Video Movie Reviews

For the casting, Joan is still amazing at her age. It is true that she does not possess the stamina at the end of the opera (listen to her last note and compare with her Decca CD recording), but in average, this is still Joan's typical great performance. James Morris handles his role brilliantly, and acts as if he were a king ^_^. I think the tenor Michael Myers' timbre is a bit too dark for my taste, but his overall vocal and acting skills are still admirable nonetheless. Other smaller roles are mostly very capable, including Ben Heppner taking up Hervey.

A minor criticism is that, in the year 1984, they are still recoring in mono! I do not understand this, and this may scare away some audiophiles. By setting up my surround sound system, I manage to get a more spatial sound stage. And after about 3 minutes after the overture, I totally forget about this audio deficiency since it is really an enjoyable opera performance.

Joan Sutherland- This is Australian soprano, who was married to conductor Richard Bonynge, has been hailed for her beautiful voice. It is beautiful. It is smooth, gracefull, rich, full and very round and heavy. Her voice is always at home in bel canto operas. It is non wonder then that she is most recognized for her performances in Lucrezia Borgia, Lucia Di Lammermoor and in this DVD, the role of Anne Boylen. As the tragic queen, she manages to portray a vast range of emotions and visually the whole production is impressive. Joan Sutherland is older in this video, which was filmed in the 80's but her dramatic persona is quite convincing. Her facial contortions, her cries and her grace make her very believable as the historic Anne Boylen. This opera was Donizetti's first big hit, earning him prestige in the Italian theater of San Carlo. He would produce and deliver operas to a favorable public for years to come.

The story of Henry 8th's merciless and cruel treatment of Anne is performed well. Henry 8th is sung by a bass-baritone (the archetypical opera villain voice) and strides with regial tyranny as the real king would have done. He has no actual arias but his talents are showcased in various recitatives with Jane Seymour (a mezzo soprano with some dramatic textures) and in the ensembles. Jane Seymour in this opera is a performance delivered rather well, despite some strains now and then, especiallly in the duet with Anne. Highlights in this opera include the quintet and sextets of Act 1 and 2, the romantic duet between Percy and Anne and of courses Anne's final scenes- the Mad Scene and her execution. It was Anne's Mad Scene that preceeded and echoed the later and more famous Mad Scene of Lucia Di Lammermoor, Donizettis most popular masterpiece. Both Ann and Lucia hallucinate of marriage, speak of lost love and are completely overwhelmed by melancholia, arias and roulades accompanied by the sounds of flutes. Although Lucia's Mad Scene is better musicallly and dramaticallly, Annes Mad Scene is quite dramatic as well. Her most challenging aria comes in the end in "Coppia Iniquia" in which she awaits her execution and plunges into roulades and exclamations against the terrible crime of her death.

I personally prefer Beverly Sills in the role of Anne Boylen, but there exists only a recording of it on cd and in the box set of the Three Tudor Queens. Beverlys live performance of Anne Boylen was never filmed but it must have been a sensation and the best interpretation. Joan Sutherland is a good singer but she falls short on acting credibility.

However, I have had trouble with 2 copies of the DVD I have bought so far. Both times, chapters 9-12 have played OK but won't fast forward or rewind. When you try to do either the DVD freezes up. I'm not sure if I'm buying from a bad batch of DVDs at the particular store I went to or if this is a problem with all the Backstage DVD's but it's frustrating if you want to just skip to a particular scene within any of these chapters. In summation: great disc for those wanting to see some of the reality behind the glitz and glamor of the hip hop music world but buyer beware: there may be problems with your DVD depending on where you purchase it.

This was a neat show to watch. The frankness of the subject made me uncomfortable at first. But as the show progressed, I began to relate to these women on several levels. I felt joy, disgust, pain, and awe as Ensler told these stories. She has a great stage presence.

The Vagina Monologues isn't about vaginas per se, but about femininity and the taboos and myths that surround it. I recommend this DVD and the book to every woman, no matter what age.

movie and a lovely memento of Anna Moffo in her signature role.

I began to get depressed while watching this video, and actually began to be really put off (for the first time) by the fact that her act is so much about ripping to pieces mostly women in her own chosen fields (comedy, music, fashion, and acting). While she at one point signals her awareness of this in her act (and blames the media for it), this doesn't seem to excuse her entirely. But after the formal show this video present outtakes from it, and she redeems herself utterly. Bernhard seems less soulless and monstrous (and much funnier) when she can give and take with an audience and break down the fourth wall, and there are some routines (especially one about Linda Evangelista fixing her watch) that are absolutely hilarious. I fastforwarded through the songs and even some of the bits of the main show, but I replayed the outtakes several times.

No, Rollins doesn't walk on stage and simply make up the show from scratch every night. Importantly though, nor are his shows scripted performances that are the same every night of the week. I think this distinction needs to me made, as the reviews so far seem to say that this DVD falls short when (depending what you're after) it certainly does not.

This is a comedic performance. The fact that Henry has proven himself capable of offering deeper, more poignant food-for-thought-type material and elected not to include it here should not count against it. Almost all of the material in this show is of a high standard, with only a few exceptions that tend to drag on a little bit (See: "Klan Chaos Distruption Team). The pace is moderate - more short, funny stories than long tales such as The Kiss Army (on Talk Is Cheap) rather than long tales with humour throughout. The direction isnt as bad as some have said, but it could have been better; crowd shots generally contribute nothing to stage show DVDs. This disc also features an interview with Henry that fans will enjoy as some of the questions/subjects are rather good and provoke some interesting answers.

Prospective purchasers beware: the people who attend (and review..) Rollins shows generally comprise two types of people. The Not-As-Good-As-He-Used-To-Be brigade, who appear to miss the more serious side of Rollins earlier shows and consequently mark down anything he releases that doesnt have talk of depression-inducing (if thoughtful and insightful) observations, and the rest of us who simply enjoy the man's sense of humour, storytelling skills and all-round take on life.

Don't be put off by the naysayers, this is a good DVD whether you're a fan of Rollins or not.

DVD Audio: 2.0 -
has a very annoying tape hiss that can be very distracting during the quieter numbers.

Production: Zero. 0.00. Naught. Niente.
Evidently, this is the unrevised Ivanovich/Petipa choreography. Ideologically this makes sense because Swan Lake was created for the Kirov. Unfortunately, the choreography that most people see nowadays is some stepchild of the Frederick Ashton revision. I can't think of any reason why someone made the decision to go with the old orthodoxy. At best, it's a curiosity. The worst thing about it is the relative aimlessness of the principle male dancer. Again, no excuse for letting sleeping dogs lie - so to speak.

Galina Mezentseva (Odette/Odile): 7.5 -
great technique, emotionally lackluster. Nevertheless, she's the only possible reason why you might want this DVD.

Konstantin Zaklinsky (Prince Siegfried): 4.5 -
he was probably a pretty good dancer in 1986: good looking, nice long legs;the problem is, he doesn't get to do anything with them (he has one bit in Act III where he gets to do a once-around with grand jettes (they're perfect). That's basically the only moment he's allowed to shine. But he's a decent partner. It was pretty obvious that he was bored.

Corps de ballet: 8.0. -
Pretty solid in a late soviet-era sort of way. Lots of technique. Little joy.

Orchestra: 3.0 -
The violin soloist in the grand pas de deux in Act II is stunning. Best I've ever heard on this music. Ditto some of the wind soloists. The rest of the orchestra is passable, but it is conducted with a sluggishness that begs the old cliche about how gloomy it was to live in the Soviet Union, and how nobody really cared about his work. This guy is just wretched.

Content - extra features: none

Single most annoying thing:
This package contains ZERO information (in English), on the case, the insert, or on the DVD itself, apart from the names of the two principles. No mention is made of what the name of the orchestra is, who conducts, what year the production was made. Some of this information is available in the end-credits, but it's in Russian, so... I gathered from my very humble ability to sound out Russian characters that the Academy Orchestra of the Kirov Opera/Ballet was conducted by Yevgeny something-or-other.

There is really no excuse for this DVD with the possible exception of Mezentseva who has great technique but doesn't connect very smoothly with the music.

I believe that this splendid production on video owes much to its director Colin Nears. With so many elements at work, he has quite successfully maintained a balance that enables us the viewers to enjoy the ballet as if it were a live performance and we were in the orchestra.