GOUNOD: Romeo and Juliet (PAL)

Charles Gounod (1818 ¡V 1893)

Romeo and Juliet

Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna

Location ¡V Royal Castle of Zvíkov

Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, Anton Guadagno, cond.

Cat Number PAL: 100 706

Running Time: 90 min
Picture Format: 16:9 Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD5.1, DTS 5.1
Region Code: 0
Menu: GB, D, F, SP
Subtitle: F, GB, D, SP
Recording Date: 2002

"Opera as film" is an art form in its own right.

Thanks to modern camera and microphone technology it is a relatively straightforward matter today to film even the more lavish stage productions of the opera live.

From a technological point of view it is extremely demanding - fully comparable with a real film set ¡V and, above all, it requires significantly more attention to dynamics.

For her film, based on a slightly cut version of the opera, director Barbara Willis Sweete transferred the action to the picturesque royal gothic castle of Zvíkov in the Czech Republic.

The real "dream couple", Angela Gheorghiu und Roberto Alagna, have ranked among the leading lights of the world of opera since 1996. Their joint debut at the New York Met took place in 1998 in Gounod¡¦s "Roméo et Juliette" and became a triumph for the then newly-wed couple.