Opera Today

For those without videos or DVD’s by the Italian soprano, this is a must. For all the others, better to read attentively the sleeve notes as there is nothing new to be found on these two DVD’s. The Concerto Italiano can be purchased separately with the same firm. The Bell Telephone Hour selections are still available on the several Great Stars of Opera-DVD’s brought out by VAI or on the video exclusively devoted to the soprano. And the selections from Tosca (Stuttgart 1961) are culled from a complete performance, also put on DVD by VAI and somewhat misleadingly called “The only available video of Renata Tebaldi in her signature role” on the firm’s web; for convenience’s sake forgetting the words “at this moment” as VAI once published another complete Tosca (with Poggi, Guelfi and the late soprano’s lover at the time, conductor Arturo Basile).

Bizet’s youthful masterpiece is notoriously difficult to stage. Up to now I have not seen a production which is not slightly ridiculous. So it is an ideal opera for a concert performance or a listening experience. If you are looking for an authentic performance this is not the one to go for.

Alexander Frey, upon learning that a song Leonard Bernstein had written for the 1950 production of Peter Pan had been cut before the show opened, wondered if there was other music originally intended for the production that went by the wayside.

From the start of its lively and distinctive overture Carl Nielsen’s 1906 comic masterpiece Maskarade calls for a light and ironic approach, yet one which brings the ensemble forward with sufficient directorial force.

A DVD performance of an opera may deserve recommendation for a single memorable performance, or because a rare work has finally been recorded, or simply for nostalgia’s sake. How many DVDs primarily offer the pleasures of a witty, imaginative staging, done on a minimal budget?