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| Verdi - Rigoletto / Luciano Pavarotti, Ingvar Wixell, Edita Gruberova, Victoria Vergara, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Riccardo Chailly | 
 enlarge | Actors: G. Verdi, Wiener Opera Philharmoniker, Jean-pierre Ponnelle
Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.98
Buy New: $17.19
You Save: $12.79 (43%)
New (33) Used (5) from $17.19
Avg. Customer Rating:  54 reviews
Sales Rank: 5213
Format: Ac-3, Classical, Color, Dolby, Dts Surround Sound, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), German (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Italian (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 128
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 000658109
UPC: 044007341667
EAN: 0044007341667
ASIN: B000EQHHJW
Theatrical Release Date: 1983
Release Date: July 4, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new, factory sealed. Fast shipping!
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| Customer Reviews:
 JUST GET IT... you won't regret it! November 18, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
There are so many reasons to like this film version of Verdi's Rigoletto. So many people have already listed them I feel somewhat redundant in listing them again, but I had to add my "2 cents."
The main reason to get this really is Ingvar Wixell's Rigoletto. He is to baritones what Callas was to sopranos... A SINGING ACTOR. He has the ability to make you feel for him, to despise him, to laugh with him, all the emotions. His is the most believeable jester I've ever had the pleasure of seeing and hearing. His singing is excellent as well, like molten lava, even if his top is a bit pushed. I also thought it wonderfully ironic to have him play both Rigoletto & Monterone- that way the curse is even more like a personal thing. If you liked Wixell in this, you'll love him as Scarpia in the Arena di Verona production of Tosca with Eva Marton (available from Kultur on DVD).
Obviously Pavarotti is another reason to get this. Vocally his Duke is impressive and no one captures that same kind of mischeiviousness like he can. That said I do agree with another review that the recording of his part seems to be overly loud- like he was mic'd too closely. I didn't find the same true with the other singers and in fact, Gilda's "Caro nome" required me to raise the volume a lot.
Gruberova's Gilda is wonderful as well. To me she has one of the most sumptuous coloratura voices ever. Her voice is never reedy or thin like some coloraturas, she has a heft and richness that is throughout her range. Her floating pianissimos are also simply astounding.
There are really no weak links here to me- I can cite some flaws, but overall this is a quality production and lots of fun to watch.
Highly recommended ******
As entertaining as hell October 8, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Never mind if it is not a stage production but a film.
It is tons more dramatic and entertaining than 'Romeo and Juliet' starring Leaonard Whiting and others, though the setting is almost the same. The reason? The music, of course.
Even if Pav was never a skilful actor on stage, in this film he portrayed a very convincing Duke of Mantua. Edita Gruberova's Gilda is heart-wrenchingly sung and portrayed. All the rest of the cast is great - Ferrucio Furlanetto, then so young and slim as to escape notice visually, is a real vocal discovery. And his acting is also very coherent with his singing.
The only slight weakness that could be picked lies in the title role - this jester is hardly funny, full of serious mentality and schemy political sense. The unanimously stenturion singing style of Wixell may not fit the role of the cursed jester as well as the cursing Count.
Otherwise, there really is nothing to flaw this spectacular production, showing Pavarotti in his prime PLUS good acting skills as a rare bonus!
 Film versus theater October 8, 2007
This is a wonderful "Rigoletto". It is full of drama. The signing from the three principals beyond reproach. The orchestral playing is dramatic and smooth as silk, although the balance favors the singers excessively. Some film scenes are breathtaking in their beauty.
I had always thought that opera created specifically for video would have many advantages over staged productions. However the reverse seems
generally true to me. I suppose it is because operas are indeed great works of the theater, and they need the ethos of the theater, including the audience interaction to shine. Or is that the producers lack a certain artistic sensitivity and imagination? Having said that, this is the most successful production of opera out of the theater that I have seen on video.
It seems to me that the music dramas of Richard Wagner are most ripe for imaginative productions for video out of the theater.
A word about the sound. The DTS 5.1 sound track is of very inferior quality. It is top heavy with a screeching string tone, the brass is all lip and no bell, the singers are all head and no chest voice. The bass quality is poor and largely absent. Happily the PCM 2 channel stereo tracks are much better. The bass is full, the only problem being a balance of the signers over the orchestra that is less than optimal.
A word about sound tracks on DVD opera. Both Dolby digital and DTS 5.1 use lossy digital compression. For large scale musical works such as opera, any lossy compression is going to produce inferior results and unpleasant digital artifacts, which on this recording are horrendous.
The 2 channel PCM tracks are lossless digital feeds of true CD quality. Fortunately most operas on DVD have these tracks. The multichannel Dolby and DTS tracks are contrived from two channel stereo in any event on most opera DVD productions. Therefore for viewers who have home theater multichannel systems they are much better off having their audio visual preamps or receivers, produce the ambient surround effect in Dolby PLx Music for five channel systems, or Dolby PLIIx Music for seven channel systems. I do not recommend the Cinema, or settings other than Music, for opera. The seven channel PLIIx is significantly more effective than the five channel PLx, at conveying a realistic sense of space and ambiance.
The way the system is set up is to connect the DVD player to the audio visual preamp or receiver using the digital interface using a digital cable, which on most players is optical. On some it may be coaxial SPDIF. Select 2 channel PCM on the DVD audio menu. Set the input of the preamp or receiver to the the appropriate digital connection, and select the appropriate version of Dolby PLx or PLIIx for your system.
Unless your system is superb, and has very good speakers for ALL channels you will be better off listening in standard stereo. The center speakers in particular, tend to be poor in most set ups, with very few stellar performers to choose from. All the surround speakers need to be high quality full range speakers, of a quality comparable to the fronts. All speakers need to be carefully balanced. If these caveats do not pertain to your multichannel system you will almost certainly get the best results listening in stereo.
A well set up surround system, can however bring a real sense of "being there", that can not be matched by even the best two channel systems.
Gruberova and Ponelle are key!!!! October 5, 2007
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
There are two main reasons to get this dvd - 1) the cinematographic and artistic realization of a very literal interpretation of Verdi's favourite opera, 2) Gruberova.
This is a sort of verismo version of Rigoletto. I think this is deliberate - it is filmed in a lavish Parmesan location, the characters, particularly Rigoletto, are played in a fairly non-stereotyped way (except perhaps Pavarotti but that owes more to the fact that he actually can't act very well), there is an emphasis on providing a coherent, integrated vision of the work.
This is probably quite apt given that it is a film rather than a staged adaptation of the work - a lot of effort has gone into the acting and making the characters seem very real human beings.
The key to this is perhaps Gruberova since I have always found Gilda to be the least convincing of characters in the opera yet with this nuanced performance, not to mention utterly beautiful singing replete with superb coloratura, she does cast a really credible Gilda that comes of age and is fatally abused.
Gruberova is truly terrific; if Gobbi is the ultimate Rigoletto, then Gruberova is the ultimate Gilda - forget Callas who is not sweet sounding enough and not convincing as an 'innocent flower', forget Sutherland, forget modern performers such as Cortrubas and Schafer, Gruberova is the one!
Gruberova apart, we have Pavarotti at his peak - not the greatest of actors but not terrible at least, and at this age he looks the part, Wixell - fine acting performance whereby he plays Rigoletto as a fairly normal human being that is just a bit smaller and uglier than the rest, as compared to, for example, Gobbi who plays Rigoletto in a more stereotyped manner. Wixell has a powerful but not beautiful voice and consequently such great solos as 'deh non parlar' and the final death scene perhaps transmit a little less emotional meaning than might otherwise be the case with a more tender sounding Rigoletto. Nevertheless, such scenes are still imbued with emotion such is Ponelle's cinematographic work - I particularly like the cinematographic realization of the death scene where father and daughter are sort of isolated in a boat on the river and Gilda's death appears as if not noticeable to anyone in the world but Rigoletto which somewhat highlights Rigoletto's isolation; however, Gobbi and also Gavanelli from the recent Covent Garden/McVicar production have far superior tonality which allows for Rigoletto's hidden tenderness to come out much more. Gobbi, in particular, was able to produce a real Jekyll and Hide of a Rigoletto where Wixell here plays him in a more literal way - consistent with the style of the film. It is an interesting interpretation but I prefer Gobbi.
Everything else is nice. Sometimes the directing descends into cliche where we have a lot of annoying and unconvincing 'evil laughs' particularly from Pavarotti that belong more to pantomime than opera. Similarly the close ups of Monterone look a little ridiculous though i think the playing up of the psychological impact on Rigoletto of 'la maledizione' is a nice touch. It emphasizes the role that Rigoletto plays in his own downfall - so desperate to protect himself and his daughter that he is willing to tread on everyone else and their daughters beside! In trying to adapt to survive the brutality of his fellow citizens he has become so corrupted by the true 'maledizione' that is the Duke's rule, court and all in the vicinity that it has contaminated everything he loves in spite of his best efforts.
This is a Rigoletto that is a more complete and sophisticated interpretation therefore than certain other staged productions, such as McVicar's at ROH - though in this case the comparative simplified thematic emphasis, on the dichotomy of inward and outward beauty/ugliness, serves to render certain of the Rigoletto-Gilda scenes more emotionally impacting and therefore perhaps it is inappropriate, given the relative complexity of the themes involved in the opera, to refer to this or any other version as definitive.
However, I think this is a version that must stand up to the best of them with the central reasons for buying this, therefore, the thematically complex versimo perspective of Rigoletto that it provides and the outstanding overall performance of Gruberova that must be the finest Gilda performance available on video.
Rigoletto Opera by Verdi June 8, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I think this opera contains Verdi's best tunes.This production
is very spectacular and dramatic with much outdoor action. Top class performers of course, though a prettier soprano could have been better.
For adult viewing only because some parts are fairly raw.
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