DON QUICHOTTE (Opera by Jules Massenet)

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Conductor: Francesco Rosa - Orchestra & chorus of the Sofia Opera
Chorus master: Violeta Dimitrova
Stage Director :Plamen Kartaloff
Sofia National Opera and Ballet, Bulgaria
Scenes & Costume designer: Yoanna Manoledaki
Choreographer: Antonaeta Alexieva
Cast: (Don Quichotte) Orlin Anastasov - (Sancho) Ventselav Anastasov
(Pedro) Silvia Teneva - (Garsias) Rositsa Pavlova-Indzheva - (Rodrigues) Krasimir Dinev
(Juan) Plamen Papazikov - (Bandit) chief Alexander Georgiev
Even though it is mainly to Manon and Werther that Massenet
owes his renown, he composed operas of different genre and
character, which just as effectively reveal his fine lyrical vein
and talent in depicting various emotions. Don Quichotte is
brilliantly comic.
Finished in 1910, after a career studded with successes, the
opera was premièred at the Opera Theatre in Monte Carlo. It
was a resounding success, fostered by the presence, in the
main roles, of famous singers such as the Russian bass Feodor
Chaliapin as Don Quichotte and Lucy Arbell as Dulcinée. A few
months later, in December of the same year, it would be
repeated at Paris's Théâtre Galté-Lyrique, with Lucy Arbell this
time partnered by Vanni Marcoux (Don Quichotte) and Lucine
Fugère (Sancho Panza). The subject, from Cervantes's
masterpiece, had been versified by the young and extravagant
writer Jacques Le Lorrain. The story is quite different from
that of Miguel de Cervantes's hero, appearing, rather, as a
self-portrait of the poet himself: the knight becomes a model
of virtue, of generosity, driven by lofty ideals; Dulcinée, from
maid in an inn becomes a woman of the world. Massenet, who,
despite the difficult period he was going through,conceived a rich score, full of verve and maturity.

[@1968KWT]

I wish I'd seen and heard this trailer before buying the DVD. It's not the average production that is annoying but its poor sonic quality, which is unacceptable for a recording made in 2009: both the singers and the orchestra sound muffled, almost as if they are performing in an adjoining room, which is what one expects from an unofficial in-house recording (where was the sound engineer?). Unlike the other Dynamic titles on DVD and CD I own, this one is a truly disappointing release: pity, because the Anastasov brothers (Don Quichotte and Sancho) are outstanding. Please don't release it on CD.