Wiener Blut (2007)

Finally--a Morbisch Production mit Subtitles!

The 2004 DVD issue of Strauss's posthumous operetta was a 1994 production from the Morbisch Festival in rural eastern Austria, on the flat and reedy shores of the anti-Alpine Lake Neusiedl. It's still listed here on Amazon.com, along with a virtually identical 2006 re-issue. Neither of these previous issues has subtitles, though the production is so spectacular and the performance so flavorful that the viewer almost doesn't need them.

Now comes this completely new DVD with subtitles, another Morbisch effort from 2007, and most welcome it is. A different production this time, staged by Maximilian Schell, just as spectacular as the 1994 and possibly even better sung and acted. Tenor Rainer Trost is especially fine as the compulsively womanizing "no-account" Count. The Johann Strauss enthusiast will want to own both versions. The new one differs somewhat in musical content and focuses even more intensely on the humorous and scandalous sides of Viennese behavior and dialect. July 10, 2008

Great present for a Strauss-lover

I have to make a confession here--I have never watched this DVD. I have never seen or listened to any production of the Strauss operetta in question, live or recorded. This review is for all you people with loved ones who love Strauss immoderately, and are having a harder and harder time every year, finding something they haven't already heard or seen.

My mom has loved Strauss's music ever since she was a kid, and particularly at New Year's. She's been to live performances in Vienna. She's got a lot of CD's.

She's hard to shop for--she never says she hates what you got her, but I can always tell when she's underwhelmed, and she likes being surprised. When I'm shopping for her, it usually comes down to Strauss CD's, Fred Astaire movies, or something from the Metropolititan Museum of Art giftshop (she loves their stuff). I have gotten her just about every Fred Astaire movie on DVD. Still waiting for a lot of them to be released.

I was tooling around Amazon, trying to figure out what to get my mom for Christmas. I can't remember all the Strauss recordings she's got. I decided to try something new--I'd do a search for Strauss-stuff, but ask for the most recently released material to be listed first--if it was just released, my mom wouldn't have it, right?

So I found this DVD--Region 'All', NTSC, so it'll work in my parents DVD player. It's an import (much less likely she's seen it), and a brief search indicates that the artists are widely respected. I mean, Archiv Records is involved--how bad could it be? There's no review. I decide to take a chance.

Long story short, my mom adored it. She and my dad watched it on New Year's Eve. It played fine, and it's an operetta she hasn't ever had on CD or DVD before. I did good!

I look forward to watching it with her when I'm visiting my parents, but I doubt I'll ever order a copy for myself. I like Strauss fine, but he's not particularly my thing.

If you're a major Strauss-a-holic, you don't need this review. But if you're shopping for a Strauss-a-holic, I hope this is helpful.

PS: I am capable of sounding much more intelligent than this, but given that I know almost nothing about the DVD I'm reviewing, I felt this was the right prose style to adopt. ;)



January 8, 2008

CONTINUOUS JOY AND FUN

This DVD is a must. Good sound and image. All singers are great the chemistry between them on stage is notorious. Stage and costumes are traditional. But first of all we have to thank Johann Strauss for the music of this, his last operetta. Waltzes and mazurcas one after another, including the blue danube. All that means GREAT music, and in addition, sung and acted wonderful. It also includes ballet. It is a joy to see this DVD but with sutitles if you do not understand german, because the libretto includes some funny spoken parts. English, french, italian and spanish subtitles. Sound Dolby Digital 5.0 You'll never regret to buy this DVD. December 1, 2007

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