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Tchaikovsky - Pique Dame / Gergiev, Grigorian, Leiferkus, Kirov Opera
List Price: $29.98Our Price: $19.97 You Save: $10.01 (33%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0044007043493
Format: Classical, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Label: Philips
Languages: German (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Italian (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language),
Manufacturer: Philips
MPN: 070434
Number Of Discs: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Philips
Region Code: 1
Release Date: July 16, 2002
Running Time: 179 minutes
Studio: Philips
Theatrical Release Date: 1992
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Editorial Review:
In terms of vocal power, lyrical beauty, and idiomatic authenticity, the casting for this 1992 live recording of the Kirov production of Pique Dame ("The Queen of Spades") could hardly be bettered. Gegam Grigorian (Herman) hits his fearsome, anguished high notes with the accuracy of a laser, and Maria Gulegina (Liza) has a huge voice but uses it with great subtlety--her opening duet with Pauline floats like gossamer, and her declarations of love for Herman at the end of Act 1 are spine tingling. Kirov superstars Sergei Leiferkus (Tomsky) and the rich-toned Olga Borodina (Pauline) also sound divine. In the pit Valery Gergiev renders every nuance of Tchaikovsky's score with clarity and drives the strings to produce an almost unbearably tense atmosphere of foreboding.
It isn't all rosy, however. The production comes from the traditional Kirov "stand-and-sing" tradition and is somewhat static. For a more gripping production (though not quite as well sung), try the Glyndebourne performance. But for sheer musical pleasure, you won't find anything to beat this. --Warwick Thomson
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Your positive reviews have convinced me to get this DVD.
Being a complete fan of all Peter I. Tchaikovsky works I will get this DVD. I have recently purchased "The Tchaikovsky Handbook, A Guide to the Man and His Music, Volume 1 by Alexander Poznansky. In this book it says that Tchaikovsky wrote 11 operas and that there were many, many more that were "unrealized" as Poznansky stated. I will get all the ones that Amazon offers. After all, the more Tchaikovsky tunes the merrier! I will never get bored with his music.
Rating:  - Not too bad but could have been much better
This is such a mediocre routine performance that I don't understand how it made to a DVD. The singers are good, but they sound ordinary and uninspired. The costumes are visibly old. Gegam Grigorian's gorgeous voice is the only highlight of this recording for me. If I were to choose I would have put on DVD a Kirov performance of this opera in Met with Gorchakova and Hvorostovski, although I would replace omnipresent Domingo with the best Hermann of our time Vladimir Galuzin.
Rating: - Stunning production, but..
I completely agree with artlover's review, but I would like to add a correction and a complaint.
Contrary to what the reviewer says, "Pique Dame" was not Tchaikovsky's last opera, but his next to last. "Iolanthe" (1891) was his last.
I would like to warn possible purchasers that the level of recording is rather low, and one has to increase the volume to get a satisfactory reproduction.
As for the cast and musical direction, there is not a word to add to artlover's ... Read More
Rating: - Russian never sounded so lyrical...
I disagree with the editorial review given for this wonderful, well-rounded opera. What the reviewer calls, "...stand and sing, and lack of action...," I see instead as the effect of the spacious Mariinsky stage -- probably triple the standard U.S. performance stage. There's plenty of action and activity, it's just sometimes dwarfed, if you will, but never to the point that it detracts from the overall production. Also, as an opera lover, I'm not looking for an Arnold Schwarzenegger action flick, ... Read More
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