CARMEN OPERA VIENNA FULL

But when he notices Carmen, the worker coveted by all his comrades, he also falls for her. Her murderer is the dutiful soldier Don Jos�, who until now only had eyes for his mother and the young Mica�la, with whom he grew up together.

But the highest price in this web of dysfunctional relationships is paid by Carmen � a woman who loves her independence more than anything else, including men.

CARMEN OPERA VIENNA FULL

The picture format is 4:3, and the sound is LPCM stereo.It's a story full of misunderstandings: Love is confused with desire, an affair with an exclusive relationship, affection with possession, and violence with passion. Most of the applause at the curtain calls has been retained, however, which gives the viewer a pleasant 'you are there' feeling. They might have apologized for the sound instead, which is cavernous and not always friendly to the voices. TDK apologizes for the quality of the picture, but apart from some passing 'snow' and the darkness of the two middle acts, it's not bad. The smaller roles are done well, but again, there's some sub-par French from the German-speaking members of the cast. Everyone sings too loudly, though – Kleiber's fault, I think, for not reining in the orchestra.

And what a voice! Isobel Buchanan was an eleventh-hour addition to the cast, but her touching Micaëla is finely acted and sung. Like Obraztsova, Mazurok's command of the French language is questionable, but his Escamillo has undeniable charisma. His Act One duet with Micaëla is gorgeous, and his Flower Song brings the house down. Domingo, in curly and increasingly grey wigs, is a predictably excellent Don José. She has a tendency to sing sharp however. She even interpolates a high note in the Seguidille. She doesn't shy away from using her chest voice campily, and her upper registers are no less thrilling. Obraztsova is a high-powered and fun-loving Carmen – no creature haunted by Fate until she sees her death in the cards. Kleiber even goes so far as to move the last act's entr'acte right into the middle of the choruses which open that act, providing the flamenco dancers with another opportunity to strut their stuff. It was a mistake to have Carmen and Don José speak their first dialogue right over the orchestra's statement of the Fate motif they detract from each other, and Obraztsova can't even be heard properly. Kleiber elects to use a version of the score which is neither fish nor fowl, using spoken dialogue here, recitatives there, and whatever suits him among the various changes which the score underwent in its genesis and early productions.

A French opera? Not in this production, which both musically and dramatically is as subtle as a flying paella pan. Accents are leaped upon with vicious precision, and while there is excitement galore, there is precious little charm, subtlety, or respite. Kleiber pushes score along as if he were running the bulls in Pamplona. If you like your operas to be directed and filmed as if they were Hollywood movies, then Zeffirelli is your man. For example, at the end of the first act, Carmen, instead of pushing Don José, drops a canopy on his head. Sometimes Zeffirelli's direction runs contrary to the libretto.

I imagine that this was more distracting to audience members than it is on video. Also, no opportunity to introduce stage business – and horses and donkeys! - has been missed. At times, the principals get lost in the crowd. The stage is almost always crowded with physically attractive supers, and even the choristers seem to have been chosen more for their looks than for their ability to produce a full, blended sound. Add one of the world's most popular tenors and (oh yes) an opera almost everyone loves, and you have a good reason to stay home and watch TV. (The performance presented here was televised by Austrian television.) There must also have been curiosity about the Russians in the cast – Obraztsova and Mazurok – and about the direction (both for the stage and for the television cameras) of Franco Zeffirelli. The Viennese were delighted when the elusive Carlos Kleiber agreed to conduct this production at the Vienna Staatsoper in December 1978.

Carmen opera vienna