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Previn - A Streetcar Named Desire / Fleming, Futral, Gilfry, Griffey, SF Opera, Previn Posters
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Amazon.com's Price: $35.98 Prices subject to change.
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0028945936628
Format: Box set
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
Number Of Discs: 3
Publisher: Deutsche Grammophon
Release Date: December 22, 1998
Sales Rank: 200958
Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential recording:
This Deutsche Grammophon recording stems from San Francisco Opera's 1998 premiere production of André Previn's opera based on the harrowing Tennessee Williams play, with the composer himself at the helm of a strong and supportive cast. Previn's eclectic style embraces rather than challenges operatic conventions. He evokes Williams's New Orleans setting through loping, jazz-tinged motives and wistful, asymmetrical commentaries from solo winds and brass. By contrast, Previn reveals the protagonists' sense of longing and alienation by way of lyrical set pieces scored with lush economy. Philip Littell's libretto emerges at a leisurely gait, while the music underscores and follows the action with dramatic restraint instead of leaping center stage. Similarly, the cast's Southern accents are distinct but never distracting. Renée Fleming handles Blanche's taxing tessitura with effortless aplomb, although she sacrifices diction for tone in her middle register. Elisabeth Futral's light, agile soprano suits Stella's vulnerability to a fare-thee-well, while Rodney Gilfrey is careful to a fault in not letting Stanley Kowalski lapse into caricature. Most valuable player award, however, goes to Anthony Dean Griffey, who infuses Blanche's wooer Mitch with immense dignity and a sense of need. Stage noises and between-numbers applause may enhance the recording's sense of occasion, but they distract as much as those few niggling instances of thin string tone and shaky intonation. That's why God invented studio patching sessions. Still, Streetcar proves a solid achievement overall, priced at three discs for two, with full texts and annotations. --Jed Distler
Average Rating: 
Rating: -
I'm gradually liking this opera. I've recently gotten into opera and I love 'streetcar' so I bought this. The music is great, and so is the singing. But the constant sing-talking is obnoxious, in my opinion. I know it doesn't bother some, so obviously this is a point-of-view thing, but to be honest I'd rather they just spoke or sang more of it than the sing-talk. There were moments when I would've preferred hearing just the background music. The story, though, is good, of course. If you like streetcar, ... Read More
Rating:  -
Streetcar Named Desire is the most operatic of plays and one of my all-time favorite plays. I think it would make a terrific opera. But unfortunately this isn't it. Andre Previn's previous Musical Theatre works include several lackluster shows: Coco and Good Companions. They were both moderately agreeable but plainly derivative and neither one of them was successful.
I was hoping Streetcar would prove an exception. But for me it only confirms the shallowness of Previn's musical imagination. ... Read More
Rating:  -
Not since Vivien Leigh's haunting interpretations of Blanche on the big screen and in theatres has Blanche been brought to life like this. I'm not a fan of modern opera but with this god-given cast nothing can go wrong. A recording to cherish and to adore! Also try to find the video, there is at least one!
Rating: -
This is an excellent recording of a very interesting work. I really enjoyed it. Unlike some, I have never seen the opera in performance, so I don't know how it worked. I have seen the play, and the now classic movie version. Whenever standard spoken theatre plays are rewritten as operas some of the touching moments change. The importance shifts, and the subtleties alter. That has happened even when the Great Verdi wrote his Shakespeare operas. The two types of works must be judged separately and one their own ... Read More
Rating: -
First I must say that Renee Fleming renders a marvelously complex Blanche. Brava! Now down to business: While reading the other reviews posted here, I've noticed that much criticism stems from the fact that this is an adaptation of a play which didn't need improving. From my point of view, this work is not "Tennessee Williams set to music." It is an entirely different piece, using his words as a backbone, but leaving behind some ideas and highlighting in bold relief other concepts. Opera is rarely as subtle ... Read More
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