Product Description

This most effervescent of all Johann Strauss's operettas is a perennial favorite, with its tide of bright, frothy Viennese dance music and charmingly nonsensical plot. In this glittering John Cox production, designed by Julia Trevelyan Oman, the opulence of the Viennese Belle Epoque and the elegant gaiety of the music combine to provide an evening of sparkling Entertainment musical champagne. Judith Howarth, Louis Otey, Jochen Kowalski, Nancy Gustafson; special guest stars Dame Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti and Marilyn Horne; conducted by Richard Bonynge. 196 minutes.

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This is a capable, mildly eccentric, and thoroughly enjoyable production of Johann Strauss's witty, melodious, and charmingly frivolous comedy about elaborate practical jokes, faked identities, long-deliberated revenge, and the power of champagne. The singing is idiomatic, the spirit infectiously jovial, the acting polished and witty. Hard-core lovers of Die Fledermaus in its traditional form may have a few reservations. It is performed in a clever English translation by an English and American cast with a flavor more evocative of London than of Vienna. And the role of the decadent Prince Orlofsky, usually assigned to a female mezzo-soprano in trousers, is taken by a male countertenor, a meaningless gain in realism at the expense of a time-honored tradition that is one of the show's best perennial jokes.

These are small points, but for the treatment of the Fledermaus music, without other considerations, I would pick another Covent Garden video production, the 1984 gala, starring Kiri Te Kanawa, Hermann Prey, and Benjamin Luxon, with Placido Domingo conducting and, in the last act, singing a few notes.

That becomes irrelevant, however, because this production preserves a very special occasion: the 1990 New Year's Eve Gala in which Joan Sutherland made a cameo appearance--her Covent Garden farewell performance--during the party scene. She brought with her two of the outstanding partners in her career, Marilyn Horne and Luciano Pavarotti. All were in very good voice, and they rose to the occasion with some extraordinary singing. Highlights of the hors d'oeuvres include Sutherland's simple, eloquent "Home, Sweet Home," Horne's performance of "Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix" from Samson et Dalila, and Sutherland and Pavarotti in the heart-breaking duet "Parigi, o cara" from La Traviata. --Joe McLellan

• Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.75 x 5.75 x 0.75 inches; 3.2 ounces
• Director ‏ : ‎ Humphrey Burton
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC, Classical, Full Screen, Color
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 3 hours and 17 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ December 19, 2000
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Judith Howarth, Louis Otey, Bonaventura Bottone, Nancy Gustafson, Eric Garrett
• Dubbed: ‏ : ‎ German
• Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English
• Language ‏ : ‎ German (Dolby Digital 5.1), German (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Studio ‏ : ‎ Image Entertainment
• Writers ‏ : ‎ Carl Haffner, John Mortimer, Richard Genée
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1