5/5 Terrific production of a more controversial score
  by Abel (Hong Kong)
This is Zandonai's only opera that we know of.
The piece is not romantic nor modern. But it does smacks something like Shostakovitch's 'Lady Macbeth of M'tsensk'.
True that there is nothing lyrical in it - not even the dancing and singing, the supposed entertainments for Francesca.
MET managed to present a most sumptuous set for the score, and the cast simply could not be bettered.
The three male protagonists - 'the lame', 'the blind', and 'the handsome', all are utterly convincingly portrayed by MacNeil, Lewis and Domingo.
And the title role of Francesca of Scotto who is neither young nor beautiful. But who cares? Scotto manages to evince an aura of beauty and youthfulness throughout the entire performance. And this is some thing that smacks true mastery and complete artistry.
A very enjoyable performance of an otherwise difficult to digest score, and rather outlandish opera.
I for one am not a Domingo fan, but have to admit that Placido Domingo is in his absolute best here, vocally as well as visually.
This DVD is for every serious opera lover.

5/5 The stars were in perfect alignment...
  by B. Cathey (Wendell, NC United States)
I saw--and absorbed---Francesca da Rimini when the Met offered it, and like almost everyone else, I was swept away. Oh, yes, Zandonai is not Puccini, not Mascagni, but there is just something "special" about Francesca da Rimini that has always captivated me (well, I also like very much Spontini, Montemezzi, Auber, R.Strauss, and Mussorgsky). With the right cast and staging it DOES work...and the Met production, with Domingo, Scotto, and MacNeill, all in stellar voice, and those magnificent sets, well, it was indeed an "event" of the first order. And this DVD preserves it all.

I must confess that I really adore all the twists and exotic turns musically, as well. Ovderheated? Oh, yes, most definitely. Not something you want to hear or see everyday...but, wow, yes, most assuredly from time to time. The love duet at the end of Act III and the final feverish scene of Paolo and Francesca are simply spectacular, passion-filled, volcanic eruptions....I don't fight them, rather I just enjoy them.

Magda Olivero, Leyla Gencer, and Raina Kaibavanska sang Francesca, and I enjoy each of their interpretations, but this Met production remains unique and special.

Let yourself go, let the music (as overblown as it may seem, at times) and the drama envelope you. Have a glass of wine with it all, and simply enjoy it. Highly recommended.

5/5 A landmark in opera
  by Dino Starcevic Rivera (San José, Costa Rica)
Superb, amazing, exotic, erotic. As Gabrielle D'Annunzio's poetry, such it is this Metropolitan Opera production of Francesca da Rimini. A classic on recorded operas, we have to thank the Met for registered this magnificent production.
If the sum of talents weren't enough, there is Renata Scotto. As the critic of the moment (1984) remarked, she found HER character. I haven`t found a better Scotto on video, no matter how much I love her Giorgetta. Here, as Francesca, she reinvented herself and reach the stars. She MUST be seen.
Do not miss this one.

5/5 The Best Francesca Possible......
  by OperaLover (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
While I agree with the other review about the merits of this performance, I do not agree that his review should be a forum for the merits of Francesca di Rimini as an opera. Francesca is well known to the opera cognoscenti for generations. Zandonai had a unique voice which was never to everyone's liking. Nevertheless, Francesca has remained in the repertory in Italy without interruption. Clearly there are enough supporters of the opera to keep it popular. If you don't like this opera, don't buy it. Meanwhile don't damn this superior DVD with only three stars because you don't like the piece in the first place. This is not a forum for your learning curve.

As to the performance itself, without the likes of Magda Olivero or perhaps Raina Kabaivanska in her prime, Renata Scotto brings a sense of authority and style to this music that is incomparable. Perhaps one may not like this high note or that, but her supreme knowledge of the verisimo idiom makes her the only choice for this role at the time of this broadcast. Domingo is in spectacular form and looks the part to perfection. MacNeil also displays vocal flaws but performs the role to the manner born: he is truly menacing. The production is exquisite in every way and gives the opera the best possible presentation imaginable: this includes intentionally stylized acting, presumably recreating the style that was prevalent at the time the opera was written. James Levine conducts magnificently as if this opera were indeed a masterpiece. I do wish (and I know this is a controversial opinion) that some cuts had been made, especially the redundant music written for Francesca's handmaidens. Cuts in this opera are routine in Italy however controversial they may be.

This DVD is a MUST for any lover of the verismo idiom! Thank you DG for this wonderful re-mastering.


3/5 Torture Me! Torture Me! Smash My Head Between Two Rocks!
  by David Cady (Jersey City, NJ USA)
That being my favorite line from the libretto of "Francesca da Rimini," an overripe operatic melodrama that the Met exhumed about twenty years ago at the behest, I believe, of conductor James Levine. Bless him, cause he assembled a superb cast, far better than the piece deserves. Stylistically, it's a somewhat uneasy mix of "Turandot" (bombast), "Thais" (exotic lyricism) and "Doktor Faust" (atonalism) that often plays like a Roger Corman horrer-fest set to music. (That severed head looks heavy!) Frankly, I find it a hard opera to love. Very difficult to sing, it's at times difficult to process, particularly in Act Two when everyone's screaming at the top of both their lungs and range. There are very few lyrical moments, and one wishes that Zandonai had had a better sense of shape and pacing. (Perhaps that's why he's pretty much a one-opera wonder.)

But, my God, what a spectacular production this is!! Stunning sets, sumptuous, beautifully detailed costumes, evocative lighting, and more smoke and fire than you'd expect to find at a fundamentalist book burning. The cast, as noted, couldn't be bettered, but this being a killer score, with so much placed in the high tessitura, the four leads at times sound a bit strained, particularly MacNeil. But they're a passionate quartet, milking every ounce of angst from their dysfunctional family dynamic, be they lame, maimed, insane, or just incestuously star-crossed. The audience is rightly swept away with the sheer fervor, grandeur and spectacle of it all (almost to their own frenzied fever pitch) -- but in my opinion it's a lot of sound and fury signifying very little. Kudos to the Met for broadening our operatic horizons. I just wish I enjoyed the view a bit more.