Search - Puccini - Manon Lescaut (remastered) on DVD

Wonderful, you must buy this.....

N. Gallimore | Upminster United Kingdom | 07/20/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Unfortunately I never had the opportunity to see Renata Scotto live in the theatre, but I am told that she is an excellent singing actress. Witness that for yourself in this magnificent production of one of my favourite Puccini operas. When Scotto is on stage you can't take your eyes off her, and watch her face at the end of Act III as DeGrieux pleads with the Captain to let him join her on board ship - what an amazing actress she is. She makes you laugh, she makes you cry - what more can you ask for? There is a chemistry between her and Domingo that inspires him to give one of the greatest perfomances I have ever seen from him (and yes I was at his Covent Garden Otello in front of the late Princess of Wales). The other principals are excellent, but this is an opera about two people, and they carry it off to perfection. The production is near perfect and the Met Orchestra give a faultless perfomance. I urge you to buy this DVD at once - you will see and hear no better."

Suberb Audio, Video Disappointing at Times

Frank Ryan | 07/29/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A suberb production well worth the preserving. The audio is specatular. Domingo and Scotto are stunning. I've never heard this sung better! The only disappointing feature is the spottiness of the video. Most of the time it is acceptable, but there are intermittent periods of "ghosting" where the video is indistinct. While distracting to the viewer, its effect on the overall performance does not diminish the impact of a vocally wonderful performance. I hope this there will be more DVD's of some of these Met performances that truly rate as classics. I have many of these on Laser Disc and hope that the Dolby 5.1 will add to my enjoyment."

Puccini must be proud and thrilled!

Harry F. Korbl | 05/10/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This Manon caught Scotto in superb voice with drama and credibility in abundance. The word ravishlingly beautiful comes to mind in regards to her piano and forte notes. I wonder if she ever surpassed this performanace: a performance in every way simply overwhelming. I don't think her famous Barbaroli "Butterfly" is as great at this.I have not seen her "Francesca da Rimini" but it can't be better than this. Then again Zandonai is no Puccini. But that cast is as great as this one! Domingo is superb, piano and forte and acting-wise he is equally on par with Scotto. He owns Act III and she owns Act IV and they magnificently share the first two. Elvira is also wonderful, beautiful in tone and his acting too is very moving. He is an underated baritone for sure. This DVD is a vocal feast in every good sense of the word. The sets are beautiful and finally, Levine and the Met orchestra are as always magnificent and on this occasion drawn to greater heights by the great singing on stage. Overall a must have. Anyone who came late in Scotto's career must see and hear this to appreciate what the clamor was all about. In this performance she lives up to and beyond all the fuss that accompanied her performances. She like Domingo are committed artists in every role they sing. There should be special oscars and grammys for opera performances like this. They don't come along too often. If this doesn't become an Amazon.com big seller something is wrong somewhere."

Great Opera, Pity about the Quality of the DVD.

Harry F. Korbl | Melbourne Australia | 07/01/2000

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Good Performances, Good Music and Production spoiled by the quality of the DVD. This production was described as "A Manon Lescaut of fluid movement", I have never come across a DVD with such jerky movement, in addition there were numerous irritating pauses, the lips of the singers were continuously out of sync with the sound (remeniscent of movies where the sound was added later). Never having encountered this before I assumed the problem was with my player but after trying the same disc in another player with the same result, I conclude that the problem is the disc. I found myself so irritated by this that after the first Act I turned the picture off and listened only to the sound.Anyone who buys this DVD should do so only with the proviso that they can return the disc if these problems occur."