Lilian Watson Movies
Georges Bizet's 1875 opera about Carmen, the colorful cigarette factory worker whose flirtations with the soldier Don José are forgotten in her love for the matador Escamillo, is the source for director Francesco Rosi's cinematic version of the same story. Plácido Domingo sings the part of Don José, Julia Migenes-Johnson sings Carmen, and Ruggero Raimondi is Escamillo. Although there is nothing to fault in the singing itself, some viewers may feel that director Rosi has stayed closer to a stage production than the medium of film would warrant. Carmen received the 1984 Cesar award for "Best Sound." ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Julia Migenes, Plácido Domingo, (more)
Originally composed in 1954 by Benjamin Britten and based on a short story from Henry James, The Turn of the Screw is one of the relative few ghost stories that has made a prominent space for itself among popular opera. In this filmed production, Sir Colin Davis conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and features Lilian Watson and soprano Helen Donath. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi
- 1980
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote his comic opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) in 1782. The three-act piece concerns Belmonte's attempts - with the help of his servant Pedrillo - to liberate his paramour, Constanze, from the seraglio, or the sequestered living quarters of the Pasha Selim, the Ottoman ruler. The Glyndebourne Festival Opera staged Entführung in 1980, with a cast that included Ryland Davies as Belmonte, Valerie Masterson as Constanze, and James Hoback as Pedrillo; a filmed record of that production is now available in this home release. The Glyndebourne Chorus and The London Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Gustav Kuhn, provide musical accompaniment, with Peter Wood in charge of the stage production. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
