Before buying this DVD, I had never previously heard this opera in any shape or form, apart from the odd tenor aria. I am glad that I allowed curiosity to overcome ignorance, because this performance offers as much pleasure as most of the more recognizable masterpieces in the opera repertoire. Not all the credit goes to Giordano, although he deserves a good deal, not only for his competence but also for his persistence in promoting his most celebrated work against all the odds, as well narrated in the useful booklet that accompanies the disc. It is a live performance --- indeed a VERY live performance--- direct from the stage of the great Vienna Opera House, with all the charisma that this famous venue brings to any work in the medium. The camera takes full advantage of the riches available to it----- the opulent auditorium, the well-dressed audience; the open orchestra pit filled with members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra; the wide stage that allows for plenty of action ----- and with a revolution in progress every inch is needed; the fastidious fittings and costumes that match the period in its alternating grandeur and squalor; a chorus and a solid core of permanent vocal soloists that would be the envy of most other Opera Houses. Add to this the greatest tenor of the day in his prime ( Domingo as Chenier), a highly accomplished baritone in the ambivalent role of his tormentor and subsequently failed savior (Piero Capuccilli as Gerard), a vocally competent but dramatically challenged heroine( Gabriela Benackova as the heroine Madeleine), an old war-horse of a conductor( Nello Santi) parachuted in from La Scala who knows and loves the score and can raise it to a level rarely achieved ( or so I presume, or I would have heard it long before now in my 60 years of flirtation with opera), and you have the makings of a great evening of musical entertainment. The only disappointment is the raucous performance of the once-great Fedora Barbieri in the minor role of Madelon --- the first time she appeared at the Vienna State and in the death throes of her distinguished career.
One reviewer has criticized the fact that the audience applause is permitted to die out naturally instead of being truncated in the interest of saving time, but I find exactly the opposite: the degree of enthusiasm shown by the usually staid burghers of Vienna, recorded in sound and camera, adds to the excitement of the occasion and reinforces the feeling that this is a truly remarkable performance. Great credit is also due to the Director, Otto Schenk, who has captured every emotional nuance of this turbulent period, handles the crowd scenes like a choreographer, and draws from his singers acting that was unknown in opera prior to the birth of the Metropolitan Live Cinecastes, with the rare exception of which this is one. Technically, it stands head and shoulders above other Opera DVDs of the early 1980's: the photography is brilliant and the sound quite stunning. There are remarkable parallels with TOSCA in the characters, story line, and musical idiom to the point where one can truly say that Puccini in his entire career never wrote a single opera that advanced beyond the artistic heights that Giordano achieved in Andrea Chenier.
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