Search - The Essential Sutherland on DVD

La Stupenda indeed!

Basso Profondo | Texas | 06/06/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've always been a fan of Dame Joan, and this DVD immediately caught my attention. It has clips of scenes from many of her different signature roles, such as Lucia, Norma, La Fille du regiment, The Merry widow, Lakme, A very stirring duet with Marilyn Horne, a lovely duet with dear old Pavarotti, and many others. As an added bonus, each clip is introduced by Dame Joan and Her Husband, Richard Bonynge. Some people complain that she is not a very good actress in her recordings. Well, from watching this DVD and being able to SEE her sing, I would have to say that she is a very good actress. In closing, it was very nice to be able to see this incredible woman performing selections from her glorious 40+ year career. Any "Stupenda" fan should have this DVD."

Wouldn't have missed it for the world

Joseph Hart | Visalia, CA United States | 09/17/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These are excerpts (frequently 2 from the same opera) from some of Sutherland's operas. Some excerpts are truncated. Don't like any of the Strausses or Poulenc. Otherwise it was sublime and fascinating. Sutherland and Bonynge sat on a sofa and said a few words introducing each opera and excerpt, sometimes historical, sometimes fitting it into Sutherland's career. The music was glorious and the introductions filled in many gaps in my knowledge of Sutherland and/or the operas. Would give teeth to have some DVDs of Sutherland singing (like the ice breaker of the renaissance of bel canto, her Lucia at Covent Garden) when she was very, very young. That would be worth a king's ransom. If you like Sutherland or bel canto or both (they go together like coffee and cream), I highly recommend this DVD. About 2 hours long. It's companion piece, "The Best of Joan Sutherland," is also wonderful though it has fewer operas on it and there are some duplications. Bonynge is very serious. Sutherland is happy and laughs a lot. Bonynge made one very good remark about Sutherland's singing in "The Merry Widow." He said some people think she shouldn't have done it, not someone who sings Norma, Traviata or Lucia. Then he just espostulated, "Nonsense!" Clearly they both know music like I know my own name, and both exude intelligence and erudition and culture and class while being very nice, very down to earth people. I just painted myself into a corner. What I mean is they are both educated and brilliant, but are not snobs or phonies at all. Loved both DVDs."