In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day.
Blu-Ray Sampler
+ Bonus Feature: Over 1 hour of highlights from 26 critically acclaimed Opera, Ballet & Documentary productions on Blu-ray Disc!
+ Blu-ray Catalogue
Sound Format: dts-HD Master Audio 7.1
Picture Format: 16:9
Resolution: 1080i FULL HD
Blu-ray Disc: 50 GB (Dual Layer)
Subtitle Languages: IT, GB, DE, FR, ES, JP (La Traviata)
Running Time: 200 mins
FSK: 0
November 2008
****
“Best is Angela Gheorghiu's Violetta. Vocally, she shirks nothing, and her prodigious technique is up to every demand. She throws herself at the drama, exhibiting convincing body language as the feverish pleasure-seeker of Act I and the stricken woman of the last. As Alfredo, Ramón Vargas... presentable... so too is Roberto Frontali as his father, a diligent and thought-through portrayal... Immaculate playing from the Scala orchestra, and some sensitive conducting from Lorin Maazel…”
2010
“The Germonts, son and father, are maddeningly stupid characters but decent, honest singers, the one (Ramón Vargas) not imaginative but capable of delicacy, the other (Roberto Frontali) clean-cut in his tone and modestly affecting in his aria. Maazel's conducting is a model of controlled flexibility, and the orchestra respond to him with unfailing precision. Visually, the production is a treat, the chorus handled unfussily as a collection of individuals, with the principal characters and their relationships given thoughtful and sensitive preparation.
To be ranked with the Los Angeles production with Fleming and Villazón (see above): we should count ourselves a favoured generation to have both or the choice of either.”
April 2009
“…such blemishes as occur in the Scala production are incidental to its general excellence and to the greatness of Angela Gheorghiu's Violetta. …here she is once again a true artist, the voice lovely as ever throughout most of its range, the expressive art in both singing and acting matured so that this portrayal is intensely moving and memorable. Maazel's conducting is a model of controlled flexibility, and the orchestra respond to him with unfailing precision. Visually, the production is a treat, the chorus handled unfussily as a collection of individuals, with the principal characters and their relationships given thoughtful and sensitive preparation.”
2010 edition
***
“The stage spectacle, as one would expect from this source, is full of colour...and the production overall is satisfying. Lorin Maazel directs his La Scala forces with vitality and warmth and there is excellent camera control.””
Click here for alternative recordings of this work.
