User Reviews

When I saw this Opera, I imagined that it was about the character of King's Arthur Tales, The Lady of The Lake, one of the magic creatures of the story. The Opera has a totally different story, but it's beautiful anyway.

It's about Helen, a beautiful woman that awakes passions in the men: She loves Malcom, but is a bride of a brave and popular warrior of the clan,Rodrigo. Also, a mysterious guy she helps,Giacomo, stays in love with her.

Many wars and fights begin, since three men love Helen; I can say that the end is surprising and I definitively recommend it.

Rossini has always been a favourite, especially with Il Barbiere Di Siviglia and Guillaume(William) Tell. La Donna del Lago is not one of his best. The music is wonderful, especially O Fiamma Soave and the "love at first sight" duet, and the characters intrigue, but the story is rather weak with an incomprehensible extended scene at the end of act 1. This production I had mixed feelings about. The best things about the production are by far the singing and music, which generally are both outstanding. The music is stylishly and sensitively performed by the orchestra and Riccardo Muti's conducting is superb.

June Anderson sings with a lot of flexibility, and vocally it is a terrific performance. Even better is Martine Dupuy as Malcolm, her voice is rich and her technique is smooth. Of the male cast, faring best is Rockwell Blake, looking elegant and singing wonderfully throughout, especially O Fiamma Soave which is by far the best individual rendition of the performance. Chris Merritt I found disappointing. I like Merritt, but apart from the usual agile singing I hear in roles like Arnold(Guillaume Tell), I found it disappointingly edgy here. By that I mean a beautiful heroic sound in the middle/lower registers but a very unappealing nasal top which is very uncharacteristic of him.

Gurgio Surjan also disappoints, his singing could have been much more dynamic and there is a wobble to his voice now that makes his intonation approximate. Ernesto Gavazzi though is as solid as ever.I loved the sets, they were very atmospheric yet elegant with Herzog's distinctive style all over them. The costumes however were mixed, Anderson's and Dupuy's are appropriate, but for some reason Merritt's is very unflattering. The sound is very good.

Despite the music, singing and sets, the staging, some of the filming and acting disappoint. In regard to the filming, the lack of close ups and the constant use of medium and long range took away from any connection with the characters, and after watching this production I am still confused as to why the stage was lit in such a dark way. By all means, it is not quite as problematic as La Scala's Guglielmo Tell which despite the wonderful music, singing and orchestra/conducting was one of the most visually unappealing opera productions I've seen, but it was still a problem.

The staging didn't involve me in any way. There was one touch I liked, which was Anderson's arrival by boat, but the rest seemed very static and cold. I didn't like the decision to have the female chorus present during Elena and Uberto's duet, the duet is very intimate, and to have people listening in was I felt distracting and didn't make much sense. The acting came across as very stand and deliver quality with many of the key players, Dupuy and Blake show some spark and to a lesser extent Gavassi, Anderson has some great moments but also some dull ones but Merritt and Surjan come across as disengaged.

Overall, not bad, in fact pretty decent especially musically, but it could've been much better too with more involved staging and acting. 7/10 Bethany Cox

I bought this DVD because I am shortly going to hear Juan Diego Florez and Joyce di Donato do this opera at Covent Garden. Doing this, I can enjoy the music more without having to keep on looking at the surtitles. In fact, this elderly recording from La Scala is the only one available so I had no choice in the matter. The recording certainly looks its age. It is very sombrely lit, suggesting that the film director could not or would not boost the theatre lighting for the recording. It is also a bit fuzzy and is shot in squarevision (ie a 4:3 aspect ratio).

Rossini's opera concentrates on the romantic interest in Sir Walter Scott's narrative poem giving it very little in the way of political or historical context. King James is apparently engaged in a war with rebellious highlanders but still has time to wander around incognito, disguised as Uberto. He meets the beautiful Elena, daughter of Douglas of Angus, or is it Angus of Douglas? Anyway, Douglas, or Angus, has joined the rebel Highlanders led by Rodrigo to whom he has betrothed Elena. Despite being wooed by the king and by Rodrigo, Elena, in fact, has a lover named Malcolm.

I was disappointed by June Anderson's performance as Elena. She is a noted bel canto performer but there is just no nuance in her singing. Even worse is Rockwell Blake as Uberto. He goes around with a dead bird on his head and a silly grin on his face, as if he is auditioning for the Book of Mormon. His voice sounds strained and he can't do the coloratura. Rossini's music is up to scratch and I kept on thinking this would sound really good if sung by Joyce di Donato and Juan Diego Florez.

Chris Merritt gives a rousing performance as Rodrigo although he has a tendency to shout, rather than sing, his high notes. Unfortunately, the sight of a fat Scotsman with a dirty bandage round his head does bring Rab C Nesbitt to mind. The best performance comes from Martine Dupuy in the trouser role of Malcolm. This is all the more impressive since she has to perform in a Yogi Bear costume.

This opera ends rather like La Cenerentola with everyone living happily ever after. Also like La Cenerentola, it finishes with a coloratura tour de force. Tanti Affetti has become Joyce di Donato's party piece over the last 3 years, something that she brings out for gala occasions. In contrast, hearing June Anderson's rendition of the same piece was quite a disappointment.

La donna del lago (1992 TV Movie) was directed by Ilio Catani in a live performance at La Scala. The opera is based on Sire Walter Scott's "The Lady of the Lake."

June Anderson is an incomparable soprano, and it's a pleasure to watch her act and hear her sing in the leading role of Elena.

Martine Dupuy, mezzo-soprano, portrays Elena's lover, Malcolm Groeme.

Dupuy is a fine singer, but, together, she and June Anderson don't make a great pairing.

Anderson is tall and she looks strong. Dupuy isn't tall, and she doesn't look strong. (Director Catani can put a thick leather sword belt around her slender waist, and she still doesn't look strong.) Also, she has a costume of a bearskin, with little ears pointing out of it. Very strange.

I enjoyed the film, and I recommend it, despite these reservations. Littlesongbird is a reviewer who I've always admired. She obviously knows more about opera than I do. After you read my review, I suggest you read her review.

La donna del lago has a pretty good 7.3 IMDb rating. I thought it was better than that, and rated it 9.