Others say...

"What a ball! "
This was great! Pavarotti is fun (and young) the sets are nice, Rigoletto is terribly tragic and the courtiers are strong. The maid (the old witch) was very convincing. Any criticisms would be minor.

"Amazing Performance"
I got this DVD to understand what Rigoletto was all about and partly for Pavarotti performance of La Donna e Mobile, and I was glad I got this one. It is one of the best performance by all artisits.



"JUST GET IT... you won't regret it!"
There are so many reasons to like this film version of Verdi's Rigoletto. So many people have already listed them I feel somewhat redundant in listing them again, but I had to add my "2 cents."

The main reason to get this really is Ingvar Wixell's Rigoletto. He is to baritones what Callas was to sopranos... A SINGING ACTOR. He has the ability to make you feel for him, to despise him, to laugh with him, all the emotions. His is the most believeable jester I've ever had the pleasure of seeing and hearing. His singing is excellent as well, like molten lava, even if his top is a bit pushed. I also thought it wonderfully ironic to have him play both Rigoletto & Monterone- that way the curse is even more like a personal thing. If you liked Wixell in this, you'll love him as Scarpia in the Arena di Verona production of Tosca with Eva Marton (available from Kultur on DVD).

Obviously Pavarotti is another reason to get this. Vocally his Duke is impressive and no one captures that same kind of mischeiviousness like he can. That said I do agree with another review that the recording of his part seems to be overly loud- like he was mic'd too closely. I didn't find the same true with the other singers and in fact, Gilda's "Caro nome" required me to raise the volume a lot.

Gruberova's Gilda is wonderful as well. To me she has one of the most sumptuous coloratura voices ever. Her voice is never reedy or thin like some coloraturas, she has a heft and richness that is throughout her range. Her floating pianissimos are also simply astounding.

There are really no weak links here to me- I can cite some flaws, but overall this is a quality production and lots of fun to watch.
Highly recommended ******

"As entertaining as hell"
Never mind if it is not a stage production but a film.
It is tons more dramatic and entertaining than 'Romeo and Juliet' starring Leaonard Whiting and others, though the setting is almost the same. The reason? The music, of course.
Even if Pav was never a skilful actor on stage, in this film he portrayed a very convincing Duke of Mantua. Edita Gruberova's Gilda is heart-wrenchingly sung and portrayed. All the rest of the cast is great - Ferrucio Furlanetto, then so young and slim as to escape notice visually, is a real vocal discovery. And his acting is also very coherent with his singing.
The only slight weakness that could be picked lies in the title role - this jester is hardly funny, full of serious mentality and schemy political sense. The unanimously stenturion singing style of Wixell may not fit the role of the cursed jester as well as the cursing Count.
Otherwise, there really is nothing to flaw this spectacular production, showing Pavarotti in his prime PLUS good acting skills as a rare bonus!

"Film versus theater"
This is a wonderful "Rigoletto". It is full of drama. The signing from the three principals beyond reproach. The orchestral playing is dramatic and smooth as silk, although the balance favors the singers excessively. Some film scenes are breathtaking in their beauty.

I had always thought that opera created specifically for video would have many advantages over staged productions. However the reverse seems
generally true to me. I suppose it is because operas are indeed great works of the theater, and they need the ethos of the theater, including the audience interaction to shine. Or is that the producers lack a certain artistic sensitivity and imagination? Having said that, this is the most successful production of opera out of the theater that I have seen on video.

It seems to me that the music dramas of Richard Wagner are most ripe for imaginative productions for video out of the theater.

A word about the sound. The DTS 5.1 sound track is of very inferior quality. It is top heavy with a screeching string tone, the brass is all lip and no bell, the singers are all head and no chest voice. The bass quality is poor and largely absent. Happily the PCM 2 channel stereo tracks are much better. The bass is full, the only problem being a balance of the signers over the orchestra that is less than optimal.

A word about sound tracks on DVD opera. Both Dolby digital and DTS 5.1 use lossy digital compression. For large scale musical works such as opera, any lossy compression is going to produce inferior results and unpleasant digital artifacts, which on this recording are horrendous.

The 2 channel PCM tracks are lossless digital feeds of true CD quality. Fortunately most operas on DVD have these tracks. The multichannel Dolby and DTS tracks are contrived from two channel stereo in any event on most opera DVD productions. Therefore for viewers who have home theater multichannel systems they are much better off having their audio visual preamps or receivers, produce the ambient surround effect in Dolby PLx Music for five channel systems, or Dolby PLIIx Music for seven channel systems. I do not recommend the Cinema, or settings other than Music, for opera. The seven channel PLIIx is significantly more effective than the five channel PLx, at conveying a realistic sense of space and ambiance.

The way the system is set up is to connect the DVD player to the audio visual preamp or receiver using the digital interface using a digital cable, which on most players is optical. On some it may be coaxial SPDIF. Select 2 channel PCM on the DVD audio menu. Set the input of the preamp or receiver to the the appropriate digital connection, and select the appropriate version of Dolby PLx or PLIIx for your system.

Unless your system is superb, and has very good speakers for ALL channels you will be better off listening in standard stereo. The center speakers in particular, tend to be poor in most set ups, with very few stellar performers to choose from. All the surround speakers need to be high quality full range speakers, of a quality comparable to the fronts. All speakers need to be carefully balanced. If these caveats do not pertain to your multichannel system you will almost certainly get the best results listening in stereo.

A well set up surround system, can however bring a real sense of "being there", that can not be matched by even the best two channel systems.