The term ‘filmed opera’ in no way describes this phantasmagoria. Powell & Pressburger re-envisions the Offenbach work with dance sequences refracted through a cinematic prism. It’s high art made for the movies, without the condescenscion seen in Disney’s Fantasia. The stars are Moira Shearer and Robert Helpmann. Powell perfects techniques from Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes to fuse music, theater, dance and cinema; Martin Scorsese calls it a ‘composed film.’ This full restoration reinstates footage not seen since the first previews in 1951.
The Tales of Hoffmann
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 317
1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 133 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 7, 2022 / 39.95
Starring: Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann, Ludmilla Tchérina, Anne Ayars, Pamela Brown, Léonide Massine, Frederick Ashton, Mogens Wieth, Robert Rounseville;
— And the voices of: Robert Rounseville, Monica Sinclair, Bruce Dargavel, Fisher Morgan, Rene Soames, Dorothy Bond, Grahame Clifford, Murry Dickie, Margherita Grandi, Owen Brannigan, Ann Ayars, Joan Alexander...
The Tales of Hoffmann
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 317
1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 133 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 7, 2022 / 39.95
Starring: Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann, Ludmilla Tchérina, Anne Ayars, Pamela Brown, Léonide Massine, Frederick Ashton, Mogens Wieth, Robert Rounseville;
— And the voices of: Robert Rounseville, Monica Sinclair, Bruce Dargavel, Fisher Morgan, Rene Soames, Dorothy Bond, Grahame Clifford, Murry Dickie, Margherita Grandi, Owen Brannigan, Ann Ayars, Joan Alexander...
- 6/14/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Chicago – The familiar story of the “star crossed lovers” by William Shakespeare, “Romeo and Juliet,” has been given as many interpretations over the years as there are stars in the sky. The Lyric Opera of Chicago presents the operatic French version, with a bright and venerate staging.
Play Rating: 4.0/5.0
There are many duets in this opera, as can be expected, and the two vocalists – Joseph Calleja and Susannah Phillips – are up to the task of portraying the title characters with energetic and purposeful stage personas. The famous couple come to life, and the vocal actors provide them something extra – an authentic sense of true love, and all the fate that this love creates. “Romeo and Juliet” is a tragedy in the Shakespeare canon, but the Lyric Opera production generates a hopeful sense of “tis better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all” (kudos to another British poet,...
Play Rating: 4.0/5.0
There are many duets in this opera, as can be expected, and the two vocalists – Joseph Calleja and Susannah Phillips – are up to the task of portraying the title characters with energetic and purposeful stage personas. The famous couple come to life, and the vocal actors provide them something extra – an authentic sense of true love, and all the fate that this love creates. “Romeo and Juliet” is a tragedy in the Shakespeare canon, but the Lyric Opera production generates a hopeful sense of “tis better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all” (kudos to another British poet,...
- 3/1/2016
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
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