Manufactured by: Universal StudiosCustomer Review: This film looks beautiful and the performances by Domingo and Stratas are wonderful (although she is not in her best voice). James Levine's conducting and the playing of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra are as good as you can hear anywhere. The ballet is spectacular. But Zeffirelli cuts away at least one-fourth of the score. He (and many other film makers who have made movies of operas) just doesn't seem to understand that a film of an opera is not an adaptation; it is a performance of that opera using a different medium. An opera is a musical composition; therefore, a film of an opera is a musical performance of a music drama. The film medium frees the visual presentation from the limitations of the stage, but the musical presentation is the essence of the opera and must not be compromised regardless of the medium. Some of Zeffirelli's cuts must infuriate any lover of opera. For example, when Giorgio departs from Violetta after she has promised to leave Alfredo, Zeffirelli cuts some of the "addio"s, saving just a few seconds but destroying the end of the scene. If the opera is more important to you than the cinematography, you may want to buy the DVD starring Angela Gheorghiu and Frank Lopardo, conducted by the late Georg Solti.
- UPC: 002519203262
- Manufacturer: Universal Studios
- Director: Franco Zeffirelli
- Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
- Theatrical Release Date: 1982
- ISBN: 0783227477
Starring: Teresa Stratas, Plácido Domingo, Cornell MacNeil, Allan Monk, Axelle Gall
Directed By: Franco Zeffirelli
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