Off The Bookshelf US -DVD Offenbach - La Belle Helene / Minkowski, Lott, Beuron, Senechal, Naouri, Le Roux, Torodovitch, Chatelet Opera Offenbach - La Belle Helene / Minkowski, Lott, Beuron, Senechal, Naouri, Le Roux, Torodovitch, Chatelet Opera New & Used Offenbach - La Belle Helene / Minkowski, Lott, Beuron, Senechal, Naouri, Le Roux, Torodovitch, Chatelet Opera Books CDS DVD's Nusic Electronics

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Offenbach - La Belle Helene / Minkowski, Lott, Beuron, Senechal, Naouri, Le Roux, Torodovitch, Chatelet Opera
starring: Felicity Lott, Yann Beuron, Michel Sénéchal, François Le Roux, Laurent Naouri

List Price: $29.99

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Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780769729169
Format: Classical, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
ISBN: 0769729169
Label: Kultur Video
Manufacturer: Kultur Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Kultur Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: June 29, 2004
Running Time: 126 minutes
Studio: Kultur Video
Theatrical Release Date: 2000
Sales Rank: 58108
MPN: 2916

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Editorial Review:

Description:
Staged and costumed by Laurent Pelly, this production Offenbach’s parody of the origins of the Trojan War is a supreme manifestation of his comic genius. It combines a musically superb performance with a stream of visual humour that flows from Pelly’s core idea that the action all takes place in the imagination of a sleeping, sex-starved, suburban housewife. Dame Felicity Lott is magnificent as the woman who dreams of being the most beautiful woman in the world. The production explodes with gaiety and invention throughout and "is as innocently filthy as only the French can manage" (The Times). Lott adds an undeniable elegance and sings with "Mozartian refinement" (Herald Tribune).

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- A Charmer
I don't know why it took me so long to acquire "Helene" on DVD since I have had a CD of it for many years. Recollecting initial reviews were all positive, I can only chalk it up to inertia. Well, I was delighted with the whole performance and since France is unable to to come up with a qualified Helene, they could do no better than Flott. She is not a conventionally beautiful woman, she is, however, attractive, and skilled enough to convince you that she is beautiful. Besides a performance in the theatre is certainly not as invasive as a video camera.

I only wish that in the near future there will be a production of Hoffman that is as good that this; and while Helene is not a substitute I can recommend it to those who enjoy French operetta, are not put off by spoken dialogue, ... Read More

Rating:

- la Belle Helene
Some reviewers are fixated on the fact that Dame Feliciy Lott is too old and not beautiful enough to be Helen. But how many Brunnhildes could mount a horse without breaking its back? She makes good choices about how to present the role. What got lost here is how well everyone else fits their part. Especially, Marie-Ange Torodovitch is magnificent as Orestes. If you are going to quibble about beauty, Yann Beuron isn't handsome enough to be Paris, but he does a remarkably good job of being the sort of confident young punk that Paris should be, and his voice is great for his part. Michel Senechal is perfect for Menelaus as depicted here. Francois le Roux (Calchas) and Laurent Naouri (Agamemnon) are also good.

The staging is good, and the various time-warps involved fit with ... Read More

Rating:

- ridiculous comments on Felicity Lott's age
I saw the operette only in live performance - and was very impressed.
Reading the comments here on amazon.com left me rather shocked by how much the public is fixated on age (a match between their phantasy and reality) instead of content or message. This was a perfect piece of art with a very powerful message of its own.
Reading the comments on Dame Lott's age makes me wonder whether we are really in the 21st century, where supposedly prejudices against
women are much less severe than in other centuries.

I think that those who critise her age just did not understand the layers in the message of the piece, and I am sorry for having to live at an age where so many individuals still have not grown intellectually and emotionally. Can anyone recommend me where I ... Read More

Rating:

- Delightful Belle Helene
Certainly the best Helene I've seen on DVD with almost perfect sound, this production lives up to this style of social satire of upper crust Belle Epoque French society, where an enraged husband's wrath upon finding his wife in bed with a lover is actually taken to task by everyone else for not properly warning her that he was coming home, and therefore the blame for the scandal is entirely his! The director's sense of the ridiculous extended to the fun costuming. I thought Lott's performance was enchanting simply because she is living her dream, and lord knows her Paris is no GQ model either, but they both sing the difficult roles beautifully (she's allowed to use the French version of the score's mezzo aria in Act III, although I really prefer the German version's coloratura tri-partite fireworks), ... Read More

Rating:

- Great ! ! !
This is a wonderful production. Felicity Lott lost some of her past vocal quality, but she is an amazing comic actress and the concept of the production suits her admirably. The rest of the cast is outstanding too. Minkowski knows how to extract all the fun and wit in Offenbach spirited music, and the director, Laurent Pelly is one of the most talented opera directors active today. Don't miss it! It is a gem!

DVD : Offenbach - La Belle Helene / Minkowski, Lott, Beuron, Senechal, Naouri, Le Roux, Torodovitch, Chatelet Opera