Bellini - I Puritani - Netrebko, Summers (DVD)

A great evening - with no concept in sight - topped by Netrebko's star turn.
Although I Puritani was performed during the Metropolitan Opera's first season in 1883 (with Marcella Sembrich), it had not been seen there for decades until this production by Sandro Sequi was unveiled in 1976. It was one of the greatest triumphs for the partnership ofJoan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti, and it is to the credit of all concerned in this recent revival that one soon forgets names from the past and enjoys what is a spirited attempt to evoke mid-19th-century style.
Although it is very much an opera for four singers — the original "Puri tani quartet" of Grisi, Rubini, Tamburini and Lablache entered into legend — this is essentially Anna Netrebko's evening. In her tightly waisted costumes, her pale face framed by a dark wig, she succeeds in dominating the action both by her singing and by her physical presence, using sudden, jerky movements to suggest Elvira's unhinged state. At the climax of the mad scene in Act 2, she flings herself on the floor and, with her head hanging over the orchestra pit, launches the second verse of "Vien, diletto". She negotiates both "Son vergin vezzosa" and "Oh vieni al tempio" with brilliance in Act 1, and has more than enough stamina left in Act 3 to match Eric Cutler as Arturo in the vertiginous "Vieni fra queste braccia". If there is something missing from her singing it is the ability to invest Carlo Pepoli's verses with an edge of pathos beyond what is already there in Bellini's languid melodies.
Cutler makes a good cavalier hero, especially in the desperate plea of "Credeasi, misera!". As usual, the baritone and bass, Franco Vassallo and John Relyea, bring down the house with "Suoni la tromba" at the end of Act 2. After more than 30 years, the sets and costumes by Ming Cho Lee and Peter. Hall look very handsome. Whether you consider the production quaint or merely traditional, it is something of a relief not to have to battle with an elaborate political concept (although this of all operas — a story about a man torn between love and duty in the midst of a civil war— could well accommodate it). Patrick Summers conducts the Met forces always with consideration for the singers. The photography is excellent, and there are some intriguing glimpses of the singers backstage, including an interval feature in which Renee Fleming is the interviewer, chatting to Netrebko in her dressing-room.
Patrick O'Connor for Gramophone

Vincenzo Bellini
I Puritani

Opera in 3 Acts

Anna Netrebko: Elvira
Eric Cutler: Arturo
Franco Cassala: Riccardo
John Relyea: Giorgio
Eduardo Valdes: Bruno
Valerian Ruminski: Gualterio
Maria Zifchak: Enrichetta

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chorus & Ballett
Patrick Summers

Stage director : Sharon Thomas

Recorded live at the Met, January 6, 2007
Editor: DG (073 4421)
Japanese Edition (XY-697)
2xDVD9
Video: NTSC / 29.97fps / 720x480 / 4:3 / Mpeg-2
Audio: LPCM 48 kHz / DTS 5.1
Language: Italian
Subtitles:It/En/Fr/Ge/Sp
Scans: Cover (HQ)
Approximative time: 2h29min
Release date: 2007
Bonus disc includes Backstage at the Met with Anna Netrebko, Renée Fleming and Beverly Sills, …
Approximative size: 5.7GB + 5.2GB + 1MB