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(More customer reviews)When this production of 'Carmen' was mounted at the Vienna State Opera in 1978 it caused quite a stir. Mostly that was because Carlos Kleiber rarely conducted opera and when he did it was always an occasion. And Zeffirelli, controversial but brilliant as an opera conductor, always created a stir with any new production of his. This film was also directed by Zeffirelli for Austrian television and as far as I know it has not been available in general circulation since its initial airing. It is a fitting tribute to Kleiber whose death this last summer was a blow for the classical music world. He was surely one of the great conductors of recent times.
Plácido Domingo is in his prime here as Don José. In Act II 'La fleur que tu m'avais jetée' ('The Flower Song') is thrilling, even though he doesn't quite manage the pianissimo ending Bizet intended. There is a five-minute-plus ovation at its finish, and it is well-deserved. It is interesting that Zeffirelli left the entire ovation in his edited film because there are many other places in the performance where the applause has been edited out. One wonders if he wasn't playing favorites with his cast. Elena Obraztsova gets silence after several of her arias, but Isobel Buchanan gets a huge ovation after her Act III 'Je dis que rien ne m'epouvante,' again deservedly so. It is true that Obraztsova is not an ideal Carmen, at least in the early going when she is supposed to be the alluring, devil-may-care gypsy woman. Later, though, in the Card Scene where she repeatedly turns up cards that predict 'La mort!' ('Death!) she is riveting. Our Escamillo is, to my mind, rather a cipher. Yuri Mazurok has a solid baritone, but his torero does not have the necessary vocal or physical swagger, and his French is almost unintelligible. The minor characters are well-taken. I was particularly impressed both vocally and histrionically with the Frasquita (Cheryl Kanfoush) and Mercédès (Axelle Gall), singers not previously known to me.
The undoubted star of this production is Carlos Kleiber. From the downbeat of the Prélude to the very end of the opera, his musical direction is as exciting as any I've ever heard in this thrice-familiar opera. Zeffirelli knew this, too. His camera focuses on Kleiber repeatedly throughout the production, sometimes even interrupting action onstage, but generally only when the orchestra is playing alone. I had never seen Kleiber conduct, so I was very pleased to be able to see this. (I was amused to see him give the opening tempo of those fast sixteenths at the beginning of the fourth act by mouthing to orchestra and chorus 'Puh puh Puh puh Puh puh' before giving the downbeat.) I can imagine others, less interested in the conductor, might feel that Zeffirelli's cutting away to show Kleiber is a distraction. The members of the Vienna Philharmonic play like gods. Their rhythmic precision is jaw-droppingly good. I'd particularly single out the concertmaster and the principal flute for praise.
This is one of those over-the-top Zeffirelli productions. There are huge numbers of people onstage much of the time and Zeffirelli's vaunted ability to direct crowds, giving each member some individual bits to perform, is on show here. The camerawork is such that at times one almost believes one is watching an opened-out movie of an opera, not one confined to a stage. I did think all the donkeys and horses in Act III were a bit much, but the crowd outside the bullring arena in Act IV (and featuring exciting flamenco dancers) was a great pleasure to watch.
The edition used here appears to be the one by Fritz Oeser, with spoken dialog and sans the Guiraud recitatives. That was something new in the 1970s and must have been interesting for seasoned operaphiles. I well remember a 1973 production at the Met conducted by Bernstein and starring Marilyn Horne that broke with precedent by using this new edition. I don't know if that one has made it to video.
Is this the definitive 'Carmen.' Well, first of course one would have to ask if there could ever be such a thing. Is it a good 'Carmen'? You bet it is! I do wish the Carmen had perhaps been a bit more alluring, but one cannot argue with that huge organ-toned mezzo of Obraztsova. And it's hard to imagine a better Don José. Isobel Buchanan's Micaëla is a tiny bit generic (as perhaps the part itself is), but lovely and appealing. Mazurok has his admirers, but I'm not particularly one of them. Still, this DVD rates five stars; it definitely is an occasion and an exciting one. Interestingly there is another Zeffirelli production from Verona on DVD that I like almost as much as this one, even though the cast is a whole lot less famous, but its orchestra is nowhere near as good.
Visually this is stunning and in crisp videography. Sound is clear and in plain vanilla stereo, no options. Subtitles in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish.
Recommended with minor reservations.
TT=154mins
Scott Morrison
Click Here to see more reviews about: Bizet - Carmen / Obraztsova, Domingo, Mazurok, Buchanan, Rydl, Zednik, Kleiber, Vienna Opera
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