Mehta, Zubin

Three Tenors: In Concert

The 3 Tenors in Concert 1994 / William Cosel

The three greatest operatic tenors of the day - Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti - reunite for this 1994 concert commemorating soccer's World Cup Championships. Features the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orche stra, directed by Zubin Mehta. Certified over 5 million units by the RIAA.

The Original Three Tenors Concert [DVD Video]

Original best-selling concert of 1990 plus the `making of' program The Impossible Dream available for the first time.

Jacqueline Du Pre: A Celebration of Her Unique Enduring Gift

Puccini - Turandot at the Forbidden City of Beijing / Mehta, Casolla, Larin, Frittoli, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

The first DVD edition of Puccini's last opera (left not quite complete at his death) immediately becomes the best available in any video format. It is likely to keep this status for quite a while, though the music comes across more powerfully in several audio-only editions.

The visual challenges of Turandot are formidable, and they are met spectacularly in this production, filmed on location in the Forbidden City, where the story takes place. Turandot is a princess to die for. Dozens of foreign princes have literally lost their heads after seeking her hand in marriage and failing to solve three riddles. Ideally, a Turandot should have the voice of Birgit Nilsson, she should have the looks and acting skills of Teresa Stratas in her prime, and it's nice if she at least appears Chinese. Soprano Giovanna Casolla scores a B-plus on these requirements, and that's about the best we can expect. Among other principals, tenor Sergej Larin sings well, looks right, and doesn't really try to act (probably a wise decision). Soprano Barbara Frittoli is superb and the supporting cast is generally good. But what makes this production unique is the setting; you are there in ancient Peking, with its real buildings, flags, armor and uniforms, costumes, and statues of dragons and other legendary monsters.

This is one of the first operas intended for original release on DVD; others were initially issued in more limited formats and have kept their original limitations in the new format. The wider range of options on DVD is significant. Those who will settle for audio-only recordings, which cost about the same and offer much less, should try either of Birgit Nilsson's CD editions (with Björling or Corelli) or Joan Sutherland's. Both of these great divas are, alas, visually inappropriate, offering another argument for this striking visual re-creation. --Joe McLellan.

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra: 70th Anniversary Concert

The Huberman Festival / Pinchas Zuckerman, Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, Zubin Mehta, Israel Philharmonic

Conceived as a music lover's dream, the Huberman Festival brought together the world's most illustrious violinists to play together for the first and only time with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Zubin Mehta.

BACH: Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B flat Major, S.1051
Pinchas Zukerman, Daniel Benyamini

VIVALDI: Concerto for Four Violins and Orchestra in B Minor, Op.3, No. 10
Pinchas Zukerman, Isaac Stern, Shlomo Mintz, Ida Haendel, Daniel Benyamini, Ivry Gitlis.

MENDELSSOHN: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E Minor, Op. 64
Shlomo Mintz

BACH: Concerto for Two Violins and String Orchestra in D Minor, S.1043
Isaac Stern, Shlomo Mintz

VIVALDI: The Four Seasons
Pinchas Zukerman, Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, Shlomo Mintz

TCHAIKOVSKY: Concerto for Violins in D Major, Op. 35
Henryk Szeryng

VIVALDI: Concerto for Two Violins and String Orchestra in A Minor, Op. 3, No.8
Henryk Szeryng, Chaim Taub

MOZART: Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orch. in E Flat Maj. K.364
Pinchas Zukerman, Itzhak Perlman

HANDEL: Passacaglia
Pinchas Zukerman, Itzhak Perlman

Contains 5 Full-Length Programs on 2 DVDS

Pavarotti Forever

Best of Neujahrskonzert [DVD Video]

Georges Bizet - Carmen / Nuria Espert · Zubin Mehta - M. Ewing · L. Lima · L. Vaduva - ROH Covent Garden

Opera videos come essentially in two categories: movies, such as the 1984 Carmen, directed by Francesco Rosi and starring Julia Migenes and Placido Domingo, and opera house productions filmed for television, such as this 1991 Carmen from London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Carmen is the most popular opera of all, and these two videos are both bestsellers, embodying effectively the values that make Carmen unique. Choosing between them is not easy. Musically, both are excellent. Domingo has more name recognition than Luis Lima, and Rosi's film catches him in top form. But Lima is vocally and visually a precise embodiment of Don José, the soldier seduced and betrayed by Carmen and finally driven to murder her. Migenes (in Rosi's film) gives a superb portrayal of the capricious Gypsy woman, but for my taste Maria Ewing's Carmen is even more vivid, natural, and subtly nuanced. Leontina Vaduva is exactly right as the innocent country girl Micaela, and Gino Quilico swaggers convincingly through the role of the bullfighter Escamillo.

The advantage of the film is presence and realism, particularly outdoor landscapes with plenty of space for the soldiers and smugglers to move around. Escamillo faces a real bull in a three-dimensional Plaza de Toros, something necessarily kept offstage in the Covent Garden production. A danger not always avoided in the film production is overstatement. There is more subtlety in Covent Garden's staging--there has to be--as well as a higher overall level of musicianship. And expert camera work gives the Covent Garden scenery a striking air of three-dimensional realism. If I had to live with only one of these Carmens, I would choose Ewing and Covent Garden. But I would miss many striking moments in Rosi's film. --Joe McLellan

Georges Bizet's Carmen, one of the world's favorite operas, celebrates at Covent Garden its first new staging in nearly 20 years, directed by the eminent Spanish actress and director Nuria Espert and conducted by the legendary Zubin Mehta. Blazing with passion, lust and jealousy, this production is Hispanic to the core with vibrant designs by Spain's most distinguished set designer, Gerardo Vera, and authentic flamenco choreography by Cristina Hoyos. Starring Maria Ewing, Luis Lima, Leonina Vadiva, Gino Quilico.