Berlioz - Benvenuto Cellini (Valery Gergiev, Philipp Stolz) (2011) [Blu-ray]

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Berlioz - Benvenuto Cellini (Valery Gergiev, Philipp Stolz) (2011) [Blu-ray]

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A mix of futurism à la 'Metropolis,' fantasy à la 'Batman' and quotes from Piranesi's 'Carceri,' juxtaposed in the form of photo montages, enhanced with … robots, a helicopter, a shark and the winged vehicle of a pop star Pope," effuses critic Marianne Zelger-Vogt (Neue Zürcher Zeitung). The object of her rapture is not a Broadway musical but a French opera written in the 1830s, Hector Berlioz's "Benvenuto Cellini. The absence of the work in the operatic repertoire is certainly due in part to its musical excesses: the work is so complex, richly detailed and prolifically imaginative that Berlioz's contemporaries considered it unplayable and unsingable.

This is resoundingly proven false in the 2007 Salzburg Festival production of director Philipp Stölzl, conductor Valery Gergiev ("the wild man of music") and a high-caliber cast accompanied by the Vienna Philharmonic and its chorus. Stölzl, above all, has poured his experience as director of music videos (for Madonna, Mick Jagger and others), commercials and films into this project, termed "science fiction for Grand Opera".

Recorded live at the Großes Festspielhaus, Salzburg, Austria, 5, 10 & 15 August 2007, as part of the 2007 Salzburg Festival.

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Berlioz - Benvenuto Cellini (Valery Gergiev, Philipp Stolz) (2011) [Blu-ray]

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Berlioz - Benvenuto Cellini (Valery Gergiev, Philipp Stolz) (2011) [Blu-ray]

Close

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Berlioz - Benvenuto Cellini (Valery Gergiev, Philipp Stolz) (2011) [Blu-ray]

Close

×

Berlioz - Benvenuto Cellini (Valery Gergiev, Philipp Stolz) (2011) [Blu-ray]

Close