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List Price: $29.99Amazon.com's Price: $26.99 You Save: $3.00 (10%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780769775081
Format: Classical, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
ISBN: 076977508X
Label: Kultur Video
Manufacturer: Kultur Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Kultur Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: March 26, 2002
Running Time: 140 minutes
Sales Rank: 50132
Studio: Kultur Video
Theatrical Release Date: 1977
Editorial Review:
Description:
Dame Joan Sutherland and tenor Alfredo Kraus star in Donizetti's tale of sixteenth century opulence and decadence. Joan Sutherland is unquestionably the unsurpassed Lucrezia of all-time, and this production at Covent Garden showcases her incomparable coloratura technique. Bel canto specialist Richard Bonynge conducts The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House in this historic performance.
Cast - Lucrezia Borgia - Joan Sutherland
Gennaro - Alfredo Kraus
Maffio Orsini - Anne Howells
Alfonso d'Este - Stafford Dean
The Royal Opera Chorus
Chorus Master - John Barker
The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Amazon.com:
This 1980 Covent Garden production of Donizetti's opera based on the infamous dramatic heroine was undertaken so that one of the few sopranos who would dare tackle the fearsome range of Lucrezia Borgia--Dame Joan Sutherland--could do so in a setting amenable to her talent. And tackle it she does. This might not be the definite Lucrezia (a slight nod would go to Montserrat Caballe's 1965 RCA audio recording), but Sutherland shows she has the sheer chops to overcome Donizetti's piling on of difficulty after vocal difficulty. From the prologue's 'Com e Bello,' Sutherland never lets up through her gripping final scene of intense anguish and melodrama. Richard Bonynge conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House with aplomb, and the supporting cast--Alfredo Kraus, Anne Howells, and Stafford Dean--performs ably in Sutherland's wake. --Kevin Filipski
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Wretched production
Lucrezia Borgia, while not one of Donizetti's best operas with a rather dopey libretto, is well worth hearing but not in this poor production. The camera work is at best routine, and tends to reveal the weaknesses of the staging, the stolid nature of the acting, and the rather inappropriate casting from a visual point of view of the two female leads. The subtitles are farcically incomplete and there is no libretto or any other useful information. Yes, the singing is distinguished, and Anne Howells ... Read More
Rating:  - NOT BAD, BUT GIVE ME CABALLE.... ANY TIME
I enjoyed this somewhat wooden performance and I think it can be recommended with the qualifications that other reviewers have already stated. But of course if one wants to hear a truly sublime performance of the title role, one has to settle for audio only and hear Montserrat Caballé. Nobody should miss her breakthrough Carnegie Hall performance in 1965 (pirate recording with wonderful sound on several labels). That's a really magical and truly legendary performance. Her studio recording on RCA ... Read More
Rating:  - glamorous Old School Donizetti
This is a spectacular 1980 performance from Covent Garden starring Sutherland and Kraus. This is the glamorous way opera performances are supposed to be... with lavish costumes. The purple number that Sutherland wears in the Prologue gets us off to a great start. One hopes that the animal pelts in Act One are faux, but they certainly look sumptuous. Her red gown and train for the final scene looks exactly like she's wearing the entire Covent Garden curtain! The outfit Orsini (Anne Howells) sports ... Read More
Rating: - I guess I'll make some enemies, but...
...I don't much admire Joan Sutherland. I never heard her sing on stage; most of my impressions come from DVD performances recorded when everyone had begun to excuse her for being past her prime. Reflecting just on the current performance of Lucrezia Borgia, I find her acclaim inexplicable.
First, she can't act. Will even her most ardent fans defend her stage presence? In this production, she moves about like an oversized high-school girl trying to remember her blocking... with all the awkward ... Read More
Rating: - Dreadful, though no fault of Joan Sutherland
I recently purchased this DVD, with high hopes. A few years ago, I saw Sutherland's Lucrezia Borgia from Opera Australia, on VHS. I assumed that the currently available DVD from the Covent Garden production would be an even better treat. Boy, was I wrong- and disappointed!
It is painfully evident that there was scant rehearsal time for this particular staging of Lucrezia Borgia. The chorus is wooden, stiff, and expressionless. Even worse is the heavy reliance on the prompter for just about ... Read More
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