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Carmen - Bizet [1967]

Starring: Grace Bumbry, Jon Vickers, Justino Díaz, Mirella Freni, Olivera Miljakovic
Director: Herbert von Karajan
Format: Classical Closed-captioned Colour Dolby DVD-Video PAL
Released: 09 May 2005
RRP: £19.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Stage production/no spoken dialogues - By: Freia, 26 Jan 2006
Among filmed operas there is a whole spectrum between full film versions & filmed stage productions. Often it is hard to know from a cover where on this spectrum a certain DVD is. If you, like me, are primarily interested in film versions of operas, then this is perhaps not the right choice. This carmen production has been filmed on an opera stage & is for alll intents & purposes a filmed stage productions (even though it has apparently been filmed without audience).

The background, the (bad) acting & the costumes everything is 100% stage production. Little effort has been made to optimise the visual impact of the performance, although Grace Bumbry is a pleasure to look at.

A great feature of this production, however, is that the director replaced the spoken dialogue by a rezitativ. This is rare nowadays but undoubtedly an advantage particularly if you like to watch (or listen to the) opera more frequently.