Arts Movie Reviews

Forget TITANIC, the unquestionable champion of most oscar-honored film (11 in all) belongs to 1959's BEN-HUR. It is the pinnacle of all biblical epics. Critics and viewers alike have to admit that this film, telling about the adventures of a Jewish aristocrat in the time of Christ, is SOMETHING of a milestone, whether they love it, hate it, or feel it overrated in its acclaim. In my opinion, the belief that this film is overrated is simply not justified. Thanks to William Wyler, it avoids the handicap of some sword and sandal movies by successfully fitting both the dramatic and spectacular elements together, resulting in many memorable scenes of visual and emotional power: The nativity prologue, Messala's march into Jerusalem, the conflicting relationship between Judah and Messala, Christ giving water to the despairing Judah, the sea battle (even though you can tell those ARE model ships, the scene is still well done), Arrius' triumphant entry into Rome, the cleansing of the lepers, and, of course, the great Chariot Race. The production is excellent, the sets and costumes looking lavish and realistic at the same time, with the immortal epic music by Miklos Rosza playing throughout. As for the acting, for someone whose acting ability has been labeled wooden and stiff, Charlton Heston gives a great performance as the tortured title character. He is well matched by the superb Stephen Boyd as the ruthless and power-intoxicated Messala. The supporting cast is also fine, with Haya Hararret as Esther, Jack Hawkins as Quintus Arrius, and the delighful Hugh Griffith as Sheik Illdrean. All associated have truly made BEN-HUR an epic to beat all epics.

Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) is robbed of his princely title and freedom by his one-time boyhood friend, now a Roman tribune, Messalah (Stephen Boyd). Judah's path to God and Messalah's road to ruin fill out the rest of this three hour plus epic, made in 1959, a time when the Hollywood studio system, like Rome itself, was crumbling. This is by far the greatest of the Bible-fiction epics, told with such sweep and scope that one can only sit back an marvel at the sets, costumes and spectacle. The cast is outstanding. On Oscar night this movie topped out with 13 nominations and 11 wins including BEST PICTURE, the most Oscars ever awarded for any movie until James Cameron's "Titanic" tied it some fifty years later.
Warner Home Video has done an outstanding job on this transfer. Albeit, they have cropped the image to the more widely accepted 2:35:1 aspect ratio (MGM Camera 65 presented the film a 2:70:1) this is a dazzling anamorphic widescreen transfer, full of rich colors, fine detail and stunning clarity. Only in the darkest scenes does the disc falter slightly and lose its otherwise pristine image quality. No pixelization, edge enhancement, aliasing or fine detail shimmering. Extras incl. a fine documentary on the making of the movie that is thorough and presented on side two of this flipper disc. The film itself is split across two sides but separated at the intermission - a forgivable stop. The 5.1 remix is stirring, powerful and engaging, particularly with Miklos Roza's brilliant score that fills the expanse of all five speakers and raises the hair on the back of one's neck. This is a must have for anyone who love Hollywood epics. Sadly, it also represents one of the last times MGM Studios would ever produce such an enduring masterpiece for the big screen. I miss MGM! Thankfully we still have films like "Ben-Hur".

They used to know where to place academy awards which movies those days....Know days they ignore a superb movie like.Lord of the Rings and give to Chigago best picture.11 academy awards for one movie like Ben Hur.Not far fetched at all.Befor I get into plot and diolage,it seems this movie rating is not quite acurate.Rated G.Know I watched this movie when I was say 9 or 10 again.I found some scenes a little strong.Messala about to be amputated and is screaming aloud,The leper cave dark and fearful.I think parents probaley should watch this with their children.So PG might be a better rating.Rankin Bass's Cartoon The Return of the King had a PG rating.It is not even that scary.This is a truly wonderful movie.The parts with Jesus are really stirring and vibrant.Chaleston Heston is a very strong actor.(funny thing.I found Bradford Dillman has also some very same expresions and looks like his brother.Watch Francis of Assisi.)His love Esther and him have a passion to their love. The Chariot Race is Fantastic.Christians will love this movie best.A movie for the whole family.

I fell in love with the story of the Trojan War, even before I sold my soul to classical music. So naturally I was drawn to this production of "Les Troyens." And there are some astonishing moments here! Norman is wildly gripping in the part of Cassandra, totally dominating the stage and the first part of the opera. Domingo makes for a strong, masculine Aeneas, and although he had some doubts about singing the part, does a fine job with it. Troyanos is good, but not as blisteringly magnificent as Norman. I do have some problems with the staging, however. Right from the beginning, which should burst at the seems with wild excitement, we get the Trojans walking out, lining up, and declaiming that they are generally pleased the war is over. Um, couldn't they scurry, dance, hug...? The costumes seem to be of the historical epic type, but the er, "sets" are modernist symbolic. Is that the Trojan Horse they drag within the walls...? But don't get me wrong -- a solid production with some incredible singing, acting, and orchestral playing in a rich, fascinating opera that is too vast to be produced regularly. Very rewarding.

Berlioz's LES TROYENS is a unique grand opera. It really deserves to be heard, but also seen. And with the extraordinary staging demands of this opera, now is the time for the major opera companies of the world to be staging this demanding and rewarding work.

The Metropolitan Opera decided to open its Centennial year with a revival of its 1976 (?) production. The sets are too dark and drab, leaving much to be desired. And the staging is stodgy.

But the music-making is first-rate. I concur with all the other reviewers that Jessye Norman is singularly magnificent as Cassandra. Having also heard an audio recording of her Dido (in a radio broadcast in which she sang Cassandra as well!!), I wish that this video/DVD could have captured Norman's Dido as well. Her rendition of this role is even more remarkable than her Cassandra. MET audiences gave her several-minute-long ovations when she sang Dido in the 83-84 season.

Having said that, Troyanos is still wonderful in this performance. Domingo is also top-notch. However, the role was generally too high for his voice and he had to transpose down entire chunks of the music. The rest of the cast is also great.

James Levine leads a rewarding performance, skilfully conveying the grand drama as well as the subtle details of the score.

I'm looking forward to a new production of this opera at the MET this season. However, the 1983 cast won't be matched for quite a while.

When Berlioz came with the project of putting Virgil's Aeneid (more specifically, the second and fourth books), one of his goals was to compose an operatic work worthy of competing with the project Wagner was only beginning to create: the widely famous "Ring des Nibelungen". Having heard both, I've got to say I think he succeeded. Brilliant orchestration, wonderful arias, and breath-taking dramaturgy merge together to create the most cathartic french opera ever composed, and the only one to surpass Meyerbeer's historical operas. Many moments of this opera you will remember forever: Cassandra's laments and despair over Troy's fall, the suicide of the trojan womens in the second act, the third act's finale, with it's vivacious ending war cry, the fourth act's love-duet (maybe the most beautiful ever composed), and the finale of the work, the most dramatic I ever saw (and heard!). Know well that if I had to lose all the operas in my collection, except one, this would be the one I would keep. Musically, it's perfection. It's my favorite opera, hands-down. It's much more than just "romantic Gluck", as Berlioz intended, but a work worthy of immortality.

Jessye Norman (Cassandra, soprano) is very convincing. We can feel her grief and terror as she sings her arias, and she portrays well the prophetess who is the only one to know of Troy's misfortune, without being able to prevent the disaster waiting to fall on it, it's inhabitants and, more importantly, her lover, Coroebus. She is completely believable in the role.

Placido Domingo (Aeneas, tenor) is also very believable as the young hero, son of Venus, who must reach italy for the sake of his people. He looks both young and manly, and his singing is also very good. He gives a sympathetic portrayal of the character, a hero who is a symbol despite himself, a toy for the gods to play with.

Tatiana Troyanos (Dido, soprano) seems almost born for the role (just look at her last name!). She looks both regal in the third and fourth acts, and her despair when she sees Aeneas finally yield to destiny is heart-breaking. Some gripe about her, saying Jessye Norman should have played both roles. Not only do I not see how she could have done better, I think the idea some peoples have to give both Cassandra and Dido's roles to the same person is a mistake. Both heroins are so thoroughly different, it necessarily hurts the dramatic impact to give such different personalities the same face. Personally, I think Levine made the right choice.

All the supporting cast gives a very good performance, though no one comes out of the ordinary.

The staging is rather simple and un-colorful, and only partially goes with Berlioz's original idea. The worst thing about it is when the trojan horse enters Troy at the end of the first act: we only see it's head make a circle around the screen to end up behing Cassandra. Still, aside from that, it remains sober and everything works reasonably well.

There is only one dvd, despite the fact the opera lasts over four hours. Still, I think I would have preferred having two dvds with DTS 5.1 sound, given the particularly wonderful talents Berlioz had for orchestration. The subtitles are only in english and, like in the recording of "Les huguenots" with Joan Sutherland, the translation doesn't always stick that much to the real words the singers say. It's a bit of a problem if french is your first language (just like me), since no one seems to have a perfect diction. Having the libretto with you can come in handy.

Overall, though it is not the definitive version, it's the version to buy for now, and believe me when I say it's worth your money. It's a great opera to give someone who thinks the greatest french operatic masterpieces are "Faust", "Carmen" and "Pelleas et Mélisande" (but only if you already have your own copy handy!).

I was very disappointed with this DVD. June was no Norma. Her recitatives were undramatic and tentative, and her singing uninspired. The Pollione by Shin Young Hoon was much worse, he has a small voice, and the two have absolutely no chemistry at all. Only Barcellona as Adalgisa and the Oroveso (can't remember his name) saved the day. The period orchestra under Biondi sounded thin, like a stage band.

If you want to watch a great current DVD performance of Norma, go for Hasmik Papian's at Orange, France in 1999. It was an absolute triumph, comparable to Caballe's performance there in 1974. You can find the raving reviews of her performance in many opera discussion groups, not only in France, but also elsewhere, of Norma. That is the Norma of our decade, not June Anderson's.

Someone was asking me questions about Opera a few years ago, and one was to identify the most memorable musical passage. That was easy: "Mira, o Norma" from Act II.

Norma is a bel canto opera by Bellini, one of the greatest melodists of all time. As such, the emphasis is on melodic line and bel canto technique, rather than on plot and character. It is an opera where the rich, melodic score is nearly overwhelming in its beauty. It requires singers of stature, and in June Anderson and Daniela Barcellona, the requirements are fully met. Tenor Shin Young Hoon is less than excellent, but does an adequate job, by and large, and bass, Ildar Abdrazakov sings with richness and intensity.

Norma is not an entry level opera, however; there are others more suited to that task. Norma requires a familiarity with operatic singing in general, and bel canto technique, in particular, to be enjoyed. However, that hurdle is a very low one.

The picture quality is good, but a bit grainy. The sound, however has a DTS option that will have the neighbors either raving or complaining, depending on their musical tastes. A good Norma, to paraphrase, is hard to find, and this one is a very satisfying performance for the bel canto fan.

For Bellini's Norma, the majority always flocks to recordings by Maria Callas. For those old enough to remember her, they recall her live performances delivered powerfully and dramatically, hailed by many as simply the best. There were other Normas. Joan Sutherland is considered a worthy successor to Maria Callas, and in my opinion, Shirley Verrett did the role the greatest justice. Beverly Sills, a usually lighter-voice, took the role into her hands in a generally impressive performance, Montserrat Caballe sung the role to great acclaim, as did Jane Eaglen and most recently, Renee Fleming. The power-house Norma requires the diva to have a dramatic, resonant voice, tinged with lyricism and beauty for the flowing vocal lines (it is bel canto, after all). Very few sopranos tackle the challenging role. But in this DVD, previously a film, American soprano June Anderson creates opera history in this performance.

June Anderson has had experience in front of the camera. She dubbed the voice for the "Queen Of The Night" in the Magic Flute sequence portrayed in the 1984 Milos Forman film, Amadeus. June Anderson has a rich, full and expressive voice, at paar with Maria Callas. She becomes Norma suitably. Bellini's greatest opera centers around the Druid priestess who has beared children from a Roman officer, Pellione (played here by an Asian tenor). When Pellione jilts Norma for the younger novice priestess, Adalgisa (mezzo soprano), Norma becomes enraged and in blind fury, attempts to kill her own children. But her nobility and humanity wins over and spares their lives. But when the Roman legions declare war on the Druids, war breaks out. Pellione is taken prisoner before Norma, who offers his freedom in exchange for his return to her. But Pellione is determined to run away with Adalgisa. Norma tells the Druids that she has committed a great sin- having loved the enemy and had his children. Her sentence is death by immolation through fire. Her sacrifice moves Pellione and he joins her in the flames.

The Faust Legend is heady stuff, arising from the heart of medieval Gothic culture. No wonder it exercised such a strong effect on Goethe and on the opera composers (such as Gounod) who made settings of his dramatic poem. Among these, Berlioz comes closest to Goethe in his understanding of the tale - not a maudlin love-story as in Gounod's setting but a depiction of demonism, intoxication, and shameless seduction as responses to boredom and mortality. "La Damnation de Faust" (1846) elaborates Berlioz's earlier "Huit Scenes de Faust" (1828); the composer described it not as an opera but as a "Légende dramatique." For more than a century producers considered it unstageable; but in recent decades advances in stagecraft have solved most of the problems. The performance preserved on the Arthaus DVD comes from the 1999 Salzburg Festival. The company is a Spanish one, La Fura dels Baus. The cast is vocally unexceptionable, with a fine Mephistopheles in Willard White, a decent Faust in Paul Groves, and a slightly overwrought but still plausible ingénue (Margarethe) in Vesselina Kasarova. It's stage-director Alex Olle's visual conception that raises questions. Maybe I'm reactionary, but I see "La Damnation de Faust" in Gothic terms; not necessarily as Gustave Doré saw it in his famous illustrations for Goethe's Part I (although that would be fine with me), but as close and stony in its setting, with architecture in the ogival style. An expressionist mise-en-scene in the style of "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" would be appropriate, too. What La Fura dels Baus gives us, however, is a highly abstract, skeletal-industrial realization full of incomprehensible and seemingly arbitrary touches. Faust, for example, wears what looks like a patient's uniform from a mental asylum; so does everyone else, except Mephistopheles, who appears to shop at Wilson's House of Leather and Suede. Why is Faust (along with the chorus) lugging a milk-can on his back? Why does Mephisto hand Faust a black leather loafer just before he takes him to see Margarethe for the first time? What are the bizarre objects that look like rejected props from a sci-fi flick that the chorus shuffles around the stage? The large tower just right of center-scene is supposed to represent an alchemist's oven, or alembic. The action is supposed to be taking place "inside Faust's mind." Yeah, but Faust had a Gothic mind, not a hackneyed post-modern one. I felt the same moderate indignation that Peter Konwitschny's "Tristan und Isolde" inspired in me when it turned the ship in Wagner's Act I into a cruise-liner, and tarted up the scene in cream-whites with splashes of primary blue and red totally inappropriate to the darkness of the tale. The eccentricity of the staging in this "Damnation" is a pity, since DVD is obviously THE medium for recorded opera; and because the performance is musically meritorious. (It's not on the level of the criterion-setting Colin Davis readings, old or new, but it's good.) Opera is as much stagecraft as it is music; so SEEING it is half the experience. Even a materially limited staging, like those preserved on the videotapes of the Glyndebourne opera, can be fascinating to watch. Bergman's "Magic Flute" and Syberberg's "Parsifal" are exemplary. I'd like to see a less avant-garde mounting of Berlioz's compelling "Legend." (There must be one, in some television archive somewhere.) Even so, the added visual dimension makes the Arthaus DVD worth acquiring, especially if one were curious about Berlioz and did not already own a recording of "La Damnation." The documentation is good, but buyers will have to content themselves with synopses of the plot rather than with a libretto. This is not so much a problem, however, as viewers can select subtitles in a variety of languages, including the original French. Recommended with the various qualms and qualifications stipulated above.

Between the trinatron cylinder occupying the center of the stage to the faux rubber/leather costumes of the performers one can deduce that this is indeed a Euro-kink production of Berlioz' most melodic and underrated Symphony/Opera.

But despite the bizzare treatment, it works. In fact it works very well.

In fact the only complaint I have is the conductors insistance on playing certain pieces particularly slow....a bit of a nusance. But all in all a disc well worth the price.

Best of all is to see the interpretation of Berlioz' incredible music visually. While it dispenses with the stereotypical romantic visuals of flowers, forests, stone clad homes, wide reaching vistas. The music supplies these elements in the sublimely minimalist production. The music afterall is meant to suggest the emotional romantic canvas that our hero Faust exhists in. The minimalist production supports Fausts individual crisis. Creating a somewhat Terry Gilliam "Brazil" like approach to his struggle and eventual demise.

Watch and enjoy. You may need to view it a couple of times. But it is worth it.

I have known this work most of my (long) life and often speculated with friends about how best to stage it; back in the day there were almost no stagings to see. We pretty much concluded that only a special effects film could do it justice! However, in this DVD my wife and I found thrills aplenty and must take issue with most of the negative criticism here and elsewhere; the shift is apparently to some kind of post-industrial hell, fair enough. But the problem always has been to provide stage action during long stretches of music since there are no original stage directions and much space to fill. I found this phantasmagoric blend of monumental sets and video projections to be absorbing, thought-provoking, and ultimately thrilling. I feel that the usual Berliozian drug-induced fantasies with universal themes leave the field open to a broad range of interpretations, this as valid as any. I do agree that I have heard better musical interpretations (get the original Munch/BSO recording) but that did not seriously spoil the overall pleasureable experience. I was looking for a stunner of a visual experience in this and was not disappointed.

This is the legendary Caballé Norma, a live outdoor performance filmed in the Théâtre Antique Orange in Provence in 1974. Like Callas, Caballé's live performances frequently exceed her studio renditions of the same work. There are several recordings of her in this role. Generally, they are hit or miss but that night she got it absolutely perfect: a true goddess with a voice of an angel floating ethereally. She herself is said to regard it as her finest recorded performance. It is musically and dramatically thrilling. Caballé, who was later accused of being motionless and indifferent on stage, is at her most committed here.

Patané approaches the score as if it were early Verdi. His lead and the response of all on stage give this performance a majestic grandeur with a sustained rhythmic thrust. Vickers is at his prime here. He did not record the role anywhere else. The other soloists all stand out. The tension electrifies the entire performance. Even the mistral (a veritable windstorm) joins in a role of its own to magnify the dramatic effect. It was later imitated in other productions. There is no other Norma of this caliber. It is simply a miracle.

The audio was recorded in one evening and combined with video filmed during several performances, with hardly any lip sync problems. The film has been available from a variety of sources over the years. This one is a significant improvement over previous VHS and LaserDisc versions. Three publishers currently issue it on DVD, Hardy Classics being the best, but only in PAL. It is the only PAL DVD that I am aware of that is offered for sale in North America by one on-line retailer. This reflects on Hardy's reputation, as well as on that of this performance. Amazon offers the new VAI issue, obviously in NTSC. Prior to this issue the only NTSC version was from the elusive Japanese Dreamlife company, for three times the price.

The sound is in mono. I need to emphasize that there have been better audio versions available of the same event on CD. Opera fans that are familiar with them may have issues with the sound. The wind blowing into the microphones presented problems that different engineers solved with varying degrees of success. One should not expect a film that compares with the best of today's technical standards. Rather, it compares favorably with other historic performances.

Despite the technical issues, it is in a category of its own. Many opera fans consider it the single most important video of a complete live performance available.

The principals of this opera sing their hearts out with total commitment, and abandon themselves totally to the emotional depths of the characters. What more could you want? Beauty of tone and accuracy of pitch? Well, they do that as well. This is in-your-face interpretation of a great opera, and the singers make a great case for the opera, forcing the viewer/listener to accept Norma on its own terms. In summary, the singing is gorgeous enough to melt the most detached listener.

There are a few (albeit not very many) visual treats, primarily Montserrat Caballe gesticulating grandly with a relentless wind blowing the various veils and capes surrounding her into the wind with an extraordinary effect reminiscent of ancient paintings of mythic characters performing their great deeds with a mighty wind blowing through everything.

Yes, the singing is great and it's too bad about the wind in the period microphones, but the performance is so magnificent that you don't care about the mediocre sound quality. Really. This performance, perhaps more than many others of various operas that I've experienced, truly defines that elusive and often too easily applied attribute of "classic historical performance". I really cannot imagine a Norma sung with more commitment and excitement. The intensity is almost unbearable. This is opera as concentrated passion. Don't miss it.

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

This Opera may be considered among the better ones. Not in the league of Aida, or Rigoletto, or Carmen. However, well sung and presented, it can be made to exude magical qualities. With Joan Sutherland (JS) as Norma, and Tatiana Troyanos (TT) as Adalgisa, I expected a thoroughly satisfying experience. I had never before heard of Francisco Ortiz (FO, - as Pollione), but then this Opera is mainly for the lead female singers.

What do you have instead?

First of all, mono sound! Yes a mono recording made in 1981! Did not stereo recordings become standard in the '50's or '60's? Do the sound engineers (assuming there were any) at the Canadian Opera Company (COC), having failed to record in stereo, not heard of enhancing mono sound for stereo, without any loss in quality. Poor marks for this!

Then the lighting! Could the COC not afford to pay their energy bills in the period preceding this presentation? As it is, there appears to be only one spotlight, and that shines brightly on the front and center stage. All else is dark and murky, and depressing. I cannot comment on the stage props or the costumes of almost all of the supporting performers, as they can barely be seen in the all-pervading shadows.

Then the performance! It might as well be a series of still photographs, with some movement in the lips to confirm that the performers were all alive and not cardboard cutouts. Was this really why the lighting was turned down? Even so, why were all the shots made from a static position? Did they have cameramen of average competence, to pan the cameras a bit, to put some life in the shots?

By the way, both JS and TT were supposed to be temple virgins, but they played what they were at the time - stogy middle-aged. women. FO deservedly did not go very far in the opera world. In that, justice was subsequently done.

No libretto was supplied, and this has become standard for DVD presentations. It is needed in this case however, as the English sub-titles (which incidentally, cannot be turned off), are very sparing. A lot of the nuances in the singing were therefore lost.

The opera did end eventually, or I should really say, expire. This presentation, which lacked dynamic energy and was quite boring at times, simply fizzled out an the end

Then why do I still give it two stars? Simply because JS's singing was generally superb, and so to a lesser extent, was TT's. Viewed as a presentation of arias, and not as a whole opera, there were redeeming moments.

Please avoid this DVD, which certainly does not deserve a premium price. Buy something else instead, and wait for another presentation to do some justice to Bellini's good composition.

Troyanos is the most exciting presence and singer in this production. Both Norma (Sutherland) and Pollione are not great, but they are more exciting when Troyanos is on stage. Sutherland must have been history by the time this was made. I have heard her on cd's and I know her voice was tremendous. This DVD does not convey at all why she became famous and was called "La Stupenda." Not at all.
The only thing I can say about Pollione is he looks pretty good in short armour, remembering he's supposed to be a warrior (therefore solid looking); his singing did not interest me.
The production itself is not so great: the sound vanishes periodically (during arias!) and the sub-titles are erratic at best, vanishing for whole chunks of time. I would not buy another disc from this company unless I were certain that production values (and subtitles) were better and the star singers in better form.

Firstly, I agree that Norma is 'not in the same league' as Aida, Rigoletto or Carmen. It is in a league ABOVE any of these except perhaps Carmen! Norma is a true, fully-sung, lyrical opera, not a dramatic play with the speaking parts replaced by ear-piercing recitatives and interspersed with a few paltry arias like most other so-called operas (I could not sit through my Aida DVD). Bellini stands alone in being capable of such a creation, and musically is more akin to Chopin than any opera composer. If only he had lived longer, and if only we had an early Callas performance on DVD!

As for this performance, Sutherland's 1978 with Elkins is slightly better, though her Casta Diva was wobbly. Sutherland was already off her peak then, but better than in this 1981 performance. Its also available on DVD but offered here only in VHS format. Caballe has 2 performances available on DVD/VHS too. The one with Vickers/Veasey of 1974 is more beautifully sung, but the 1978 with Cossotto as Adalgisa is the fiery one. And both show Caballe at her prime.

Without being outstanding, there are solid musical values in this performance, particularly by conductor, orchestra and choruses. The singers acquit themselves professionally without providing thrills. Ms. Polaski makes a fine Cassandra but falls far short for Dido...the voice isn't rich enough.... very few can perform both parts ably; only Jessye Norman comes to mind. Dido sounds better as a mezzo than as a soprano (Christa Ludwig wins my sweepstakes, closely followed by Jessye). Mr. Villars is quite a find for this very difficult part. No one in my memory has owned the role as decisively as Jon Vickers. Mr. Villars' instrument is quite different from Vickers' in timbre and heft, but on his own terms, he is quite outstanding. And it's a fresh, young voice.

The disappointment is the production. And a huge disappointment it is. It amounts to a white, plaster cyclorama with a narrow crack in the middle through which one gets glimpses of what is supposed to be happening. This is just totally unsatisfactory. One can put up with such nonsense in Troy..... after all, it's going to get destroyed..... but Carthage? The Carthage music is some of the most sensuous, poignant compositions ever written.... this production goes out of its way to annihilate beauty and delight. One is left with Messrs. Wernicke's and Tarta's arid pretensions. For all its Salzbourg pedigree, the production looks cheap.

It is a shame. Les Troyens is one of the greatest operas ever written. It is powerful drama conceived in extraordinarily beautiful musical terms. It is not performed frequently. It adds insult to injury that Salzbourg, with all its financial resources, could not come up with something better than this. It's shameful.

So..... should you buy this DVD? The Met's old production is infinetly better and it is served well in its DVD. As for this contraption..... well, it's ok if you like to watch your DVD operas with your eyes closed.