Opera, ballet, concert performances on videocassette—it's the latest thing for the lover of high culture. One may argue that opera, the art form that defines itself as larger than life, is not appropriate for a nineteen-inch screen. What happens to all the pageantry, the grandeur? Can that small speaker of dubious quality in our television fulfill the vast needs of a Wagnerian orchestra or bring out the clarity of a solo soprano voice?
Problems of sound aside—stereo has after all been introduced—opera on video is nevertheless working, mainly because it is being treated, and rightly so, as a new art form. A new breed has cropped up, that of "produced for video-gram" or "director for television." We see what they want us to see, from whatever angle they choose. They must work hand in hand with (or around) the stage director and they can make or break a moment or a scene. In reviewing videocassettes of operatic performances, attention must be paid not only to the performance itself—which is, of course, the most important thing—but to the way it is presented for the small screen. Following are reviews of a selection of fine opera videotapes.
Nabucco
Nabucco (HBO Video, color, 132 minutes) was Verdi's third work for the stage and the one that catapulted him to fame. Part of the reason for the success was extra-musical: It was presented at a time when Italy was tightly in the grip of Austria, and since the opera takes place during the Babylonian captivity of the Jews, there were many parallels to be drawn. The great third-act chorus, "Va, pensiero," is a prayer by the Hebrews for their lost homeland, and besides being memorable for its beauty, it struck a nationalistic chord in all who heard it. But politics aside, much of this work's music is thrilling. This performance, which was taped at the 25,000-seat arena of Verona in Italy, has two very high powered singers in those crucial roles.
The role of Abigaille has always attracted sopranos who were looking for trouble; it is a voice-wrecker requiring two-octave leaps, dazzling agility, a great legato line, and endless power. Maria Callas sang it only three times in her career, and she, as opera lovers know, was afraid of very little. This performance boasts Ghena Dimitrova, a very impressive Bulgarian soprano who has made quite a name for herself since 1981, when this was taped. She is in full command of this impossible role, able to shade her voice down when needed and produces some of the most remarkable fortissimo top notes ever to issue forth from a single human being. The timbre of her voice is not as memorable as one might like, but she is a force to reckon with nonetheless.
The title role is taken by baritone Renato Bruson, whose voice is almost too beautiful for the part of the crazed king, but his characterization is fully drawn, ranging from grandeur to tragedy and back, and from victimizer to victim to hero. The sadness he communicates in his third-act duet with the cruel Abigaille and the heroism of his final-act scena are moments to be treasured. Ottavio Garaventa and Bruna Baglioni, in relatively minor roles, are nothing more than serviceable, and bass Dimiter Perkov, in the key role of the high priest Zaccaria, is even less than that. Conductor Maurizio Arena has a bit of trouble keeping stage and pit together, but he leads an otherwise spirited
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