Italo Tajo Movies
- 1990
- Add La Bohème (San Francisco Opera) to Queue Add La Bohème (San Francisco Opera) to top of Queue
San Francisco hosted this version of the famous opera. ~ Rovi
Franco Zeffirelli both stage-directed and designed the sets for this 1985 Metropolitan Opera production of Puccini's romantic opera Tosca. The story revolves around the singer Floria Tosca (Hildegard Behrens), who is jealous of her lover, painter Mario Cavaradossi (Placido Domingo). The corrupt police chief Scarpia (Cornell MacNeil) is after the escaped political prisoner Cesare Angelotti (James Courtney), who is friends with Mario. The treacherous Scarpia arrests Mario, Angelotti kills himself, and Tosca gets homicidal. Several murders and betrayals later, the conclusion involves Mario and Tosca before a firing squad in the dramatic final act. Conducted by Guiseppe Sinopoli. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- 1982
One of Puccini's most popular works (and the second-most performed opera at New York's Metropolitan Opera), this production by Franco Zeffirelli features Jose Carreras, Teresa Stratas, Renata Scotto,and Richard Stilwell, and boasts an extraordinary visual beauty in its retelling of this tragic story of young bohemians struggling towards success. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Teresa Stratas, Renata Scotto, (more)
- 1977
- Add La Bohème (The Metropolitan Opera) to Queue Add La Bohème (The Metropolitan Opera) to top of Queue
Giacomo Puccini's La Bohéme comes to life at the Metropolitan Opera in this performance captured live in March of 1977 and featuring The Metropolitan Opera and Chorus under the conduction of James Levine. Renata Scotto and Maralin Niska star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Renata Scotto, Maralin Niska, (more)
- 1948
Less than a week after the U.S. release of Rene Clair's Beauty and the Devil came another cinemazation of the Faust legend, this one produced in Italy. Faust and the Devil was directed by Carmine Gallone, whose career extended back to the dawn of the Italian film industry. Gallone proved that age hadn't withered his ability to entertain, as he adroitly combines Goethe's version of Faust with Gounod's operatic adaptation. Gino Mattera stars as Faust, an ageing pedant who sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for youth, knowledge, and love. Italo Tajo and Nelly Corradi co-star as Mephistopheles and Marguerite, respectively. While Mattera and Tajo do their own singing in the musical passages, Corradi merely lip-syncs while the voice of Onelia Finechi is heard on the soundtrack. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Italo Tajo, Nelly Corradi, (more)
- 1947
This Italian cinemazation of Rossinis comic opera The Barber of Seville is worth seeing if for no other reason than the presence of legendary tenor Tito Gobbi in the title role. The moment Gobbi launches the famous, tongue-twisting "Largo et Factotum," the audience is in the palm of his hand. The plot, of course, concerns the efforts of Count Almavina (Ferrucio Tagliavini) to woo and win the beautiful Rosina (Nelly Corradi) without arousing the suspicions of the heroine's overprotective guardian, but it's the music that remains in the memory. Mme. Corradi's rendition of "Une voce poco fa" is also to be cherished, though it isn't as impressive as Gobbi's solo numbers. For the benefit of English-speaking audiences, the plot is "explained" by music critic Deems Taylor, who performed a similar function in Disney's Fantasia (1940). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ferruccio Tagliavini, Tito Gobbi, (more)
- 1947
Lucia di Lammermoor is a filmed record of the Donizetti opera of the same name, which in turn was based on a novel by Sir Walter Scott. The story is the established scenario of a feud between two fiercely proud Scottish clans, and of the woman who further antagonizes the rival families by marrying her brother's bitterest enemy. Musical highlights include the heroine's "mad" aria, and of course the celebrated Sextet (so often lampooned by such comedians as the Three Stooges). The title role is sung by lyric soprano Nelly Corradi, who is quite a beauty in the bargain. Resisting temptations to "cinematize" the opera, director Pietro Ballerini filmed Lucia di Lammermoor as it appeared on stage -- a not terribly imaginative approach, but one that works quite well here. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nelly Corradi, Mario Filipeschi, (more)
- 1946
In this screen adaptation of Donizetti's comic opera, a flirtatious young girl loves teasing the boys. One young man is particularly enamored and goes to the local medicine man for a love potion. The strange brew works and romance ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tito Gobbi
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