Verdi

At this point I have watched only two of the seven episodes but I am questioning my decision to buy this series. Even allowing for the fact it was done in 1982, the production values are mediocre. Both the audio and video quality on the 4 DVD set are poor.They appear to be dubs from the original VHS. The performances become incidental rather than the highlights they should be. Worst of all is the dubbed in English sound track which gives the whole thing an artificial quality. It is like watching a radio program. I'll slog through the rest of it and may amend this review if it improves. But I am not optimistic. One positive is that the series is historically accurate both in the story line and the occasionally inserted voice over narration. But if that's all I had wanted, I would have bought a book.

Ronald Pickup brings opera composer Verdi to life.

It's only fitting that the two greatest (arguably) opera composers of the nineteenth century have duelling, operatic biopics.

Okay, age-ists, crawl out if your caves and surrender! In "Wagner" Richard Burton gives the performance of his life. He was born to play Wagner and he's supported by some great English actors who were marquee names of stage and screen. "Wagner" also has a fantasy feel, as if Wagner were one of his own heroes. Perhaps, in his mind, he was.

While Ronald Pickup is equally well-chosen to play Verdi, his name lacks Burton's across-the-pond resonance. I'd seen lots of movies with the guy and never noticed him until this miniseries highlighted him for me.

"Verdi" is more down to Earth than "Wagner." It doesn't have that ethereal feel the other biopic gives the German. And since Verdi is an Italian hero the series is filled with Italian actors who are dubbed for us Englush speakers, which makes their lips look a bit rubbery and unnatural.

Both "Wagner" and "Verdi" have narration to help the novice understand what's going on. Most of us aren't Verdi experts, after all. Even the shorter, story-driven "Amadeus" had narration. While narration in "Wagner" is subtly done by a minor character who may not be altogether trustworthy, "Verdi" in its English incarnation has no-bones-about-it narration by American actor Burt Lancaster, and he's just fine.

'Verdi" isn't an Oscar-worthy flick; nor is it an operatic fantasy. It's a straightforward retelling of the life of Verdi (so far as I know) for those of us who appreciate the background material.

But whether "Wagner" or "Verdi" what's most important is the music.

An absolute treasure for opera enthusiasts and fans of Verdi(the Sutherland, Bergonzi and Merrill recording of La Traviata was my first complete Verdi listen 10 years ago and I've been a fan since). Not quite as grand as the series on Wagner from the same time-frame, plus Richard Burton gives a performance of a life-time, but Verdi's style, his life and him as a person may be much more accessible. Am a fan of Wagner's music, but he was known as a terrible man(Youtube users never let people forget how he was an Anti-Semetic bigot) and Parsifal especially is exhausting for a first time viewer. Personally first exposure was through the 1983 film of the opera which was admittedly rather too heavy on the symbolism so that could have something to do with it.

Getting onto the point, there is very little wrong with this series. There is however some sloppy dubbing and Burt Lancaster's narration can overbear things(some of his mispronunciations are annoying too). The rest however is fabulous. It is very sumptuously mounted and the photography matches that quality. Nobody really needs to say how good Verdi's music is, fans will argue that his music is some of the best of the entire opera medium, I for one share that opinion. It's even greater when the singing is so good, from some of the best singers ever to sing his music, Pavarotti, Tebaldi, Callas and Nilsson are immediately recognisable and sound incredible.

Verdi is intelligently written, sensitively staged with no over-doing. The composer's story is fascinating and is told in an absorbing way, a way that also shows great enthusiasm for the subject. Any important parts are not skimmed over and have their impact. Ronald Pickup's Verdi is note-perfect and Carla Fracci matches him in a nuanced performance. All the roles are well-done and don't fall into caricature- and it is easy to do that- too much. Overall, an outstanding series that is deserving of a much better DVD release, the Kultur version doesn't really do it justice. 9/10 Bethany Cox

for the inspired reconstruction of atmosphere of a page from Italy's past. for beautiful performance of Ronald Pickup. for the seduction of a fight for values who impress scene by scene. for the grace of music. and as homage to a great composer who becomes vulnerable, courageous hero of his nation. good introduction to his life. and interesting piece of biographic portrait who use the clichés for large, convincing, powerful image of a personality who becomes symbol of his mother land. and that transforms the film in a manifesto, like the music of Verdi. short, a beautiful film. who could represent a nice surprise for the viewer who prefers this genre.

The two dominant opera composers in the middle years of the 19th Century were Richard Wagner of Germany and Giuseppi Verdi of Italy. There are hardly two men who were less like each other in temperament. Wagner, the arrogant genius who used "friends" left and right for his own purposes. Verdi the quiet, thoughtful man who composed some of the loveliest opera music on record. Due to his character flaws, despite the brilliance of his opera music the personality of Wagner does not hold up too well to scrutiny today. But Verdi has gained admirers since his death 105 years ago. One cannot imagine any opera company banishing his music, as Wagner's was banished for decades after World War II put his racial ideas to work. As his name translates to "Joe Green", Verdi remains the Superstar of his team of opera composers.

Oddly enough both Wagner and Verdi were subjects of mini-series about their lives and careers over twenty years ago. I have commented on Wagner's mini-series first because Richard Burton played his last great role as that defective genius. But in the supporting cast of WAGNER was British character actor Ronald Pickup, who played (very well) Friedrich Nietzche, Wagner's one time friend but later persistent critic. Pickup played Verdi in this series made only a year earlier. Again his performance was quite good.

There was less sturm und drang in Verdi's life than in Wagner's. He always lived within his means, did not smash relationships on selfish grounds, and did not preach racial hatreds. But he was a patriot - his first great success, NABUCO (an opera about the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar and the Jewish "Babylonian Captivity") gave a choral song that became an Italian popular nationalist anthem. He had his flops. It took him years to get THE MASKED BALL to be accepted in the international repertory after it's premiere just preceded a bloody assassination attempt against Napoleon III at the Paris Opera House in 1858 - THE MASKED BALL dealt with the events leading to Ankerstrom's murder of King Gustav III of Sweden in 1792, so the libretto had to be moved to colonial Boston in the American Revolution! He had to change plots - RIGALETTO was originally about King Francois I of France (1512 - 1547) to a fictitious Duke of Mantua, so that the French would put the opera on. Still the number of successful operas that came out of Verdi is amazing - NABUCO, RIGALETTO, TRAVIATA, IL TROVATORE, THE MASKED BALL, OTHELLO, FALSTAFF, THE FORTUNES OF DESTINY, and many others.

Verdi did not, like Wagner, write pamphlets advocating mass murders of "undesirables". His life was full of some good works, culminating in his willing a sizable portion of his fortune and property to found a retirement home for opera singers in Italy. Seldom have I heard of anyone in Verdi's situation doing something like that - how refreshing when compared to Wagner's moving heaven and earth to have a lunatic king fund a permanent festival for Wagner's music only at Bayreuth. But for everyone who has heard of Verdi's generosity, far more have heard of Bayreuth.

It was a pleasant series, with famous opera singers singing the arias, duets, trios, and quartets from the operas. Certainly it left a pleasanter feeling at the conclusion about it's hero than WAGNER did. It restores one's faith in mankind that while some swine have genius and misuse it, others exist who leave our Earth a little happier and pleasanter.