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DVD : Leos Janacek - From the House of Dead / MCO, ASC, Boulez, Chereau (Festival Aix-en-Provence 2007)
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Leos Janacek - From the House of Dead / MCO, ASC, Boulez, Chereau (Festival Aix-en-Provence 2007) starring: Olaf Bär, Peter Straka, Heinz Zednik, John Mark Ainsley, Pierre Boulez directed by: Patrice Chereau, Stephane Metge List Price: $29.98 Childrens Toy Shop Price: $19.97 You Save: $10.01 (33%)Prices subject to change. |
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Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Audience Rating: Unrated Binding: DVD EAN: 0044007344262 Format: Color, NTSC Label: Deutsche Grammophon Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon Number Of Discs: 1 Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Deutsche Grammophon Release Date: April 22, 2008 Running Time: 100 minutes Studio: Deutsche Grammophon Theatrical Release Date: 2007 Sales Rank: 15024 MPN: 001085609 Related Items:
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Editorial Review: Product Description: Janác ek s rarely performed final opera From the House of the Dead is brought to the stage by acclaimed director Patrice Chéreau and legendary conductor Pierre Boulez, serving as the third collaboration between the celebrated team behind the famous best-selling DVD Ring also on DG. This production, commissioned by the Aix-en-Provence Festival, has been widely hailed as one of the operatic highlights of the new millennium. Harrowing and unforgettable; one of the great Janác ek interpretations of our time. The Guardian Amazon.com: Few operas match Janácek’s From the House of the Dead for sustained intensity and raw emotional power, especially effective in this 2007 Aix-en-Provence Festival staging. The opera is an ensemble work requiring an evenly matched cast of singing actors and a first-class orchestra under the baton of a conductor who masters Janácek’s but tricky rhythmic patterns, gritty folk-based melodies, and brilliant orchestration. That’s what it gets in this staging by Patrice Chéreau and conductor Pierre Boulez, whose precision and attention to detail amplify the overwhelming power of the score. This is one of those rare operas where nothing much happens yet leaves you certain that it has revealed important aspects of life. Without conventional arias, it delivers the power of such "highlight" moments through dramatic monologues and a continuous stream of orchestral music that illuminates characters and situations. In this late work completed months before his death, Janácek does in a mere 100 minutes what others strive to do in much longer time spans. Sharing the honors is a superb cast that brings the opera to life. You may despise what these people have done to land themselves in the Siberian gulag of Dostoyevsky’s novel, but Janácek’s libretto, almost entirely taken and re-ordered directly from the book, makes you sympathize with their degraded state and shocked at the cruelty to which they are subjected. Janácek focuses on six of the prisoners and several relate their stories. These are uniformly well done, with the first act monologue of Luca, a tale of how he murdered a prison commander, a gripping experience. It’s balanced in the final Act’s story of Shiskov; a grim tale of how he murdered his wife when she revealed her love for the villainous Filka, who turns out to be none other than the prisoner known as Luca. Filka/Luca is powerfully sung and acted by Stefan Margita, Shiskov by Gerd Grochowski. Olaf Bär sings the nobleman, a political prisoner roughly stripped of his clothes and belongings and who’s freed in the last Act. He becomes a father figure to the pallid, retiring Alyeya, brilliantly realized by Eric Stoklossa, teaching him to read and write and ministering to him as he lies feverish in the prison hospital. Special mention must be made of John Mark Ainsley, in the role of Skuratov, who murdered a rich man who wanted to marry his sweetheart. Chéreau’s stage direction masterfully focuses attention where it needs to be, and keeps the dramatic arc flowing in ways that allow the audience to follow the action – not easy on a stage filled with secondary characters, nearly all male and all in either shabby prison clothes or green guard’s uniforms. Thierry Thieu Niang staged the two brief plays within the opera, prisoners’ performances mirroring some of their tales, bursting with depravity. The sets by Richard Peduzzi are fitting too, movable walls that reach to the top of the stage and enclose the prisoners in a claustrophobic setting. Film director Stéphane Metge’s camera placements and cutting are virtually always on target, blending the personal stories in a larger context. Extras include a 48" film that includes revealing scenes of Boulez and Chéreau in rehearsal. This is a must-have for anyone interested in 20th century opera. --Dan Davis From the House of the Dead is an all-regions disc in 16:9 ratio. Sound options include PCM Stereo and DTS 5.1 Surround. Sung in Czech, subtitles include English, German, French, and Spanish. Customer Reviews
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 Rating: - Janacek's From the House of the Dead (DVD)This, one of the greatest operas of the twentieth century which, because of its language and setting, is not performed as often as it should be receives a magnificent performance here: the production, singing, and orchestral performance are all superb. A must for all lovers of Janacek and of twentieth-century opera. More than just a supplement to the definitive Mackerras CD recording of the work. Most enthusiastically recommended! Rating: - Stunning!What an emotionally harrowing experience is watching this opera for the first time. Stephane Metge has made a film using the production by Patrice Chereau and Pierre Boulez (together again 30 some years after their famous Bayreuth Ring) and what a film it is. Boulez, almost literally seems to conjure this stunning performance from the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. From its haunting, jangly opening I was brought to mind of Strauss and Prokofiev and how all three use the orchestral colors in the boldest possible - and not always most subtle ways. The score is a wonder of violence, tenderness, dreamlike and gritty realism. It is magnificent. Metge's camera work gets right into the middle of things, roaming ... Read More: Rating: - The living deadPrior to watching this, I had never seen or heard this opera before, but I like Janacek, love Dostoevsky, so I thought I would give it a try. Good call. From the House of the Dead is a bleak but essential opera, and Stephan Metge's film of Patrice Chereau's dank, foggy, severe staging makes for a powerful viewing experience. Almost from the first note I fell in love with Janacek's score. The composer has created a brilliant melange of lyricism and dissonance where the orchestration is more important than the vocalism. The singing in this opera is non-melodic, at times sparse, austere, almost conversational. What melodies there are are all contained within the instrumental portion of the score, it's Janacek's schizophrenic orchestration that sets ... Read More: Rating: - A searing and memorable final production from Boulez and ChereauJanacek's final opera, composed in 1927-28 and given its posthumous premiere two years later, is based on the Dostoyevsky novel written in 1861-62 in which the author renders his own prison experiences. The story as seen in the opera is not presented in a linear fashion, rather it is like a Robert Altman film such as Nashville or Short Cuts where an ensemble cast presents several intertwined stories of a disparate nature and with varied emotional impact. Janacek chose six characters and their compelling stories to focus on, reducing the novel's sprawling, amorphous structure into a more manageable form. The selection by Janacek is masterful: we are drawn into this bleak world with its ever-present despair and random violence because we identify with ... Read More: Rating: - excellent late JanacekI have no idea how this compares to Charles MacKerras' cd versions of the opera, nor do I care - I'm keeping both (I own the Decca/Vienna Phil. recording from MacKerras). Watching this on dvd brings the story and action to a whole different level, especially when the acting is as visceral and excellent as it is here. Of course, the real star of the show is Janacek's amazing orchestral score (for me, anyway), and the Gustav Mahler Chamber Orch. do an outstanding job from start to finish. Even if you don't find Janacek's vocal writing to your liking (don't look for many pretty arias here), or the story too unsavory, "FTHOTD" still possesses one of the greatest opera preludes ever composed. This may seem like a petty detail, but I like it that the camera ... Read More: |
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