This is a recording of the first opera written by Conductor/Composer Andre Previn. The DVD documents the World Premier performances by the San Francisco Opera and Opera Orchestra (by whom the work was commissioned), and conducted by by composer himself. This is a remarkable score, fully energizing the well-known classic with music that highlights and intensifies emotion: exactly what an opera setting is meant to do. Previn has a remarkable gift composing for voice, and his score abounds both in breathtaking lyricism (including several full-fledged lyric arias for the great Rene Fleming and a lovely duet for Fleming and Elizabeth Futrel); to the joltingly dramatic. The orchestral music that “describes” the brutal rape scene is downright sinister and scary. And the coda-like ending of the opera is one of the most memorable I have heard, from ANY period. In short, one of the finest, and most significant, operas of post-Verdi/Puccini contemporary times, both as beautiful as the latter and as dramatic as the former, a musical masterpiece well worthy of celebrating a literary and cinematographic masterpiece. Of course, the soloists (hand-picked by Previn); the San Francisco Opera Company and it’s deliciously rich Orchestra; and the conducting all are beyond superb. The video is a good capture of the live performance, which I was lucky to attend. The stage direction is excellent, though a bit literal. We need a new recording from the even more wonderful Los Angeles Opera Company presentation of Streetcar, a number of years later. Previn added an aria for Stanley and tightened up the score in a few subtle ways, and the staging was more imaginative and special. Soloists were essentially, the same. But for now, if you are a fan of opera from the era of Verdi/Puccini through Ades and George Benjamin today, BUY this, and BUY the CD recording (from the same live performances) on DG, for much better sound. It is one of the most wonderful new operatic creations to emerge in the twentieth/twentifirst centuries; and with Maestro Previn’s sad death a year ago, it is the only opportunity you are likely ever to have to hear this sublime score realized by the composer (also one of the finest conductors of his era), himself!Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Previn has written a totally fitting adaptation of the classic American play. This is one of the more listenable of the modern operas. I've had the CDs of this; but I really wanted to see it. Renee Fleming is great as Blanche; and her aria toward the end is one of my favorite arias ever. Hot, steamy, sultry, and sexy...makes for a dynamic opera. This is the world premier performance and recording, in my city, San Fran; and a good one it was. Lay back, watch and listen, and fan yourself...
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Wonderful and Fleming is superb
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
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