Stiffelio

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Price: $47.88   

Product Feature

• Stiffelio Jose Carreras Royal Opera Dvd Brazil Import

Product Description

STIFFELIO JOSE CARRERAS

THE ROYAL OPERA genre: DVD / NTSC - ALL REGIONS, R0, possible to play in any dvd in the world. optional subtitles: Portuguese Approx time: 123 min. Import from: Brazil this DVD is R0 - ALL - plays in any

Stiffelio Review

Stiffelio is considered "early Verdi" to musiclogists who classify things, but, in reality, it is a final transition between the maestro's earlier (but most enjoyable) works, and the mature craftsmanship of Rigoletto. Preceded by Luisa Miller (q.v.), there is more dramatic intensity and story line than in the earlier works. The plot centers around Stiffelio, a minister, who discovers that his wife, Mina, has been unfaithful. While the 19th century approach to dishonoring father and husband may be dated to some, the fact is that in watching this opera, the viewer will inevitably be caught up in the story and characters. The singers are generally fine. Catherine Malfitano is not only an exceptional soprano, but an accomplished actress as well. The facial expressions, the use of her hands and all the body mechanics are simply wonderful. I am unsure as to whether Jose Carreras was about to be diagnosed with lieukemia, or had gone into remission when he made this recording. In either case, his portrayal of the title character, in my opinion, would be hard to beat. He is fully in command of his instrument and brings life and dramatic intensity to his role. Particularly good is Gregory Yurisch in the role of Stankar, Mina's father. Here we have the third in Verdi's moving father-daughter duets (Giovanna D'Arco and Luisa Miller were earlier),the emotionally charged qualities of which many trace to the loss of the composer's first wife and baby daughters in 1840. The rest of the cast are equally fine. A surprise to me was the quality of the conducting. I never considered Sir Edward Downes to be a leading interpreter of Verdi's music. Well, he is in this performance, and as such, presents the music very well indeed. The tape to disc transfer is very good, as is the quality of the sound. As I have noted in other reviews, DVD performances of opera are really the next best thing to a live performance. Stiffelio is not performed often, so whether you live near a performing arts center or not, this DVD may be the only chance to experience it. If you are, as I am, a fan of Verdi, this is a must buy. If you want to see how good opera is on DVD or are new to Verdi, buy it. It's a fine effort.

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Scorpio [VHS]

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Scorpio [VHS] Review

Burt Lancaster plays an aging CIA agent who's finally had enough of the spy life and wants to quit the business so he can spend more time with his family. But his trecherous Bosses don't want him to quit so they assign Alain Delon A.K.A SCORPIO to eliimate him. Fantastic script Delon's performance in the film is one of his best even if his english is sometimes off a bit. the highlight of the film is the chase sequence between Lancaster & Delon throughout the Streets and Alleyways Of Venice. It's a captivating spy film done with the right amount of action and suspense. Most Of Today's spy films don't even come to this masterpiece. And even if they could they would still fail. This film was a true gem for it's time and cannot and will not ever be replaced or duplicated.

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The Magic Pony

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Product Description

"The voices of JIM BACKUS and ERIN MORAN ('Happy Days') add to the splendor of this beautifully animated feature. One night, while Ivan watches the fields for the culprit who is destroying his family's wheat, he catches a beautiful flying horse. The horse gives Ivan a team of matched horses to sell, and THE MAGIC PONY, which he must keep for himself. Ivan sells the matched team to an emperor, and travels to the palace with his pony. There, Ivan must pass many tests to please the emperor and his jealous groom. With the help of The Magic Pony, Ivan captures the firebird, carries off a beautiful princess and confronts a ship-eating whale--all on the emperor's orders. In the end, THE MAGIC PONY helps Ivan destroy the greedy emperor, and Ivan becomes a handsome prince who lives happily every after with the beautiful princess...and his Magic Pony. A thoroughly enchanting tale in lovely animation."

The Magic Pony Review

This was not the original version. It was a nice movie and the copy was decent but it was missing too many scenes. It was like when you go to the movies to see a movie and then on dvd it has some scenes cut, and again if you wait a few more years on tv it has more scenes cut and yet then again a few more years on the newest dvd if you didnt buy it the first time around, you would notice even more scenes were missing. This was that version. Too many scenes were missing. I was greatly dissapointed by the missing content as it was a childhood movie my family enjoyed for years and thought we had recovered.

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Cetera P-W/Symphony Orchestra-Live in Salt Lake

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Price: $49.00   

Cetera P-W/Symphony Orchestra-Live in Salt Lake Review

Unlike the previous reviewer, I believe this is quite a good CD. There is one problem; you can't actually hear the orchestra on some of the tracks, which is a shame, because they make the songs pretty classy. I'm a diehard Chicago fan, and I've been upset with Cetera for seemingly distancing himself from his former bandmates. However, it's nice to hear him doing some old Chicago songs, mixed in with his solo stuff. Cetera's voice earns this CD a four-star rating from me. I've never heard him do much in the way of live stuff, and I'm impressed by his still-impressive singing voice; he manages to hit even the high stuff here. Now, if only he would get back with Chicago...

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Mahler: Symphonie N �7: Lucerne (2005) (Live)

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Mahler: Symphonie N� 7: Lucerne (2005) (Live) Review

Abbado has the enviable reputation of being one of the world's finest Mahler conductors. This has been further reinforced by his set of performances held at Lucerne with his hand-picked orchestra constituting the Lucerne Festival orchestra. This very large orchestra, apart from containing musicians of outstanding individual abilities, also lays great stress upon their empathy and experience with the world of chamber music. Thus is achieved the unusual combination of orchestral size allied to individual and corporate sensitivity. This suits Abbado's particular vision of Mahler and this is apparent throughout this very fine performance which some would describe as close to definitive.

This symphony used to be known as `The Song of the Night' when I first got to hear it on a recording from the 1950's. At that time my awareness of Mahler was somewhat sketchy with a good understanding of the first symphony that I had had to analyse for an exam and some passing acquaintance with the symphonies 2, 3 and 4. Performances of Mahler were rare and sought-after events back then. That was all a long time ago and the world is different now with many performances to choose from as recordings. The 7th symphony is still considered one of the trickiest to get to know.

Mahler appears to have written the two Nachtmusik movements first but they are very different in character. The first one is said to be more of an outdoor event but the second is more of an indoor event and may also have been the very first of the movements to have been written. This impression of the indoors is reinforced by the instrumentation which features a mandolin and a guitar. Many of the orchestral members are also treated soloistically. This suits the nature of Abbado's approach to making music with the orchestra of course.

The central movement is a scherzo and is a fragmentary and somewhat grotesque treatment of waltz and landler dance rhythms. The whole effect is somewhat mysterious and full of fleeting shadows, possibly ghost-like. Abbado clearly has fun conducting it.

The last movement could be described as being generally of an optimistic and joyful nature and as such contrasts with the denser and darker first movement. The progression of the symphony has been described as moving from dark to light and that concept is not difficult to follow in broad terms.

The generously spacious layout of the orchestra allows the camera work to succeed in providing both sensitive detail as well as panoramic views. This visual element makes a telling contribution as we are able to see the changing body language of the conductor which matches the concept of the progression towards light and this adds to our understanding of the sounds he brings to our attention.

The addition of images to the aural coverage of this music is a great advantage in a work such as this and Abbado and his orchestra make for compelling guides. The sound itself is presented in wide-ranging DTS 5.1 and stereo formats and captures all of this with admirable lucidity.

Abbado has an international reputation of being perhaps the leading exponent of the Mahler symphonies at this time and in particular of the 7th symphony. In my opinion this is fully justified and this recording is a clear contender for the full 5 stars and should give much pleasure and satisfaction to most future purchasers.

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Blind Horizon (2004)

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Product Description

Blind Horizon (2004) / REGION FREE DVD / Audio: English, Thai / Subtitles: English, Thai / Actors: Val Kilmer, Neve Campbell, Sam Shepard, Noble Willingham, Amy Smart / Director: Michael Haussman / 101 minutes

Blind Horizon (2004) Review

This review refers to "Blind Horizon" Widescreen DVD Edition(Lions Gate)...

"Blind Horizon" is not a film you will want to view if you are in the mood to just veg out and be only entertained.I would also say that if you like your films formulized or predictable, again, you should probably skip this one. On the other hand, if you are in the mood for something that sets itself apart from the rest, one that will give you a rewarding mental workout, and leaves you stunned at both the outcome and the visual arts, "Blind Horizon" will fulfill your needs!

A man is found in a small town in New Mexico left for dead. Shot in the head, lying in his own blood and comatose. Finally awakened by the sweet voice of his nurse, and the familiar smell of cigarette smoke. The sheriff and his deputy are on the case. They have questions galore. Who tried to commit murder in their little town and why? Who is the victim? But, they'll have to wait for the answers(as does the viewer), as the victim is an amnesiac.

Bits and pieces start coming back to him. He feels he knows something that is dangerous. A plot to assassinate the President of the United States. He doesn't have all the pieces to the puzzle yet, but he must warn the Secret Service so they may prevent this disaster. His Doctor says, the mind plays tricks after a trauma like this. He is probably remembering some book he read, or movie he saw.What could the President have to do with this little border town? Or maybe he is just plain out of his mind. Only the Sheriff considers the possibility he may be right.

As the Sheriff investigates, he and the audience as well, are met with a slew of twists and turns, unsavory characters and questions to ponder. And like the Sheriff, every time we think we have the answer, we are proved wrong as we weave through the maze of flashbacks and evidence.

The filming of this mystery/thriller is extraordinary. The flashbacks and the present are well separated by the use of colors. Like the amnesia victim, we are only giving bits of flashbacks at a time, each time a little more is added to the puzzle. The cast is amazing in their roles, never giving anything away. It stars Val Kilmer, Neve Campbell, Sam Shepard and Amy Smart. Faye Dunaway also gets top billing, but I felt she wasn't part of the story nearly enough. Noble Willingham, and Giancarlo Esposito add their marvelous talents as well. There was not a frame, where I wanted to pause to get up for a snack or anything. I had many questions during the film, MOST were answered by the final frame, there were a couple I'm still trying to work out. Without giving anything away, I just say it had to do with character motivation. Hmmmm...maybe another view will help!

Lion's Gate as usual has done a wonderful transfer to DVD. The widescreen presentation, lets you take in the entire story. Colors, which are used very well in this film, were excellent, and the sound in 5.1 Dolby(also has a 2.0 Stereo option)was totally surrounding, each noise distinguishable. A feature entitle "Cutting Room - The Inside Perspective", with commentary from the editing crew, was enlightening as to why the film was put together the way it was(faster moving then origianlly planned), but it also made me wonder who was running the show? Someday, I would be interested to see a Director's(Micheal Haussman) cut of this film and compare it to this final cut.

So..if you like film that makes you work a little, say like something along the lines of "Vanilla Sky", and a film that begs to be talked about with others that have viewed it, have a look at "Blind Horizon". Oh Yeah...Remember to pop that popcorn before you get involved with this thriller!

Enjoy....Laurie

Val Kilmer fans may want to have a look at his very early work in:
GORE VIDAL'S BILLY THE KID

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