Mostly Interesting Backstage Look at How an Opera Gets Stage
J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 08/25/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Unlike reviewer Roderick, I found this DVD to be fairly interesting in that we get to watch the step by step process by which an opera makes it to the stage, in this case Verdi's 'La Forza del destino' (not the easiest opera to stage or cast) in a 1992 production of the Canadian Opera. John Copley is the stage director and most of the attention is focused on how he works with the musicians and the technical crew. We also get to watch maestro Maurizio Arena and chorus master Palumbo rehearse their charges. We start with the earliest read-throughs of the music, the taking of scenic designer sketches to three-dimensional sets, costuming and makeup being designed and used, and so on. The solo singers are not generally household names, although there are certainly some reasonably well-known names -- Allan Monk, Judith Forst, John Cheek, Stefka Evstatievna -- involved. The orchestra and chorus are excellent. This is NOT however a performance of the opera. We simply get excerpts of the stage performance -- primarily 'Pace, pace mio dio', Preziosilla's 'Rataplan' and the Carlo/Alvaro duet. Mostly we get rehearsal scenes and they are fascinating in themselves.
The purpose of this DVD is to show how an opera gets produced, and for that it is informative and expertly done.
Scott Morrison"