Les Pecheurs de Perles

I saw this production live in the house, then later on PBS, and now I have the blu ray. It just keeps getting better and better. Maestro Noseda says in the interview that when he started reading through the score, which he had never conducted previously, he kept discovering "pearls", arias, duets or orchestral parts of great beauty. I agree, as the more I hear this beautiful work, the more familiar I become with the music, and the more enjoyable it gets. Of course the singers are superb, with Diana Damrau bringing her usual joyful intensity, Marius Kweichen singing his resonant, authoritative baritone, and Matthew Polenzani using his sensitive but powerful voice, which can combine chest voice and head voice for the sweetest high notes imaginable. The blu ray has an advantage over the house and the TV viewing in that one can select French subtitles, and hear exactly what they're singing, which adds to the depth of meaning, especially if one has some facility in understanding the French language. Of course the production is also beautiful, and the fact that this blu ray is selling for a bargain price is the icing on the cake. Read more

Mix a love triangle with friendship, power and religion, to get a dramatic and emotional libretto. And as a bonus, no one dies at the end! The young Bizet uses exotic melodies and harmonies perfectly appropriate to the place where the story occurs, Ceylon (present Sri Lanka). Although this production takes place in the original Ceylon, it mixes traditional and modern customs which work quite well. I was most impressed by Mariusz Kwiecien as Zurga. It is the character with most emotional portrays: power, friendship, love, rage and pardon all together. Very well done! Diana Damrau as Leila is wonderful, convincing and great voice. Matthew Polenzani’s (Nadir) singing is beautiful and on the spot. His acting is less convincing, although his character doesn’t develop much in the story. Despite some darker scenes, the video recording (Blu-Ray version) is very good and pleasant. I can only imagine that the background effects are more impressive in the theater than in the recording. They are very creative though. The sound recording is very good. All in all, a real pearl that I strongly recommend. Read more

Like many opera lovers, I very much liked two or three vocal high points of "The Pearl Fishers," but never fully embraced this early work of Bizet. But all that changes for me because of this outstanding production by the Met in New York. The staging is very good, and, more importantly, the singing is sensational. Damrau sings beautifully, as one has come to expect, and the two male leads are every bit as good. Polenzani's performance of the great tenor aria, "Mi par d'udir ancora," is heartbreakingly gorgeous, at least the equal of any recorded version I have ever heard. Kwiecien's baritone voice is just about perfect for the role of Zurga, and he teams with Polenzani to produce the only version of the great duet "Au fond du temple saint" that, for me, rivals the version by Bjoerling and Merrill from the 1950's. Even if you are not won over by the overall production, I firmly believe that you will find that these two showstoppers are worth the price of the disc. Warmly recommended. Read more

Good performance and opera but opera itself is much inferior to Gounod's Romeo et Juliette. Read more

This is not the greatest of operas but this production and the superb signing of the principals makes it a worthwhile addition to my collection. The production is fantastic and serves the music and singers very well. Read more

This for the dvd release not Blu-ray! At the age of 25 Bizet's les pecheurs de pearls( his 2nd best work next to Carmen in my opinion!) the opera on September 30th,1863 at theatre lyrique(later theatre Sarah bernhardt) bizet was criticized in certain quarters for imitating greats like Gounod, Verdi, Wagner, Felicien David(a composer I don't know!) but berlioz was moved to praise, noting his contribution to the journal des debats of October 8th,1863 two months after it's premiered later said that the opera contained "a considerable number of beautiful expressive moments, full of fire and rich coloured". it's inspirations come from la vestale & Norma by bellini featuring a plot in which the heroine is a consecrated virgin who breaks her vow for love and thereby risks death! noted for three well known arias - Au fond du temple saint - famous the duet between men of zurga and nadir most often recorded on opera compilation & solo albums. je crois entendre encore - solo by nadir. also the music based on this aria has been used in phantom of the opera by ken hill. Extremely rare & almost out of print recording! Léïla! Léïla!...Dieu puissant, le voilà! - The love duet from this beautiful opera between Leila and nadir. it's appeared in little women(1994) where professor bhaer(Gabriel Byrne) & jo(Winona Ryder) attend the opera backstage explaining the story of said opera to her. although in other film versions when they attend the opera it was in german & Martha by Fredrick von flotow! Given how I gave background info of the opera, now it's my turn to tell you how I came to know this beautiful work! many years ago there was an opera music channel on cox cable where i discovered Carmen(with Victoria los angles singing it!) La belle Helene by Offenbach, English versions of paganini & giuditta by Franz Lehar. which they have gotten rid of & has been replaced by toddler tunes for years now *Rant* ugh why they rid of something so beautiful like opera remove it put so childish like & that u could easily find compilation cds for them! *rant over* Moral of the story is appreciate your music stations everyone you don't when your favorite channel be taken from off your tv or radio. After hearing this gorgeous work i brought it on cd(don't remember the year i got it on,checked the my order archives and look through all my recites of past orders! all i know it's from amazon.) but i do know when buying this production on dvd. about four months peal fishers was available for pre- order for 25 dollars i'm like "No way i'm buying that for crazy amount much money!" then a week or two and month later saw it again at 17.99 i'm like "okay...Instant buy! i'm totally getting this one." I haven't brought or received an opera from the met or any other filmed opera in six years! glad for having the opportunity at owning this...i didn't buy it for the singer/performer brought for the work itself since it's rarely hasn't been performed in hundred years as booklet says to this opera. the production is beautiful, water effects and acrobatics are stunning! my only gripe is the ending because in the opera zurga is killed after letting nadir and Leila go free in 1893 version(several years after the composer died hearing the reviews about Carmen!) there are two other productions besides met version one is 2005(unabridged version of 1863 version. believed to sung in Italian and a live cd? ) on dvd description & other in 2014. please comment below my review and tell me if i'm wrong about this info! Recommendations Les pecheurs de pearls (with ivan IV) with Micheau, Gedda & Blanc - buy the 1990 box set edition over 2010 re-release of it(no sound quality improvement! learned that when hearing with la rondine by Puccini on mp3 sampler with then married duo of Roberto alagna & Angela gheorghiu) and best recording of this opera! Carmen - with Victoria los angles, Nicolai gedda(as don josé), Janine micheau(as Micaela) & Ernest blanc(as the toreador escamillo) with Sir thomas beecham on emi classics label. which i mentioned in this review! noted for three well known arias - Au fond du temple saint - famous the duet between men of zurga and nadir most often recorded on opera compilation & solo albums. je crois entendre encore - solo by nadir. also the music based on this aria has been used in phantom of the opera by ken hill. Extremely rare & almost out of print recording! Léïla! Léïla!...Dieu puissant, le voilà! - The love duet from this beautiful opera between Leila and nadir. it's appeared in little women(1994) where professor bhaer(Gabriel Byrne) & jo(Winona Ryder) attend the opera backstage explaining the story of said opera to her. although in other film versions when they attend the opera it was in german & Martha by Fredrick von flotow! Given how I gave background info of the opera, now it's my turn to tell you how I came to know this beautiful work! many years ago there was an opera music channel on cox cable where i discovered Carmen(with Victoria los angles singing it!) La belle Helene by Offenbach, English versions of paganini & giuditta by Franz Lehar. which they have gotten rid of & has been replaced by toddler tunes for years now *Rant* ugh why they rid of something so beautiful like opera remove it put so childish like & that u could easily find compilation cds for them! *rant over* Moral of the story is appreciate your music stations everyone you don't when your favorite channel be taken from off your tv or radio. After hearing this gorgeous work i brought it on cd(don't remember the year i got it on,checked the my order archives and look through all my recites of past orders! all i know it's from amazon.) but i do know when buying this production on dvd. about four months peal fishers was available for pre- order for 25 dollars i'm like "No way i'm buying that for crazy amount much money!" then a week or two and month later saw it again at 17.99 i'm like "okay...Instant buy! i'm totally getting this one." I haven't brought or received an opera from the met or any other filmed opera in six years! glad for having the opportunity at owning this...i didn't buy it for the singer/performer brought for the work itself since it's rarely hasn't been performed in hundred years as booklet says to this opera. the production is beautiful, water effects and acrobatics are stunning! my only gripe is the ending because in the opera zurga is killed after letting nadir and Leila go free in 1893 version(several years after the composer died hearing the reviews about Carmen!) there are two other productions besides met version one is 2005(unabridged version of 1863 version. believed to sung in Italian and a live cd? ) on dvd description & other in 2014. please comment below my review and tell me if i'm wrong about this info! Recommendations Les pecheurs de pearls (with ivan IV) with Micheau, Gedda & Blanc - buy the 1990 box set edition over 2010 re-release of it(no sound quality improvement! learned that when hearing with la rondine by Puccini on mp3 sampler with then married duo of Roberto alagna & Angela gheorghiu) and best recording of this opera! Carmen - with Victoria los angles, Nicolai gedda(as don josé), Janine micheau(as Micaela) & Ernest blanc(as the toreador escamillo) with Sir thomas beecham on emi classics label. which i mentioned in this review! Read more