D Movie Reviews

tres belle prestation de Martha Argerich malheureusement gachée par une technique de prises de vue indigente et surtout une prise de son de médiocre qualité que ne sauraient excuser une prise télévisuelle pour une émission en direct de Radio Canada, ni mëme la date de production 1977. Mieux vaut écouter son enregistrement sur CD avec Harnoncourt, en fermant les yeux : le film n'en sera que meilleur!

Yes, this DVD is just a copy of the original video. No, it's not in Dolby 5.1. Yes, there is some hiss and the sound quality is about right for 1977. No, it hasn't been "cleaned up" or restored (as far as I can tell) and no, there aren't any of the "extras" that we have all become accustomed to on DVD.

Five minutes into watching this, you won't care.

There are musicians. Then there are great musicians. And every so often in human history, someone comes along who seems to have a line into the mystery and majesty of the universe as expressed through music. Martha Argerich has (many) moments in this performance where she seems to be animated by the conductor of heaven's own choir, where it seems as if she has ceased to exist as a human being, and is simply a direct conduit for the divine.

Any fan of great classical music will enjoy this DVD. One kind of fan in particular, however, will find it compelling to the point of near-hypnosis. If you have spent twenty or thirty years battling with the piano, struggling with your own limits as a pianist, trying to come to grips with the subtlety of Schumann, the intricacy of Bach or the majesty of Beethoven, this DVD will both inspire you, and drive you to despair.

The average pianist is like someone who, over decades, has constructed a home-built airplane. They sit down at the keyboard, spin the propeller, and the whole contraption lurches into the air and moves about the sky with more or less grace depending on what kind of day the pianist is having. The return to earth is always something of a relief, and if the little plane is still in one piece, the pianist counts the flight a success.

Now imagine the little plane has been tucked away in the hangar, and the pilot is walking home in the last rays of evening twilight. A motion catches his eye, and he stops to watch the woodland birds flying in, out, above and below the trees. They dart, flit and zoom in the still evening air, landing on branches or missing them by a hairsbreadth, chasing and catching bugs in mid-air, turning and diving and folding and spreading their wings so quickly the mind almost can't follow them. Theirs is a mastery of flight beyond all effort, beyond all conscious thought, into a place where movement and motion become one with the divine perfection that continually eludes (almost) all of us all our lives.

Martha Argerich is one of those woodland birds; if you want to see her fly, this DVD is a perfect place to start.

I have just watched the same Schumann Concerto conducted by Bernstein with Vienna Philharmonic and the pianist was impressing. The pianist's name spells Justus Frantz who played with so with so much grace. But his name doesn't ring a bell! I ran a search and discovered that he had only recorded some four hands piano pieces with Eschenbach.

And then only a couple of days later I go back to Martha's Schumann Concerto. The Canadian orchestra was no match for Berlin Philharmonic. Even the recording is inferior. But here you see every justification of Arrau's assessment on Martha Argerich that she is one of the two younger pianists, along with Barenboim, that he had ear for.

She is dramatic and she builds up tension from an almost stoic start to a most powerful climax and by a variety of colours. She was even more expressive than Justus Frantz. Her Lizst has the same effect, the same contrast, and the same tension which is rather exciting. I even like her Liszt better than her Schumann.

Yes, we have some ( a little only ) close-ups if the pianist but they provide good clues to what sort of mood or what sort of picture she was going to paint. It was not excessive by whatever standard, neither were her bodiy movements.

All along, particularly the last two pieces, we have a lot of her hands. Again, it's very unique. Martha was wearing short sleeves we can see the whole of her hands. First, she has rather stiff wrists as opposed to what Arrau (or even Leschetisky) professed. Sometimes, for better effects, she would play with the fleshy part of her fingers with her hand(s) flat; for a particular effect, she would bend her wrist sideways so much; and for a fifth finger fortissimo, she would use the outside of her small finger instead of the finger tip!

With her Jeux d'eau, while my memory of Richter's playing is still vivid, I must say Martha's colour and her delicate touch were almost as good as Richter.

I am not a great fan of Martha, as she is not always consistent and her style doesn't cover a great deal of the whole piano repertoire. Despite it's shortness (only 47 min. ) and that it's not of the best 1977 production quality, in view of the scarcity of her footage and in view of her wonderful performance here and the excellent depiction of her hands, it deserves a 5 stars.

This is a wonderful Norma - Caballe is sublime in the title
role - she moves well on stage and her grand gestures suit
this great classical drama - vocally she is in superb form
coping with the taxing tessitura with remarquable ease -
from celestial high pianissimi to gutsy chest notes convey-
ing the tenderness and fury ot the role and the more praise
she deserves for this is attained in less than perfect con-
ditions - in an open antique roman theatre in Orange in the
south of France on a night when the notorious mistral was
blowing ferociously. The rest of the cast is good - Vickers
is an heroic Pollione - Veasey a sensitive Adalgisa and
Ferrin a solid Oroveso. The sound is inevitably not perfect
given the circumstances - there is some distortions - but
more than listenable. All in all a rousing evening at the
opera and a fine representation of Bellini's masterpiece.

Norma was the very first opera I fell in love with, hearing the unparallelled Sutherland/Horne pairing. On recordings, I have enjoyed Sills, Verrett, and sutherland, but something was always lacking. Inthis historic DVD, Caballe IS Norma. I had seen Caballe in Semiramide, paired with Horne in San Francisco, and was impressed at her coloratura, which I was unaware was so good. I have always thought of Caballe as the "plant me near a column, and I'll sing" type of singer. Her dramatic intensity in thids Norma was stunning - other reviews note the effecs of the wind on performance night - I just had the feeling that in the "Casta diva", I WAS in the sacred grove of the Druids. The other singers were very good, not earth-shaking; however, Jon Vickers' beautiful Wagnerian tenor is a bit un-Bellini here. I never saw Callas sing Norma, but I am sure she did not do much better dramatically, and certainly not vocally, as Caballe. Buy this recording - it is essential for the serious fan of Bellini. Larry Katz

I purchased this DVD after reading an unqualified review of it in Opera News, and I wasn't disappointed. Caballe's perfect use of gentle rubato and elegant phrasing were a revelation and must surely must be how the composer intended the work to be sung, always sounding so natural and movingly effective. One should remember that Chopin in trying to instruct his pupils on phrasing suggested they go to the opera and listen to Bellini! (Chopin admired Bellini to the extent that he also requested he be buried next to Bellini!) And to me, this performance is a lesson in interpretation that harkens back to that romantic age. Comparisons with Callas are unnecessary and irrelevant. Callas herself saw the first commerical release of this performance as a film in Paris, commented on how beautiful Caballe looked in the film, then called Caballe and commented on the performance and "the greatness of your service both to the music and the character." Callas later sent Caballe the earings Visconti had given her on the occassion of her own 1955 performances of Norma at La Scala. Even Callas knew that no one "owns" a role exclusively as has been suggested in some of the other comments. Norma is a noble but dramatically reserved work. But within that style, she shows true passion and fury in her interactions with Pollione and is so very moving near the end as she pleads with her father - unequalled really, in that scene. The other cast members are not the revelation that Caballe is in the role, but they are good. Vickers is an interesting though somewhat unusual in the role of Pollione. The outdoor theater is a magnificant setting and the costumes stunningly beautiful and effective. It was a cold and windy evening, but hey, its a live outdoor performance, and the added virtues of a live performance often outway the disadvantages unless one is just seriously limited to accepting only perfectly commercially recorded Cd's. It is not a studio recording, nor represented as such, but the sound is fine enough to never seriously distract from the performance. My God! we are lucky to have this preserved and available!

This is absolutely the worst DVD I own. The actual film is quite good but for this release World Artists chose to transfer from a video source and the results are close to unwatchable. The image is dark and murky throughout and the poor quality is especially damaging during shots of what are supposed to be beautiful Utah landscapes. I cannot imagine Jon Jost would approve of this.

Jon Yost may have done it again. Bob Nalwalker is a fresh new actor that will be hard to ignore. His gritty performance as "the sheriff" will leave you breathless. Yost obviously uses Nalwalker as a touchpoint that beautifully ties this movie beginning to end. The humanity he brings to his role is a clever counterpoint to the ramblings of "Wes" played masterfully by Tom Blair. Rural life has never been depicted in such a real yet disturbing manner. Yost sets the viewer free and provides ample time to digest the poignant theme. Fade to black editing is as cutting-edge as it is primative.

"Sure Fire" is a compelling story about Wes a hunt obsessed entreprenneur living in a small town of Utah. I particularly liked this film because of its pain's taking attention to detail and it's beautiful saturated color photography. I've seen this film both on the big screen where it is a treat and more recently on video where it still works very well and kept me glued to the screen right to the end. It will serve as a great introduction to Jon Jost's work, for this is one of his more accessible and popular pieces, being very dramatic and plot driven. The end will come to you as a complete shock and surprise. Above all this a film about the America we never have a chance to see usually, centering on both the business and family crisis' that effect our main hero Wes, convincingly and chillingly played by the ever versatile Tom Blair. You'll be watching it not just for the great performances and ensemble playing, notable aswell are the creative visuals where landscape becomes an integral part of a classic American story. There's also an affecting and powerful sountrack by Erling Wold.

Fans of the American outdoors and all types of lowlife will have a ball watching this film, which is why this film has quickly become one of my personal favorites in my video collection

it shows 6 or 7 still screen with 6or 7 pieces of classical music.

real waste of money. The idea is great though

dvd to have in your collection. It plays in a 'loop'...
and charming Impressionist paintings are displayed on the
screen....I like it a lot...I would certainly use it if I
were entertaining...it creates 'background'. THIS (Volume One)
plays selections by Rossini. I am hoping that there will
be other volumes..."Sullivan" and "Offenbach"...also, this is
a really delightful format...and might be adapted to say show
stills from a musical film (or Lobby Cards)...and play the

musical selections...or similarly, for Broadway shows....
in any event, it is a pleasant idea...and THIS dvd is very
nice...I hope someone will grab this idea and do some more
with it.

This is a unique idea for art and music lovers alike. This DVD displays artistic masterpieces accompanied by the classical music of Rossini continuously on your TV screen and is great fun to have in the background when guests are over or just for your own enjoyment.