Kalman - Grafin Mariza (2007)

Grafin Maritza

Ottima registrazione. Forse un po' troppo marcata la parte "comica", ma cantanti e orchestra sono ottimi.
Peccato sia l'unico DVD di questa operetta! August 2, 2008

Product Details

J. Campbell should find the integrity to withdraw his lowly 3 star review which is based on the false premise that this production lacks English subtitles. [It has them]. I would also debate the one-star, ill-humored "peanut gallery opium" reviewer, who--it would appear--would have preferred that we watch the orchestra play the overture instead of seeing the imaginatively fun "chicken" dance ballet that accompanied the overture.
All in all, this is a wonderfully staged performance, with very attractive singers.
Lastly, I would mention that the "Product Details" specify that the video format is in a ratio of 1.33::1 (i.e., full screen); this is an error, the production is filmed in 1:77::1 (i.e., widescreen). [For those of us who have widescreen TVs, this is not an unimportant purchasing variable, and it is curious to me that, every now and then, you will run into advertisements (like this one for Grafin Mariza) that incorrectly retrograde the video features of the production]. July 22, 2008

Lovely, mostly.

Lovely choreography, but a brickbat for whoever added the ballet to the Overture. Silly dances may be OK in operetta; stupid dances are not. Likewise the cabaret ballet is superfluous and bad taste. The acting is wonderful. I didn't like Dagmar Schellenberger's high notes, but that's a minority opinion. Nikolai Schukoff is a gem all round. The subtitling of the songs is witty; I suspect a different translator for the dialogue. They shouldn't have cut out the explanation of why Tassilo is popular with the tenant farmers (he persuaded the Countess to give them half of the harvest). Pity they left out the "Mr Turek" song, too. Splendid 1920's costumes; all credit to the girls for managing them in lethally high heels. You get used to the microphones. One to watch many times. March 19, 2008

HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE!

Having seen a wonderful German film of this Operetta in the seventies, I was so excited when I saw that Countess Maritza has been released on DVD and I was so looking forward to receiving it. I had misgivings as soon as I started watching the DVD and saw the silly "farmyard" ballet in the opening sequence. A heavy handed attempt at humour if ever there was one. It didn't get any better from there on, in fact I could not even watch it to the end. Any resemblance between the Countess Maritza that I knew and this stupid production was purely accidental. There was not one single redeeming feature, I waited in vain to hear "Komm Zigany", the wonderful haunting song that made me fall in love with this Operetta all those years ago. I see one of the other reviewers remarked that these Moerbisch Productions are often modifed from the original libretto, that's an understatement. What's the point of taking a wonderful Operetta with lovely music and beautiful songs and turning it into burlesque? This production was more like a silly amateurish school concert than an Operetta. The lovely music was barely recogniseable, there was more talking than singing. Kalman must be turning in his grave. I am so sorry that I wasted my money on this trash. March 1, 2008

a wonderful production

This is a spectacular production of one of the great operettas.
The production values on the DVD are extraordinary. I watched it on a 53 inch Sony rear projection SXRD television using a sony upscaling DVD player. The DVD provides a 16:9 image that has fantastic resolution. Color rendition is also great. Like most of the Morbisch productions I have seen, the program starts in daylight and ends in the dark. Despite this major change in background lighting, the stage lighting and images remained excellent. It was almost like being in the audience. The singing was clear -- all of the vocals were beautifully done. I can think of no better DVD for those who are seeking a first experience in this musical form. Those who have seen this operetta live will not be disappointed. February 2, 2008

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