Stars: June Anderson, Marilyn Horne, Stanford Olsen, Samuel Ramey, Metropolitan Opera Chorus, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

Director: Michael Hampe

Summary: The Rossini opera 'Semiramide' which is set in Babylon in 1200 BC. Semiramide, Queen of Babylon, and her lover Assur, reign after murdering the King. However the Queen falls in love with a young man called Arsace, unknowingly her own son. Sung in Italian.

Michael Hampe directs Rossini's opera SEMIRAMIDE, accompanied by the Metropolitan Opera under James Conlon. June Anderson plays Semiramide and is supported by mezzo soprano Marilyn Horne and baritone Samuel Ramey.

WIN DVDs by rating this DVD

Average User Rating:

WIN DVDS by being amongst the first to review this DVD. Reviewing DVDs earns you bonus entries and lets you WIN DVDs!Please login before reviewing this DVD. If you're a new user, register for free and enter to WIN FREE DVDs!

Bel cantocan be translated as "pretty singing", and that definition seems tailor-made for this production, which offers grace, charm, and a fine-tuned sense of style in abundance to compensate for its limited psychological and emotional impact. The four principal singers are all specialists in the bel canto style and this opera has played a key role in building their substantial reputations. For its sweeping musical imagination and technical wizardry, Rossini's epic about royal assassination and misdirected lust in the ancient Babylonian Empire deserves a place in any inclusive opera collection, and we are not likely to have a better video recording of Semiramidein the foreseeable future.

June Anderson has an attractive appearance and sounds exactly right in the music's florid melodic lines. But she is not dramatically compelling as the wicked queen who had her husband killed and fell in love with a man who turned out to be her long-lost son, Arsace. Marilyn Horne rose to the highest levels of international fame in the role of that conflicted son, and her presence alone would be enough to give this video classic status. Her voice was a bit past its prime when this performance was recorded in 1991, but still there is no other voice quite like it, no other voice so suited to Rossini's heroic mezzo roles. Samuel Ramey is a close bass counterpart to Anderson: great tone, agile florid singing, and a rather wooden but visually appealing stage presence. Sanford Olsen has a small role and sings it near perfectly. James Conlon gets excellent musical results; John Copley's staging is massive and static. --Joe McLellan, Amazon.com

Aspect Ratio:	16:9 Wide Screen
Main Language:	Italian
Region:	Region 2
Subtitles:	English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
Year:	1991
Release Date:	July 29, 2002
Runtime:	223 minutes
Certification:	Exempt.
Catalogue Number:	100 222
Keywords:	Music, Opera, Wide, Screen, Works, Stage, Classical, Rossini, Performing, Operetta, Semiramide, Arts
Genre:	Music/Performing Arts