when everyone is in the dark: both on stage and in the orchestra floor. Perhaps, this is the Director's way of blurring the traditional space/lines which separate the audience from the musicians and the actors/singers: instead of just having the audience sitting in the dark, let's have the actors sing in it as well. The accompanying notes tell us that Luciano Damiani, the Director, had built his own theatre in which he removed barriers between audience and actors, and he brought this concept to this production. To be fair, it is a very interesting concept; the soprano sang one of her arias standing in the middle of the orchestra, which was elevated to the extreme that the back row of musicians was frequently seen in front of the singers, and chorus members and actors at times came up to the stage from the sides of the theatre, but I honestly cannot say that the "gimmicks" added any enjoyment to the performance. Two of the three principal roles were very well sung: the title role by Keiko Fukushima, the soprano, and that of the Governor of Peru, Gusmano, by Giancarlo Pasquetto, whose baritone voice is as good as any I've ever heard. Mauricio Frusoni, the tenor lead, can best be described as a journeyman - good, adequate, but not exceptional. I have no complaints about Conductor Maurizio Benini and the Orchestra; indeed, if my rating depended solely on them, it would have been higher. The dvd has a 4:3 picture format, dolby digital 5:1 sound as well as PCM stereo, and close-captioning. The English subtitles could not have been written by someone who is fluent in the langauge, but, they'll do. Finally, my advice is that you buy this dvd only if, like myself, you need to complete your collection of all of Verdi's operas. If you are just curious about this little-known work, you might want to wait for the price to come down - let's say to less than ten dollars.

First let me state I feel this opera has a bad rap. I myself find it 'better than average' early Verdi. It may not be a masterpiece on the order of Nabucco or Ernani, but so what? I say it holds its own both musically and dramatically against a good half-dozen of Verdi's early operas of his self-described "galley" years. (I could name a few that I think it easily surpasses, but in no mood to start a war at the moment :)Do we need to give it a ranking anyway? Would we not want to hear EVERYTHING that one of the greatest, if not THE greatest opera composer in history spent six months of his life working on?Now, as to this performance. It is a 100% traditional performance (NO Eurotrash costuming or set design). It is very well played and sung, with no apologies necessary for musical content. That is of course with the understanding that we are talking about local talent, no visiting superstars.About the performance. This was the type of show that should have been enjoyable. It is about the Incas, and who doesn't enjoy an opera about the Incas???? It even features plumed headdresses and armor-coated warriors. And as I say, well-played, well-sung, and well-acted. So why can't I recommend this DVD to anyone?Well, sorry to say, the recording quality, both video and audio, is simply terrible. To use technical jargon, it sucks--just about as bad as it could possibly suck. The picture is way too dark, and while the orchestral sound is fine, the voices are away in back. I am inclined to think that in person, the experience of both sight and sound was as it should be. And I am inclined to believe the production was going so well they decided at the last moment (probably on the last day) to have it taped. So they brought in a crew and taped it with inadequate preparation and no chance for test shots or retakes. And they probably had a dedicated mike feed to the orchestra but not to the singers. I can't figure out any other reason why the production should appear so successful and yet be so dreadfully recorded.So as it stands, this is the only video of Alzira, apart from a concert performance on Tutto Verdi, and who the heck wants a concert performance?So I think we have to settle for audio-only CD's for now, and await a decent video from La Scala or Berlin or wherever ... but I sure hope they mount a traditional production like this!

Algunas opiniones no las entiendo. No sé que quieren ver los amantes de Verdi. Yo he visionado la ópera y está muy bien con vestuario y puesta en escena aceptables (no está trasladada a otra época como en la mayoría de las veces actualmente). Efectivamente como alguien dice, es una ópera poco disponible y para una edición que hay pues se aprovecha la ocasión y no pidamos ver una Arena de Verona con fastuosos decorados. Recomendable para los amantes de la ópera verdiana.

Die guten jungen Sänger, Masken- und Bühnenbildner tun mir richtig leid:Zunächst hatte der liebe Verdi wohl 1845 ziemlich viel Stress, weil er sich so beeilt hat, in wenigen Monaten nur knapp 1 ½ Stunden für seine achte Oper zu komponieren, was sonst ja nicht seine Art war. Trotzdem hat er es verstanden, seine typischen mitreißenden Rhythmen vielfältig zu intonieren, so dass man als Liebhaben seiner Musik auch in dieser Kürze davon begeistert sein muss.Der schöne und außergewöhnlich Stoff im Reich der Inkas und Konquistadoren hätte wohl mehr verdient. Die Geschichte enthält die üblichen Themen: ein Liebespaar wird vom mächtigeren Rivalen getrennt. Aber zuletzt stirbt nur er selbst und vergibt auch noch gnädig seinem Mörder, schon ein wenig etwas Besonderes.Nur, leider! wurde im Theater selbst viel geschlampt, vor allem bei der Beleuchtung, auch die Regie stellt die armen Sänger nicht nur häufig ins Dunkel, sondern oft auch noch träge auf einen Punkt anstatt die lebendige Handlung munter auszudrücken. Bei dem Versuch, es einmal anders zu machen, kommt die junge Prinzessin in den Orchestergraben, wo sie ihre schönste Arie singt, aber überhaupt nicht mehr zu hören ist, weil die Instrumente sie völlig übertönen und keine Mirkrophon mehr ihren Gesang aufnimmt.Den größten Murks hat aber wieder Hardy Classic Video fabriziert. Wer schon Aufnahmen von dieser Firma har, weiß, was ich meine: verwaschene Bilder, hier auch oft nur rein schwärzliches Dunkel, bis mal wieder ein Scheinwerfer angeht, der dann aber furchtbar herumwackelt, auch noch offenbarsehr schlechte Kameras zur Verfügung. Und der Ton, sowas gibt’s doch eigentlich im digitalen Zeitalter gar nicht mehr: Um einigermaßen was zu hören, braucht man beste Wiedergabegeräte und muss diese voll aufdrehen... und dann rauscht es laut und deutlich!Ich finde, ein Verdifan braucht eine schön inszenierte Fassung, keine konzertante, wenn auch technisch perfekte wie in der Tutto Verdi Sammlung enthalten - drum hab ich diese hier trotzdem gern, sehe sie aber nur selten an. Mehr als zwei Sterne kann ich dafür aber nicht geben,

I entirely agree with the other reviewers who criticized the recording. Even with the brightness control turned up to 100% the picture was, for a large part of the recording, very difficult to see. The other comments are equally valid and I have had to ask for a replacement due to 2 serious faults on my copy. I hope to receive a "Perfect ??" copy soon as I have waited many years for a fully staged recording to add to CD and audio recordings which, for an opera, only give partial satisfaction no matter how perfect the performance. Oh! that Zefirelli and Domingo et al. had had a go at this and some of the other neglected Verdi operas. The lesser known Verdi operas may not rank with his best but I can think of many other operas with a string of recordings which I would rank below Alzira for quality if only the recording and singers were to a high standard.

Créé à Naples le 12 août 1845,le huitième opéra de Verdi,"Alzira",est avec certitude,l'oeuvre la moins connue et la moins représentée du maestro . Cet opéra,relativement court,livret de Salvatore Cammarano,d'après "Alzire ou les Américains"(1736) de Voltaire est digne d'un grand intérêt et doit absolument être découverte par tous les amateurs de Verdi."Alzira"ne mérite pas l'ostracisme dans lequel il a été tenu depuis plus de cent cinquante ans .Alors,pourquoi un tel mépris pour cet opéra,qui,je le répète est digne de figurer aux côtés de "I due Foscari","Giovanna d'Arco" ou de "Stiffélio" ?Accueilli avec succés lors de sa création,"Alzira" tomba peu à peu dans l'oubli pour finalement être définitivement oublié.Le responsable est Verdi,lui-même ! Il a condamné cette oeuvre avec ce commentaire,sans appel:"En réalité,cet opéra n'est pas bon du tout !" Il n'en fallait pas plus pour que les critiques se rangent derrière son jugement. J'ai découvert ce superbe opéra dans un enregistrement paru en 1983 chez ORFEO ,avec Ileana Cotrubas dans le rôle-titre ainsi que Francisco Araiza et Renato Bruson,le tout sous la direction de Lamberto Gardelli. J'ai appris par la suite qu'il avait été monté le 2 février 1991 au Teatro Regio di Parma . C'est l'enregistrement sur ce DVD de cette soirée qui fait l'objet de ce commentaire. La preuve que cet opéra n'est pas considéré comme les autres ? L'intégrale "Tutto Verdi" n'a pu en donner qu'une version de concert ! Tragédie lyrique en un prologue et deux actes ,"Alzira" nous plonge à l'époque des" Conquistadores" ,au milieu du XVIème siècle ,aux alentours de Lima. Alzira,princesse inca, est fiancée à Zamoro,chef d'une rebellion contre l'envahisseur espagnol.Elle est forcée d'épouser,Gusmano,le gouverneur espagnol.Zamoro,que tout le monde croyait mort au cours de la rebellion,réapparaît lors des noces et poignarde Gusmano.Ce dernier,avant de mourir,pardonne à son rival. Keiko Fukushima est magnifique dans le rôle titre.Les autres interprètes sont à la hauteur . Quant à la mise en scène elle a été confiée à quelqu'un de "normal" qui n'a pas voulu absolument moderniser cette oeuvre plus que rare. Les costumes de l'époque ont été respectés.Des adeptes du "dépoussièrage"n'auraient pas pu résister à l'envie de transformer les incas en guerilleros du Sentier Lumineux,et les conquistadores en sbires de la junte militaire.Ouf! Nous y avons échappé ! Par contre,les scènes se déroulant dans la forêt manquent de clarté.On distingue à peine les personnages.C'est la raison de mon quatre étoiles. Tous les admirateurs de Verdi se doivent d'en faire l'acquisition. L'image est en 4/3,le son PCM Stereo,Dolby digital,DTS. Le livret en italien et anglais. Par contre,il y a des sous-titres français. Durée:96mn.

アルツィラは上演機会に恵まれないオペラです。インカ帝国とペルーの争いが題材だからか、イタリア人に不人気なのでしょうか。また全体の時間も短く中途半端です。しかし勇ましい曲調と美しい曲調があり一度は観る価値があります。映像は多少悪いですが主役のアルツィラが日本人の方で、デビュー作品らしく応援したくなります。