Ketevan Kemoklidze

L'opéra "Roméo et Juliette" de Charles Gounod a été enregistré en 2011 à l'Arena di Verona, sous la direction de Fabio Mastrangelo.

Opéra enregistré en 2011 au Teatro Regio di Parma

José Cura sings and acts here with an inwardness and intensity which make a profound impression. So does Krassimira Stoyanova as Desdemona, not in the first flush of youth, but heartfelt and direct; while Lado Ataneli's Jago is a brilliantly understated study in jovial malevolence. With strong conducting from Antoni Ros-Marbà, the whole cast collaborate to give us the truth of this desperately upsetting work, as no other DVD and few live performances I've seen of it ever have.

There's an uncompromising clarity to Blu-ray audio and video that really does bring the splendour of grand opera right into the living room. So it's all the more frustrating to get a compromised production as the final product. Jules Massenet's 1894 tragedy about a sex goddess humbled by an insistent Cenobite monk isn't produced very often, because of a demanding lead role and some difficult staging issues. But the music is gorgeous from beginning to end. When you have a great diva at centre stage, the three acts go by in a flash.

Condamné à quinze années d'exil par la Sainte Inquisition pour complot contre l’église, le prêtre Lorenzo da Ponte quitte Venise pour Vienne en 1781. L'Empereur Joseph II, se prenant d'emblée d'amitié pour le jeune garçon, lui demande d’écrire le livret des Noces de Figaro pour Mozart. Cette première œuvre du jeune librettiste est un véritable succès. Très vite son ami Casanova l’implore de travailler avec Mozart à l’écriture d’un nouvel opéra Don Giovanni, inspirée de sa propre vie de libertin.