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Salome: Nadja Michael The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden March 2008. Plus Documentary – ‘David McVicar: A work in process’. Opus Arte OA0996D [16:9; c. 168 mins] This is a wholly successful filmed translation onto DVD of David McVicar's notable production which, live at Covent Garden early this year, garnered hundreds of inches of (mainly) fulsome, well-deserved appreciation, gathered by TheOperaCritic - some specific links are provided below for non-members of that indispensible website. I limit myself here to hailing one of the best of opera DVDs, released very quickly. Importantly, the musical balance is excellent as is the tonal quality, the orchestra taking and holding 'centre stage'; many of us will feel that it is the ground-breaking 1905 orchestral score which finally leaves the most enduring memory, challenging the usual primacy of sight over sound and holding you captive through the repetitive longuers of the essentially simple if shocking tale stretched through most of two hours. There have been louder, more dominating Salomes, but surely few on film to better Nadja Michael's assumption of Judging by some first-night mishaps noted by reviewers, we may be better served by this edited conflation of several March performances, by which time the production would have settled down; a practise familiar in 'live' concert CDs. Purchase is imperative, the more so for the second disc, a privileged, intimate sharing with McVicar and his colleagues the development of his evolving concept and the stages of the making of the production, through the process of planning and rehearsals. My illustration is of the permanent set, with Herod banqueting above. With David McVicar and designer Es Devlin we followed its design through several preliminary model stages; it remains thus throughout, save for McVicar's treatment of the Dance of the Seven Veils as something of a dream interlude. The whole thing is a riveting experience, even for those of us not able to enjoy 'true surround sound' at home. The screen surtitles (in optional languages) are helpful and unobtrusive; far better than having to look up above the stage in the opera house. Strongly recommended, even if you have one of the earlier, more traditional, Salome DVDs. Peter Grahame Woolf selected reviews of this Salome at ROH: but musicalcriticism's Strauss specialist had substantial reservations... * other Salomes on DVD - Ewing, Stratas and Malfitano http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_d_h_/026-2970768-7090016?url=search-alias%3Ddvd&field-keywords=salome&x=13&y=15 (photos: Clive Barda)
Salome: Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London 1992 Maria Ewing with Stage Director: Peter Hall Recorded live 2nd June 1992. Opus Arte AR3108 D Also from Covent Garden & Opus Arte, a stunning now-historical release [picture shape 4:3] of a TV transmission at the beginning of the '90s. Having greatly admired the new version reviewed above, it has been a pleasure to return to this more traditional account, which has Maria Ewing on superb singing and acting form, riveting to watch and amazingly photogenic as she sings (so many prima donnas aren't !) and brilliantly directed by her then husband, Peter Hall. But what makes this DVD possibly the best of all our experiences of this great early Strauss masterwork is the The camera work is superbly focussed and the close ups with subtitles (not requiring you to split your gaze between stage and high-up surtitles) concentrate attention and clarify passages of the text which can be confusing or get lost in the theatre. Ewing apart, Kenneth Riegel as Herod is especially memorable. It is all in the secure hands of Edward Downes, with excellent sound. No final preference, but this one is c. half the price of the other and if, in these hard times, you settle for Ewing/Hall rather than Michael/McVicar, you won't have regrets. Peter Grahame Woolf P.S. July 14 2009. At Royal Opera Covent Garden he had conducted 49 different operas over more than 50 years. See also http://www.musicalpointers.co.uk/reviews/cddvd08/VerdiAida1994.html |
the role vocally and physically.
filming for the small screen, far more involving than I remember the production in the opera house (sacrilegious to admit?). 