Theodossiou sings well
Beatrice di Tenda is really a wonderful opera, and I wish it were given more performances. In terms of commercial DVD's there is little choice out there, we have the 2002 Zurich production with the lovely Edita Gruberova, and now this performance from Catania 2009. The main point of interest here is the soprano, and in the title role we have Dimitra Theodossiou although I think she manages the role fairly well, she may not be to everyone's taste. Her voice is not as flexible as Gruberova or dare I say Sutherland, and she really has some problems with intonation, she seems to take it all in stride and punches along with little sense of belcanto line hitting some thrilling if out of tune high notes along the way. I admire her for making the effort at this stage in her career, she is obviously more comfortable singing the early Verdi roles, and Bellini's long lines seem to challenge her at times. The rest of the cast support her well, if not memorably, and the production is boring and...
Beatrice Di Tenda
I'd been waiting for an "upgrade" from my DVD of Bellini's Beatrice Di Tenda for some time now ... not that the Zurich Opera/Edita Gruberova offering from TDK was bad, but ... well, my review of that DVD is only a few clicks away.
After my initial viewing of this new Blu Ray version of the opera, I am glad I didn't get around to selling my Zurich recording.
My overall first impression is that these two versions (the only two versions presently available) are basically, for different reasons, on par with each other.
Concerning this new offering from Dynamic, first among its strong points are that it is a Blu Ray release, and the audio and video quality are fine indeed. The three standard sound formats are offered, and my choice of the HD DTS sounded very good. The video image is what one has come to expect as well ... which leads me to another positive aspect of this Blu Ray disk - the colorful dresses worn by Ms. Theodossiou, Ms. Lo Monaco, the...
Click to Editorial Reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment