A new staging of the Beethoven opera recorded live from the Zurich Opera House in February 2004. Camilla Nylund stars as Leonore and Jonas Kaufmann stars as Florestan.
In 1970, Leonard Bernstein was invited by the Vienna State Opera to prepare a new ... more
production of Fidelio for the Beethoven bicentennial. He returned in 1978 to make this recording with an all-star cast featuring Gundula Janowitz in the title role. At the same time, Bernstein was finishing his integral recording of the Beethoven Symphonies with the State Opera's pit orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic. It's hardly surprising, then, that this account of Beethoven's only opera conveys such an extraordinary sense of occasion and exhibits a degree of musical cohesion that can only be described as "symphonic." Bernstein is, of course, the biggest star of all here, and he presides over a performance of remarkable strength and dramatic conviction, especially memorable for the emotional intensity of the climactic moments (in particular, Pizzaro's "Ha! Welch ein Augenblick!", the Act I finale, and the Act II quartet). One of the account's most striking features is its insertion of the Leonore Overture No. 3 before the final scene of Act II, honouring a tradition established by Gustav Mahler when he was director of the Vienna Court Opera at the beginning of the 20th century. In Bernstein's hands, this 15-minute interlude becomes an impassioned meditation on the themes of love, courage, and self-sacrifice that lie at the heart of the opera. --Ted Libbey
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There are several good recordings of Beethoven's only opera--most notably, perhaps, those ... more
of Otto Klemperer and Wilhelm Furtwangler, both intensely dedicated--in their different ways--to bringing out the music's nobility and idealism. I would not want to be without either one, but they do not exhaust possible approaches to this masterpiece. Mackerras offers an exciting alternative from the crackling first chords of the overture: high energy, dramatic tension and strong narrative flow in this story of a political prisoner, persecuted and condemned to death, whose wife disguises herself as a man to gain access to his dungeon. The singing and playing are first class, and vivid recording heightens the excitement. --Joe McLellan
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Birgitt Nilsson puts the "dramatic" into "dramatic soprano" in her portrayal of ... more
Leonore/Fidelio in this classic recording from 1964. She marshals all the forces of her rich, powerful voice to thrilling effect, beginning with her muted entrance in the Act 1 quartet, through a hair-raising rendition of "Abscheulicher!" (when she has overheard the plot to murder her husband), to the brilliant joy of her final duet. She is well matched by McCracken, who spares us nothing of Florestan's hysteria and madness in his great aria from Act 2. Pizarro is written pretty much as a cardboard villain, but Krause brings a booming enjoyment to the role which compensates for the two-dimensional quality of characterisation. Maazel's speeds are generally much quicker than on other recordings, giving the whole opera a thrilling urgency. The Vienna Philharmonic is on top form; the beginnings of "Mir ist so wunderbar", and the Prisoners' Chorus are models of string playing at its absolute best, and the horns in "Abscheulicher!" have to be heard to be believed. This recording gives us a collection of talents at the peak of their powers. --Warwick Thompson
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Release Date: 2008-03-04, Audio CD, Golden Melodram
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Music / Performing Arts - Director: Lotfi Mansouri - Original Language: English - Classification: Exempt - Starring: Yvonne Kenny, Boje Skovhus, Angelika Kirchschlager, Gregory Turay
Music / Performing Arts, Comedy - Director: Trevor Nunn, Geoffrey Posner - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, Parental Guidance - Starring: Duncan Preston, Celia Imrie, Julie Walters, Victoria Wood, Jim Broadbent
Advantages: Looks great, sounds great, the best of Kubrick Disadvantages: That Kidman laugh
I must start this review by stating that I'm more than aware that I'm in the small minority that love the movie Eyes Wide Shut, I'm not trying to get you to invest cash in this movie, the chances are if you have not seen it you might not enjoy it. Strangely, or maybe not so strange this review of Stanley Kubrick's last, and in my opinion finest movie. As thus all I ask is that with some years passed since its release the next time you see the movie on TV, or are stuck for a DVD rental you give this film a shot; now all the controversy and expectation has passed you can enjoy the movie for what it is.
Dr. Bill Harford (Tom Cruise) and his wife Alice (Nicole Kidman) are a reasonably wealthy couple enjoying the fruits of many years hard work, they have a beautiful home and have an active life networking at parties. It's a night out ...
Advantages: A new way to hear Beethoven Disadvantages: Surpassed by some later period cycles
INTRODUCTION
Beethoven's nine symphonies cover one of the major cornerstones of symphonic literature along with the likes of Haydn, Brahms and Sibelius. Beethoven was born in turbulent times when the common people's dissatisfaction toward the ruling monarchs in Europe was reaching new heights which finally culminated in the French Revolution in 1789. Against this came Beethoven, who was born into a family of musicians in Bonn in 1770. His father wanted to coin in on the child prodigy market created by Mozart whose father had exploited his genius in a similar way. But Beethoven was no Mozart. He wasn't born a child progidy and his performing skills were nowhere near as natural as they were with Mozart. Still he made rapid progress as a piano virtuoso and an amateur composer. He was even supposed to take some lessons with Mozart in Wien ...
Advantages: A bizarre pornographic movie with a genuine story Disadvantages: Tedious mechanical sex
Ever read any of my reviews? Well if you have it might seem like I'm sliding down a very murky path. This review is going to convince you further, The Opening Of Misty Beethoven is as dirty as it possibly sounds. Misty Beethoven is for the most part hard core pornography, but what's different about this movie is that it has a proper storyline, proper actors, a director that flips from blockbuster movies to hardcore porn at the drop of a hat; and the biggest surprise is that it's acclaimed by movie enthusiasts, critics and alike; even top movie resource the Internet Movie Database has it listed as the highest rated porn movie of all time.
Misty Beethoven is living in France and works as a prostitute; the trouble with Misty is that her menu is incredibly limited: Handjobs and straight sex only, no oral, no anal Misty is battling ...
A new staging of the Beethoven opera recorded live from the Zurich Opera House in February 2004. Camilla Nylund stars as Leonore and Jonas Kaufmann stars as Florestan.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
TDK UK LTD; SELECT MUSIC & VIDEO DISTRIBUTION
Release date
28/02/2005
No of Discs
1
Catalogue No
DV OPFID
Barcode
5450270012428
Composer
Ludwig van Beethoven
Technical information
Aspect Ratio
16:9
Sound
DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, LPCM Stereo
DVD Description
A new staging of the Beethoven opera recorded live from the Zurich Opera House in February 2004. Camilla Nylund stars as Leonore and Jonas Kaufmann stars as Florestan.
![Beethoven: Fidelio [DVD] [2004]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/79482852.jpg)
