MEDIATHEK

Mit dem Orchester des Royal Opera House, Covent Garden und dem Dirigent Sir Georg Solti. Petr Weigl’s 1988 film”š using Solti’s now fairly venerable (1974) Decca recording of the work”š mimed by actors”š has always been admired”š as have his other films of opera”š for his wonderfully evocative use of east European countryside”š here to suggest the work’s Russian milieu. The camera­work is often spectacular; so is the concern to get interior detail accurate. Then there is the refined and moving portrayal of Tatyana by Magdaléna Váà…áryová (also the eloquent Governess in his film of The Turn of the Screw”š yet to appear on DVD)”š who suggests all the ingenuous”š then distracted”š eventually dignified feelings of her character. But the inner truth of her acting immediately points up one of the faults in this production: Kubiak’s grand”š Tosca­like voice hardly accords with what we are seeing on screen. At least she is more successful than the rest of the acting team as regards synchronisation. With the rest we all too often realise that these sounds are not coming”š there and then”š from these people. Even more serious than these drawbacks is the ruthless excision of about 40 minutes from the score (played with competence rather than passion by Solti and his orchestra) to suit Weigl’s cinematic fancies. The most involved member of the operatic cast is Stuart Burrows who sings a plangent”š finely phrased Lensky: it is a pity his film counterpart looks a shade mature for the role. Weikl offers a firmly sung but anonymous and unidiomatic Onegin. The smaller roles are well enough done. At this distance in time”š the recording sounds studio­bound and wanting range. Decca is to be castigated for giving no explanation of the DVD’s original provenance nor any word about the film . As a whole”š this issue cannot hold a candle”š as regards the dramatic verities”š cast or sound”š to the marvellous Glyndebourne production listed above. [Quelle: http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/tchaikovsky-eugene-onegin] Zugriff am 12.03.2015 jup