Not perfect, but the first
I believe this is the first DVD of this 20th century masterpiece. The two singers are excellent vocally, but the bass is no actor. The orchestra, which is really the main story teller, is outstanding. The scenery is o.k.

mixed feelings emerge
Bluebeard's Castle contains my favorite music by Bartok. But like many composers who really did not have a feel for opera, Bartok failed to make a stageworthy piece. It is tremendously static and film directors can come to grief trying to salvage works with similar problems. Obviously, lots of money was spent on the production but it doesn't really bring the piece to life in my opinion. Sass is a handsome woman with a naturally beautiful voice. Sad to say, she has technical problems in the higher register and the voice is not large enough to cut through the heavy orchestral textures. Kovatz is better with a fine ringing sound but he is as wooden as a tree. At least both performers are native to the language. Many big label recordings use major opera singers who cannot adequatly deal with the pronunciation of the language. There is a stunning simplicity and directness about the libretto to this opera and the english translation does not do it justice. But perhaps this is something that only a Hungarian would be sensitive to. All in all this opera is perhaps better appreciated as an aural experience letting one's own imagination fill in the visual aspect.

Because I really enjoy great singing, I tend to shy away from opera films where one cannot see the singer really singing. But in this case there is not other option. Too bad.

Bartok's Opera masterpiece
This is a cleverly staged television production of Bartok's Opera masterpiece. Bluebird is wonderful but Judith is outclassed by most performers that you can get on a CD. Still, it is the only video available of this wonderful Opera and the production itself (not to mention Solti's steady direction) is very clever. Technically the production shows its age -- the sound is a bit shrill (we have gotten used to being spoiled with luscious sound on DVDs).

All is forgiven
Bluebeard's Castle is probably my favorite 20th century opera. This film doesn't disappoint in conception, performance, or execution. (If this film was made more recently, I'd probably have some issues regarding the production and direction, but since it was made in the late 70s/early 80s, I guess all could be forgiven in light of the stellar performances of all involved.)

I had to take one star off the rating however, because there are no additional features or documentaries included. It's just the film pure and simple with no commentaries. At $30 a pop for a performance lasting less than an hour, purchasing this film would be basically prohibitive for most of us. But since Borders was offering a 40% off coupon that week, I decided to splurge.

I'm very glad to have it. Watch it without subtitles first, just to take in the imagery and hear the vocals and orchestra without any distractions. Then watch the movie again with the subtitles and see if you don't get truly blown away at the overall spectacle. My two cents.

Blood in the shadows, the soul's secret doors
Bela Bartok's masterful one-act nacht-oper, based on the original Barbe-Bleue story by Charles Perrault (1697), composed between February and September 1911 and finally performed at the Royal Opera House in Budapest 24 May 1918 with a substantially revised finale, was his only opera. There were further alterations of the vocal score in 1921 and still further adjustments to the score's vocal declamation during the 1930s. It represents, in its electric novelty, a forceful new creation in Hungarian opera: avante-garde in comparison to Bartok's contemporaries Puccini and Strauss, heavily influenced by Debussy, the symbolist drama features a superb libretto by Bela Balazs that exposes the blood-soaked, brooding essence of an aesthete and murderer, rumored to have killed his previous young wives in grisly fashion.

Their bodies as yet undiscovered, new wife Judith is determined to enter the castle's seven sealed doors, forbidden her by Bluebeard, in an attempt to resolve her doubts and solve the mystery. The dark-enshrouded castle, its damp walls weeping moisture like tears of sorrow in the gloom, broods like Bluebeard's soul, resolved to guard his secrets. Judith, seeking the solace of more light, asks Bluebeard why the doors are bolted. When he responds that no one is to see what lies behind them, she pounds on the first of the seven bolted doors, a pitiable sigh echoing through the castle. Judith asks for the key and more sighs pierce the darkness as she turns the lock. One-by-one, the hidden secrets of the forbidden doors are revealed.

Kolos Kovats is a Byronic Bluebeard, singing and acting the role with taste and style. The beautiful Sylvia Sass, dressed with ethereal delicacy in diaphanous flowing robes, wanders the castle fluttering her silk covered arms with bat-like grace. She is a vision of nobility, struggling for illumination where none is available without terrible cost. Her voice is lovely, with a dollop of mournful, fading strength as more of the dread castle is revealed. This is a studio production, the music and voices are well matched. Sir Georg Solti conducts the London Philharmonic with a blend of mystery and power. The sets, given the static nature of this 56 minute opera, are important to the opera's success and they are effective. The 1981 film is clear, the sound in PCM stereo and DTS 5.1 is full. This is a short disc, however, lasting only 56 minutes and with no extras. Some extras or even another short opera should have been added. This rarely performed opera makes us take what we can get, unfortunately.

A strong, brooding performance coupled with the opera's rarity makes for a strong recommendation.

Mike Birman