Search - World's Greatest Operas (Carmen / La Traviata / Aida) on DVD

Beware the Bargain Bundle

Joanna Mountford | Cascade, (n/a) Trinidad and Tobago | 12/10/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In this life you get what you pay for. Beware this bargain bundle of excellent operas. On the whole,one needs a little help to understand the storyline in opera from time to time, even if one is fluent in Italian and French. The 'Image' edition of Carmen and Aida has English subtitles, whether one wants them or not. There are no chapter headings in leaflet form to guide you from one aria to another as one finds them with separate DVDs of the very same productions on Kultur. To make matters worse, there are no subtitles at all in the DVD of La Traviata, nor are there any chapter headings. Unless one already knows the story of La Traviata in detail, the briefest of outlines on the jacket is no help to those like us who live in the Third World and have no chance to see opera in North America, or Europe. We buy the set of DVDs because we're familiar with some of the music, want to know the story, to see it acted and understand what's going on.
This set spoiled my Christmas. A friend loaned me a DVD of the very same production of Carmen complete with chapter headings, synposis of the story in detail and a choice of subtitles or none at all - which is what you get when you pay full price for just one DVD instead of the 'bargain' bundle."