Rated: Exempt
Staring: Kathleen Battle, Francisco Araiza, Manfred Hemm, Kurt Moll, Luciana Serra
Director: Brian Large

The best production I have seen of The Magic Flute, 2010-07-31
I bought this DVD as a present. I have owned this production on DVD for some time and I still think that it is the best all round production ever of The Magic Flute.

From the artistic imagination of Hockney, the music flair of Levine, to the absolute best Queen of the Night I can wholeheartledly recommend this DVD.

Jan Jones

Rated: Exempt
Staring: Kathleen Battle, Thomas Allen, Frank Lopardo, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Saito Kinen Orchestra
Director: Barrie Gavin

Good Product, 2010-07-05
The best performance of Carmina Burana and excellent choral symphony No. 9.

Product recommended!!

Regards

Diego Bueno

Rated: Universal, suitable for all
Staring: James Levine, Steve Martin, Leopold Stokowski, Ralph Grierson, Kathleen Battle
Director: Don Hahn, Eric Goldberg, Francis Glebas, Gaëtan Brizzi, Hendel Butoy

More ambitious in scope than any of its other animated films (before or to come), Disney's 1940 Fantasia was a dizzying, magical and highly enjoyable marriage of classical music and animated images. Fantasia 2000, originally made for the IMAX large-screen format, features some breathtaking animation and storytelling, and in a few spots soars to wonderful high points, but it still more often than not has the feel of walking in its predecessor's footsteps as opposed to creating its own path. A family of whales swimming and soaring to Respighi's The Pines of Rome is magical to watch, but ends all too soon; a forest sprite's dance of life, death and rebirth to Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring too clearly echoes the original Fantasia's Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria sequence. But when it's on target, Fantasia 2000 is glorious enough to make you giddy. Hans Christian Andersen's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" is a perfect narrative set to Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2, and Donald Duck's guest appearance as the assistant to Noah (of the Ark fame) set to Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance marches is a welcome companion piece (though not...
absolutely breathtaking, 2008-12-08
Having loved the original Fantasia I was desperate to see this when it came out at the cinema so I remember dragging my dad along to see it. It did not disappoint and I recently saw it again and remembered every sequence although it had been eight years since the first viewing!There is not one bad sequence in the film and the music as always, fits the animation perfectly!My favourite sequence is the Rhapsody in Blue set in New York City - perfection.

Rated: Exempt
Artist: Eva Marton, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Jose Carreras, Joan Sutherland, Anna Tomowa-Sintow
Staring: Kathleen Battle, Leonard Bernstein, Richard Bonynge, Montserrat Caballé, Richard Cassilly

A wonderful evening for every opera funs., 2009-10-18
The double dvd about the Metropolitan centennial gala is wonderful.Many real star and great performances are on the discs.Birgit Nilsson who is over sixty in 1983.is magnificent.For me one of the greatest moments in this evening is the chorus from Mascagnis opera:Iris.James Levine,Bernstein are great.We can see on the stage the stars of the past.I could recognize only Bidu Sayao and Rise Stephens.I would have like if somebody had introduced all of them.Leona Mitchell is beautiful.The tenors are excellent from James McCracken to Pavarotti.Leontyne Price,Marilyn Horne,Tomowa-Sintow,Judith Blegen,Joan Sutherland naturally wonderful.For us in Hungary naturally Eva Marton is one of the best moment of the evening.So the Metropolitan-gala is a very good pleasure for the opera funs.

Staring: Walter Cronkite, Julie Andrews, Liza Minnelli, Nathan Lane, Andrea Bocelli
Director: Kirk Browning, Steve Ruggi

Staring: Herbert von Karajan, Kathleen Battle

Karajan - Vienna concert, 2009-03-10
If you buy this you will know what to expect and will not be
disappointed.

Rated: Exempt
Staring: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, The Shinyukai Choir, Kathleen Battle, Frank Lopardo, Thomas Allen
Director: Barrie Gavin

An outstanding performance by Seiji Ozawa., 2001-08-04
This adaption is absolutely wonderful, a must for any collection. Seiji's passion for this outstanding work by Carl Orff is a wonder to watch. The singers, choir and orchestra give their all in this video.

Rated: Universal, suitable for all
Staring: James Levine, Steve Martin, Leopold Stokowski, Ralph Grierson, Kathleen Battle
Director: Don Hahn, Eric Goldberg, Francis Glebas, Gaëtan Brizzi, Hendel Butoy

More ambitious in scope than any of its other animated films (before or to come), Disney's 1940 Fantasia was a dizzying, magical and highly enjoyable marriage of classical music and animated images. Fantasia 2000, originally made for the IMAX large-screen format, features some breathtaking animation and storytelling, and in a few spots soars to wonderful high points, but it still more often than not has the feel of walking in its predecessor's footsteps as opposed to creating its own path. A family of whales swimming and soaring to Respighi's The Pines of Rome is magical to watch, but ends all too soon; a forest sprite's dance of life, death and rebirth to Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring too clearly echoes the original Fantasia's Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria sequence. But when it's on target, Fantasia 2000 is glorious enough to make you giddy. Hans Christian Andersen's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" is a perfect narrative set to Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2, and Donald Duck's guest appearance as the assistant to Noah (of the Ark fame) set to Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance marches is a welcome companion piece (though not...
absolutely breathtaking, 2008-12-08
Having loved the original Fantasia I was desperate to see this when it came out at the cinema so I remember dragging my dad along to see it. It did not disappoint and I recently saw it again and remembered every sequence although it had been eight years since the first viewing!There is not one bad sequence in the film and the music as always, fits the animation perfectly!My favourite sequence is the Rhapsody in Blue set in New York City - perfection.

Rated: Exempt
Staring: Jessye Norman, Kathleen Battle, Tatiana Troyanos, James King, Franz Ferdinand Netwig
Director: Brian Large

A phenomenal and unmissable Ariadne from Jessye Norman., 2008-03-29
Jessye Norman at the height of her powers gives a phenomenal performance as Ariadne, her powerful rich voice effortlessly meets every demand Strauss places on it (and they are considerable) and her total involvement living every second of the role, and her portrayal of every emotion, is astonishing.

Norman gives the finest operatic performance I have ever heard and seen.

Prologue - Tatiana Troyanos is great in her signature role of the Composer with fine comedy support all round.

Opera - There is a downside to the Olympian heights scaled by Norman, even the excellent Kathleen Battle as Zerbinetta seems muted (and she isn't) by comparison.

Poor James King late in his career has a tough time in the final duet with Norman, he can match her volume but at the expense of all vocal expression.

If you love fine singing, this is a mandatory purchase.

Rated: Exempt
Staring: Rockwell Blake, Enzo Dara, Kathleen Battle, Leo Nucci, Ferruccio Furlanetto
Director: Brian Large

Beautiful Music, Hilarious Comedy, Brilliant Staging, 2010-06-01
Before I had the money to attend Operas, I watched several dozen different productions on VHS. For the past few years, I have been deciding which ones I want on DVD. When I saw that this Metropolitan Opera production, featuring the volatile but brilliant Kathleen Battle was finally being released on DVD, memories of my first viewing, almost twenty years ago, came flooding back.
1) Ralf Weikert's conducting is my favorite; this includes several recordings and a Metropolitan Opera production my wife and I attended on October 2009.
2) Kathleen Battle may be physically attractive but, her voice enormously eclipses her looks. She is irresistible to listen to and handles comic acting much better than most singers.
3) Leo Nucci is, for me, the definitive Figaro. His voice is crystal clear, his acting superb and conveys an ethereal puppeteer like quality, as his fine and broad strokes influence all of the action.
4) Enzo Dara's Doctor Bartolo is a performance for the ages. Threatening one moment, sidesplittingly hilarious the next, when he takes the stage, you can't take your eyes off of him.
I don't want to beat the issue to death so, suffice it to say, everyone else, from Blake's Almaviva to di Franco's Berta are wonderful. The set must be seen to be believed. The DVD transfer is very good, although slightly betraying its VHS roots.
Great comic operas should be performed with the sole purpose of making the audience laugh. Too much reverence for the music or the roles, can create very stilted productions. No chance of that here. Order it and enjoy! It's funnier than most of the comedic films being made these days!