Levine 25th Anniversary This is a magnificent presentation, so many artists and such terrific performances from all of them, the pity of it is that there have been so many other fabulous performances that have been left out, I have the original VCR issue and there are far more arias and duets than there are on the two DVD's, the magnificent aria from Jessye Norman is missing and so is Alfredo Kraus's fantastic rendition of Pourquoi me reveiller among others. I would prefer to pay a bit extra for a 3 DVD set to get the missing items. The original concert went for something like 6 hours, why can't we have it all?
Oh! I realise this CD offering has been edited from the original 6hrs, but it still drags. People were young when they first entered the Met. that night. I am sure James Levine enjoyed it, and possible some of the audience. Can only be watched in parts, not as a whole. I love Placido Domingo, and even he seems at a loss. The German repetoire over-represented.
(yawn) Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Not unlike watching the hundred hour previews before the Oscars or SuperBowl... lots of glitter, much pomp, much applause (especially for old favorites)and a couple of good bits. Best taken in small doses.
A Must-own for any opera fan I first watched this gala a decade ago when it first aired on PBS. I was smart enough to tape the whole thing then, and those tapes got watched many many times over the next few years. I was in highschool then, and, after leaving home for college, have not had many chances to rewatch it, not the least due to the fact that VCRs no longer exist. I wanted a replacement for those much-loved and much-worn tapes, but was uncertain if I should get this DVD, because I had watched the DVD of the older gala celebrating the Met Centennial (?) from the 80s, and was disgusted at the exceedingly poor video and audio quality, though it may have been more than reasonable for the 80s. I was afraid that the recording of this gala would also seem pitiful in comparison to the much more advanced technology of today. However, the video looks great on my 40" LCD TV, and the sound is every bit as glorious as it is in my fond, nostalgic memories.
Now on to the actual performances. Obviously not every selection is going to be the best performance ever, but there are many performances here that I think are notable moments in opera history. My favorite are probably Waltraud Meier's performance of Isolde's Narrative and Curse and Aprile Millo's performance of "Morro, ma prima in grazia." There's also a very charming performance of the Watch Duet from Die Fledermaus by Hakan Hagegard and Karita Mattila. Jane Eaglen pulls off a very enjoyable performance of one of my favorite Wagner pieces, the Immolation Scene from Gotterdammerung. My least-favorite performance, though, is hands-down the slaughtering of "Depuis le jour" by Renee Fleming, with her trademark The Beautiful Voice self-indulgence and over-sentimentality. But, thankfully, most selections on these discs are more examples of artistry than commercial hype.
One other note: This DVD set does not include the complete gala. I think I taped about 7 hours off PBS, and the DVDs only comprise about 5 hours total. I can't remember exactly which selections are missing, but, off the top of my head, I know it's missing: Gwyneth Jones singing "In questa reggia" from Turandot, Maria Ewing singing "My Man's Gone Now" from Porgy and Bess, June Anderson singing some aria I can't remember Frederica von Stade singing... I think "Non so piu" from Marriage of Figaro, but I'm not sure. While I wish the whole gala could have been included here, I'm not totally heart-broken about anything that did get excluded, so I'm happy.
Anyway, long story short, the top-notch technical quality of the recording and the stellar artistic quality of the performances here makes this a pretty essential part of any opera-phile's collection. I think it also makes a good introduction for beginners, because the music performed here are fairly popular highlights from a diverse range of repetoire. It also represents a wide range of voices, from the ultra-light lirico of Dawn Upshaw to the booming power of Debby Voigt's heldensopran.
So, what are you waiting for? Buy it now! :)
damaged cd We were very disappointed with this set as one of the CD's came damaged and there is no recourse once CD has been opened. Alot of money to pay for damaged goods. Jeanne Ohio USA
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