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| Gluck - Alceste / Robert Wilson John Eliot Gardiner Anne Sofie von Otter English Baroque Soloists Theatre du Chatelet | 
 enlarge | Director: Brian Large
Actors: Anne Sofie Von Otter, Paul Groves, Dietrich Henschel, Yann Beuron, Ludovic Tezier
Studio: Image Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $26.99
You Save: $3.00 (10%)
New (2) Used (1) from $21.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 76986
Format: Anamorphic, Classical, Color, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 133
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 4.9 x 0.6
MPN: 9307
UPC: 014381930726
EAN: 0014381930726
ASIN: B000059H8J
Theatrical Release Date: 2000
Release Date: March 27, 2001
Availability: In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served.
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| Similar Items:
| • | Absolute Wilson | | • | Christoph Williabald Gluck - Iphigenie en Tauride / Galstian, Gilfry, van der Walt, Christie, Guth (Opernhaus Zurich) | | • | Verdi - Aida / Norma Fantini, Marco Berti, Ildiko Komlosi, Mark Doss, Orlin Anastassov, Kazushi Ono, Brussels Opera | | • | Rameau - Les Indes Galantes / Petibon, Croft, Hartelius, Agnew, Rivenq, Berg, Strehl, Christie, Les Arts Florissants, Paris Opera | | • | Puccini - Madama Butterfly / Barker, Thompson, Keen, Stilwell, Blanchet, Smeets, Bijnen, de Waart, Amsterdam Opera |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Rebelling against the increasingly formulaic operas of the time, Christoph Willibald Gluck's "reformist" opera Alceste (1767) was a successful attempt to return to a purer form of musical drama. It is highly appropriate that this 1999 production of the revised 1776 Paris version should be conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, with the English Baroque Soloists and Monteverdi Choir, the same forces responsible for many fine Bach performances equally emphasizing character and text. In setting the tragic story of the profound love between Queen Alceste and her husband King Admete, Gluck provided a score of austere, rending beauty. Principals Anne Sofie von Otter and Paul Groves dominate the production as much through the power of their acting as their musical prowess. The major scenes are electrifying in their emotional intensity. Contrasting with this psychological realism are the simple, Greek-inspired designs by Robert Wilson. Silhouetted, geometric shapes glide gracefully through the slow-motion movements of the actors, bringing an hypnotic, dreamlike quality to the work. Near-constant blue lighting adds a sense of late-evening tranquillity, giving the stage a highly distinctive look and a feeling of dislocation in space and time. Both chilling and uplifting, this Alceste is a triumph. --Gary S. Dalkin, Amazon.co.uk
Description
Robert Wilson's production of Gluck's 1776 French version of Alceste is striking with theatrical symbols. The intriguing visual arena is complemented by the fact that the piece is conducted for the first time with a period instrument ensemble, the English Baroque Soloists. The excellent Monteverdi Choir provides the chorus, with dancers taking their place on stage. Together, they give a magnificently persuasive expression to the horror and compassion demanded by Christoph Willibald Gluck's most elevated and sublime works. 133 minutes.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 High Mass in Blue January 5, 2009
Within the first 5 minutes of this production you see EVERYTHING that will take place in the remaining 2 + hours. What one must do, however, it view it as it is, and sink down into it's ritualistic nature. It rather reminded me of a High Church Easter Vigil. It does seem MUCH longer than its 2.25 hours, but there is a hypnotic effect which begins after about 30 minutes. Don't look for what is NOT there (typical stage movement), but concentrate on what IS present: a beautifully sung principal roles, especially Von Otter, beautiful lighting and costuming (one has to like blue, however) and thrilling orchestral playing. The whole thing comes off as an antique frieze come to (hardly moving) life, but pinning down the actual period of the antique frieze is difficult.
None of it's shortcomings really matter, however, if you are willing to meet it on IT'S terms, and not try to force it into your preconceived notions of what Opera should be.
 Willibald Gets the Blues May 19, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
When is a CD more visually exciting than a DVD? That's not a joke; the answer is this Chatelet production of Gluck's Alceste. I've watched glaciers - literally - for hours, and seen more action than this.Was Brian Large, the director, momentarily suffering a post-encephalitic syndrome such as Oliver Sachs reported in Awakenings? LSD could not make this staging meaningful. This Alceste makes Wagner's Rheingold seem like a Rossini romp. It turns "Remenbrance of Things Past" into a haiku. It makes the American election process seem cogent.
What do you get when you pop this disk into your player? Blue. Faded Levi blue. A blue backdrop with hazy blue stage lights, sectioned by various blackish pillars and cubes. A small blue cube gyrates slowly overhead throughout the first act. A dozen female dancers in off-the-shoulder blue prom dresses, with blue Egyptian head-gear, glide stiffly fore and aft, their arms bent hieroglyphically. Eventually Alceste enters, sheathed in a simple red robe which, if you watch long enough, begins to seem blue also. Lo, the blue backdrop is declared to be a temple. There is a large gray-blue statue with impressive genitalia. A priest begins to sing sad blue phrases of omen. Blue moons later, Admetus emerges from the indigo shadows, saved from death by Alceste's sacrifice of her life, an act which makes him feel.... blue.
Oy! I've seen screen savers with infinitely more variety. Handel's Admeto, by the by, written in the same geological moment, handles the same story, but Handel had a handle on the human attention span.
As if the visuals weren't lifeless enough, the voice recording is dismally unlifelike. No matter how high I turned the volume or diddled the EQ, the singers sounded distant and pallid, as if I were sitting in the highest balcony of an opera house stuffed with baffles.
It's a colossal shame, really. The music, though somber and monochromatic until the very end, has its dolorous charms, especially as conducted by John Eliot Gardiner and performed by the English Baroque Soloists on period instruments. The miking of the orchestra, by the way, was quite intimate, as if that mattered when the singers were so stifled.
Please, don't make this your first pre-Mozart opera DVD! If you want a symbolist/minimalist staging of a Greek tragedy played on early instruments, get the DVD of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, as performed by Tragicomedia nd Concerto Palatino. How subtle the difference that separates a great production from a dud!
 A Moving Alceste February 9, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I am not a modernist. I harangue endlessly about placing an opera in an appropriate setting, time and place that is consistant to the story or the era of the composer. But the timeless setting of Robert Wilson's Alceste as conducted by Sir Eliot Gardiner seems almost perfect. The addition of the ballet-chorus takes the story back to it's Greek drama roots and puts action into a long, somewhat static opera. Another reviewer likened it to Kabuki dancers, I'm reminded of Egyptian tomb paintings or Minoan vase figures. Whatever, the effect is enormous. The whole project works well with one exception. The high priests are declamatory, the Admete of Paul Groves is rivetingly regal and the pantomime dancers carry the story along. Only one element seems lacking: Alceste. She must be both womanly and royal. Whereas Von Otter's voice can evoke the loving wife very well she can't command the stentorian needed for Admete's Queen. I've had the priviledge of seeing Jesse Norman at Chicago Lyric. She could do both and mesmerise an audience. Otherwise this is a great DVD to watch and to listen to.
How do you spell somber? March 10, 2005
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
The old Met had six composers displayed above the proscenium - Gluck,
Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi, Wagner, and Gounod. How different would the list be were it done today? Gluck is hardly a favorite or popular. He is more admired as a reformer than loved as a composer. And coming to him I have always considered a task - someone I SHOULD listen to and admire. I have long hoped to finally hear Alceste. Previous recordings have been severely handicapped in one way or another. And now here it is in the French version and in video. The musical performance is wonderful. How could it be other with Gardiner in charge? Robert Wilson is always something of a chore. I don't like him generally but I must confess that he is a good choice for a static work like Alceste. He reminds us always of the Greek roots to which Gluck wished to return. There is a marvellous hierarchic quality to this production that matches the drama and the music. Reading some authors on this work it is generally agreed to be the most somber and funereal of all operas. And Wilson's staging matches that solemnity. In all it is good to have this even though I still more admire than like it.
Yee Gads What Is This? February 20, 2004
5 out of 15 found this review helpful
Okay, I'll admit to the fact that this period of music is not of great interest to me. But, I decided to get it a chance. While beautifully sung and played, this is the most boring thing I have ever seen in my life. For over 2 hours the principle singers moved in slow motion most of the time with the arms and hands in statuesque like positions -- it literally put me to sleep! Maybe it was effective in theatre but it sure wasn't on video. If you want it for the music and singing I would highly recommend it -- but don't bother watching it.
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