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Rautavaara - Rasputin / Salminen, Hynninen, Paasikivi, Franck, Finnish National Opera [DVD]

Matti Salminen (Actor), Jorma Hynninen (Actor) Rated:
Unrated
Format: DVD
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 17 ratings
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Format Color, DVD, NTSC, Dolby, Subtitled, Classical
Contributor Lilli Paasikivi, Jorma Hynninen, Matti Salminen
Language English, French, German
Runtime 2 hours and 30 minutes
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Product details

  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ Unrated (Not Rated)
  • Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches; 3.2 ounces
  • Media Format ‏ : ‎ Color, DVD, NTSC, Dolby, Subtitled, Classical
  • Run time ‏ : ‎ 2 hours and 30 minutes
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ August 9, 2005
  • Actors ‏ : ‎ Matti Salminen, Jorma Hynninen, Lilli Paasikivi
  • Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English, German, French
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ ONDINE
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0009BF5XC
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 17 ratings

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
17 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

orfeo44
5.0 out of 5 stars I was riveted by this opera and the extraordinary power ...
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2017
I was riveted by this opera and the extraordinary power that the monk had over the boy and his mother is very powerfully felt in those scenes due to the hauntingly hypnotic music and powerful performances. I found myself being drawn into his power. I had never hear of Rautavaara before, but he is a force of nature and an extraordinary composer of our time.
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Gio
4.0 out of 5 stars Not as POWERFUL as it seems it should be
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2007
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I note that most reviewers so far have been long-time Rautavaara fans, and that most find this opera equal to their expectations. My own feelings approach those expressed very cogently by the reviewer from Berlin "John". For an explosive libretto and a massive assault force of voices and instruments, RASPUTIN never lifts me off my seat. Part of the problem just might be the recording, which sounds as if it were done with a single omni mike at the fire-exit door of the theater. Only Salminen ever seems PRESENT acoustically, and that not consistently. The orchestra/voice balance is vague and often inchoate. Combined with the very odd faded-color light-through-a-texture filming, the whole experience lacks intensity, which I'd say couldn't have been anyone's intention.
5 people found this helpful
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John
3.0 out of 5 stars Am I going to die without ever seeing an exciting new opera?
Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2005
Einojuhani Rautavaara is the foremost and most respected contemporary Finnish composer, from a country that also gave us Sibelius. He has also been labeled a neo-romantic and a mystic. The little of his instrumental music that I was familiar with I liked. I also knew that he had written several operas before, although I was not familiar with them. Needless to say, from a composer with that resume behind him I was expecting an opera comparable to works of a Britten, a Shostakovich or a Prokofiev. Alas, that was not the case. In the past 10 or so years I have regularly been disappointed with contemporary operas. After John Adams' Nixon in China I haven't seen anything on stage that I find if not exciting at least not totally boring. Being a contemporary composer myself, I believe that a bad score can kill the best libretto (Heggie's Dead Man Walking), but a not so brilliant libretto can survive if the score is good (Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades). There are countless examples of that in the history of music. And then you have the rare combination of great libretto and great music like Verdi's Otello.

Rautavaara's Rasputin is not as bad as, let's say, Tod Macchover's excruciatingly dull and uninformed (musically speaking only) Resurrection, or Deborah Drattel's ridiculous flop based on the same story of Rautavaara's opera called Nicholas and Alexandra. At least the Finnish composer can compose and orchestrate like a professional, and he has done his research. The libretto of this opera despite room for a lot of dramatic improvement is not too bad. There is very little humor in it, which is a pitty, since the main character was one of the most (unwillingly) amusing historical characters who ever roamed this planet. The real historical events were actually a lot more interesting than the somewhat watered-down or speculatively altered versions of them that ended up in this libretto. A pitty! The performances are overall excellent and the staging and acting are also quite good.

My main problem is with the music which never seems to take off. It never develops into climaxes. If anything exciting starts to happen on stage the drums start to bang out of the blue. One has a constant feeling that the people are acting to some rather unrelated background music. There is no variety in the music whatsoever. The whole score throughout is this rather luscious, smooth and round romantic mash potato, with constantly legato bass-lines, that just gets soft or loud. No rhythmic variety, period! The smooth quality quickly wears off after the first number. The Khlisty orgy scene is so poor and tame when one compares it to the unbelievably exciting music Shostakovich wrote in his Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk to depict rape or orgies. The poor audience member sits there for three hours in vain waiting for the music to take off. It will not! By the way, have you ever heard Russian Gypsy music? Some of the funnest music ever composed. I should disagree with the previous reviewer who said that Rautavaara used real Gypsy tunes in his opera. According to the DVD booklet, the composer studied Russian Gypsy tunes, but then decided not to use them and write his own original tunes. Very bad decision indeed! His Gypsy music sounds like a slow funeral march from some communist cantata honoring Stalin or Lenin. There is not a hint of a dance rhythm or anything. It's thickly scored and as slow and boring as the rest of the opera. I don't mean that all Gypsy music is fast and bouncy. But at this point the opera definitely needed some music that moved a bit. Unfortunately the composer didn't share the same feeling. Perhaps I should give it a lower rating than 3 stars. But this man is a learned composer. I reserve the 1 star (since amazon.com doesn't provide us with the no star option) for the likes of Drattel and Macchover.
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F. FUNES
5.0 out of 5 stars ANOTHER MIRACLE FROM
Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2005
It should come as no surprise that Einojuhani Rautavaara is without the shadow of a doubt the best living opera composer of
our times.After being an enfant terrible with his first two operas he consolidated his particular style with his fifth opera called THOMAS in 1985.RASPUTIN has been written in the grand opera style,perhaps a triffle different to the extremely
personal universes that he evoked in his previous two operas,his
capolavoro ALEKSIS KIVI and the "tragedia buffa" THE HOUSE OF THE SUN.In spite of this though the musical style follows the much more melodic vein which characterizes his operas from VINCENT on,permeating the score with a distinguishable russian flavor.
There are great ensembles and monologues for the protagonist(a sweet and soaring description of his native Siberia)for Tsar Nicholas,for the Tsarina Alix and for the conspirator prince Felix Yussupov.A magnificent danced religious
orgy in the first act and a wonderful tavern scene with russian
gypsy melodies inserted in the score,which gives way to an ensemble where the composer makes use of melodic continuos which approximate this opera to the conclusion of ALEKSI KIVI.
Perhaps the only flaw of the score is the lack of dramaticism of
the murder scene in act III,which can be forgiven given the greatness of the rest of the opera.
The mammothical title role has been tailormade for the voice of bass Matti Salminen,one of the best singers of the finnish nation,together with other artists of renowned quality who also
take part in this event.
Of particular interest are baritone Jorma Hynninen as Tsar Nicolai III,mezzosoprano Lili Paasikivi as the troubled Tsarina,
and tenor Jyrki Anttila and baritone Gabriel Suovanen as the conspirators Felix Yussupov and Dmitri Pavlovich.
Mikko Franck conducts the orchetra of the Finnish National Opera.Five stars for this oeuvre d'art which deserves even more.

[...]
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2016
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An interesting story, as opposed to a lot of opera librettos.
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Pdon
5.0 out of 5 stars terrific
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 29, 2017
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A terrific opera by Rautavaara. It is the perfect vehicle for the great Matti Salminen and whilst some of the other voices do not quite match they do not distract. Played and conducted well and with a very fine set. No messing about and no gimmicks. Well worth seeing
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Hans-Georg Seidel
5.0 out of 5 stars Paraderolle für Matti Salminen in bühnenmagischer Inszenierung - Helsinki - 2003 - Großes Musiktheater -
Reviewed in Germany on March 30, 2016
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Zwei Jahre vor der russischen Oktoberrevolution, gesellschaftlich schroffe Gegensätze brechen auf, Auflösungserscheinungen in hierarchischen Systemen,
Rasputin, ein mit dem Instinkt des Machtmenschen ausgestatteter Suggestionsdynamiker betritt den Zarenhof.
Dem pseudoreligiös mystischen Charisma verfällt die Zarin, der Zar eher ein schöngeistiger Mensch, der an Macht nicht wirklich interessiert ist. In diesem Vakuum gewinnt Rasputin zentralen Einfluss, kann die Bluterneigung des Zarewitsch als einziger stoppen, stilisiert sich zunehmend zum Heilsbringer, ruft dadurch erbitterte Gegnerschaft hervor.
Ein durchkomponiertes Werk mit langen monologisierenden sängerischen Zentralelementen. Große chorische Szenen.
Magisch mystisches Bühnengeschehen mit sing-dialogischer Ebene. Eine Inszenierung, die fast jeden begeistern müßte.

Matti Salminen, Rasputin, er lebt die ambivalente Persönlichkeit in Ton und Darstellung, großartig,
Alle Rollen hervorragend- mehr als 20 Solisten- besetzt, in finnischer, sehr sanglicher Sprache gesungen, mit deutschen Untertiteln.
Die Musik melodisch dramatisch, für viele Opernliebhaber durchaus noch interessant, da sie die Tonalität nicht verläßt. Eruptive Ausbrüche, neben lyrischen Passagen.
Insgesamt großes Musiktheater. Sehr gutes Libretto vom Komponisten Rautavaara selbst. Ein Werk, dem man weitere Verbreitung wünschen würde, bietet es doch alles, was Oper bühnenmagisch, aber auch intellektuell leisten kann. Sicher ist der Solistenaufwand für dieses Werk neben der Sprache das Zentralproblem für ein Etablierung im Repertoiretheater, das Ergänzungen nötig hätte.
Das Werk zeigt u.a. wie suggestive Dynamik, rationales Denken immer wieder aufbrechen kann, wie pseudoreligiöse oder auch säkulare Heilsversprechungen immer wieder zum Sprengsatz werden können, Religionen mißbraucht werden, Menschen durch reinen Instinkt-Taumel indoktriniert werden können.
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Melimelomane
5.0 out of 5 stars RAUTAVAARA : UN AUTHENTIQUE DRAMATURGE !
Reviewed in France on September 10, 2014
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Il y a maintenant une dizaine d’années, ma première rubrique confiée à Amazon concernait « Vincent » un opéra de Rautavaara.
Après sa série orchestrale « Angel » qui ne s’intéresse nullement aux anges de Fra Angelico mais à ceux de William Blake qui revêtent un aspect terrifiant. Tout naturellement Einojuhani Rautavaara va se tourner vers la figure faustienne de Raspoutine, pour son prochain sujet d’opéra.
En quelque sorte encore une figure d’ange ; mais un ange tel Azrael « l’Ange de la mort » ou « Lucifer » l’ange déchu.
Le compositeur brosse le portrait d’un être malveillant mais charismatique. La grande basse Matti Salminen, auteur d’une performance remarquable, parvient à incarner le sulfureux mélange de charisme et de luxure extatique de ce personnage fascinant.
Salminen se complaît dans le défi musical qui consiste à traduire la nature schizophrénique de Raspoutine. Aussi sincère dans ses extases religieuses que dans ses délires libidineux. Ces deux aspects font partie intégrante de sa nature qui exalte une force de vie au-delà de la compréhension ou du contrôle.

L'opéra ne couvre que la vie de Raspoutine à partir du moment où il est entré dans le cénacle de la famille royale russe alors que le tsar et sa femme cherchaient désespérément un soulagement pour leur fils hémophile. Le moine est considéré par l'ordre établi, comme un être négatif. Ses ennemis sont représentés dans l’opéra par Dimitri et Félix qui cherchent à épouser la fille du tsar, Irina. La crédibilité des deux prétendants est fortement battue en brèche par leur propre relation homosexuelle.
Comme l'influence de Raspoutine se développe, le désespoir et la jalousie s'installent, et enfin les ennemis du Moine n’envisagent qu’une option : « Le tuer ! »

Sur cette trame, haute en couleur, Rautavaara compose une musique intense alternant de longues mélodies poétiques qui ondulent telles des vagues sonores, bercées par un tapis de cordes légèrement boisé, suivies de passages d’une grandeur sauvage au souffle d’orgues déchainées.
Comme les meilleurs compositeurs d'opéra, Rautavaara veille à ce que tous les grands rôles aient « un monologue » (c’est le terme qu’il utilise) qui permet à chaque interprète de se mettre en valeur.
La tsarine de Lilli Paasikivi commence l'opéra avec un appel désespéré pour sauver la vie de son fils.
Nicolas Jorma Hynninen apparaît comme un homme faible, mais un père aimant. Sous l’influence de sa femme il autorise l'influence croissante de Raspoutine. Jyrki Anttila (Felix) et Gabriel Suovanen (Dimitri) sont les pales représentants d’une nature slave décadente.
Tous les protagonistes tiennent leurs rôles avec conviction et talent.

La scénographie de Vilppu Kiljunen est d’une réelle beauté, allant jusqu’à évoquer, dans certains passages, les mânes d’ « Ivan le Terrible » de S.M. Eisenstein.
Les décors constitués de hauts murs aux envolées de cathédrale se déplacent lentement pour suggérer les différents lieux où se déroule l’intrigue. L'éclairage et les costumes de l’équipe finlandaise contribuent à la réussite de cette soirée.

Comme je l’affirmais dans une précédente rubrique consacrée à« Written on skin » de George Benjamin, l’opéra n’est pas mort!
Une preuve supplémentaire : ce nouveau drame puissant à la brulante musicalité.
Servi par un DVD d’excellente qualité, je ne saurais que conseiller l’acquisition de ce nouvel opus d’un génial compositeur trop peu connu sous nos latitudes.
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captain cuttle
2.0 out of 5 stars Great music but ......................
Reviewed in Canada on February 23, 2007
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I thought I couldn't miss with this one. It had all the ingredients of a winner: one of my favourite living composers; Salminen unleashing that earthquake of a voice on the title role; a story combining mysticism, intrigue, sex, and the collapse of an empire. To cap it all, a professional reviewer for whom I have the greatest respect gave it a strong thumbs-up. Maybe it's a case of inflated expectations leading to inevitable disappointment, but disappointed I certainly am.

The positives first. It's a beautiful score. All the Rautavaara fingerprints are there: dreamy chordal layering, melody or at least allusion to melody, exotic orchestration. The singing is first-rate, and not just from Salminen. Female voices are especially fine, and all are superbly supported by both orchestra and chorus. Salminen is indeed a treat in the role of Rasputin, though for once I think his lack of mobility detracts from the role. He can illustrate a greater range of emotion with facial expressions than most actors can with their entire body. But against a backdrop of Rautavaara's relatively static music I think a wilder, more agile singer might give us more light and shade.

Which brings me to the negatives. Dramatically, this is a ramshackle work. Maybe it isn't just the libretto's problem and I'll talk about stage direction in a minute. Rautavaara isn't the first, and certainly won't be the last, composer to believe that after writing music, producing your own libretto is a cakewalk. It's like people who save on tradesmen by finishing their own basement. For every one that does an acceptable job a hundred reproduce the ground floor of the Crooked Little House. You'll need to be steeped in Russian history to figure out what's going on here, because what happens on stage has little relationship to the bigger picture. At the start we see Rasputin arriving to cure the Tsarevich's haemophilia attack (although we don't actually witness the curing process) and at the end we see the Mad Monk shot to death. In between we get a couple of hours of largely irrelevant and disconnected tableaux that do nothing to illuminate or even illustrate the world-shattering events going on all around. Sure, we gather the whole Russian court scene is decadent, the Tsar himself a milksop, his wife totally preoccupied with her son's illness and willing to do anything to cure it - she's probably the only character in the opera who acquires a third dimension. We gather in the first two minutes of the second scene that Rasputin is your standard cult figurehead and he's going to enjoy the perks of absolute power to the max. But after what seems like hours of limp orgiastic allusion that adds nothing to the drama and fails to offer even mild titillation, I was looking at the synopsis wondering when we were going to get on with it. The answer was; we're not. We get endless reference to cranes flying across lakes, bears beating trails over the steppes, the silence of boreal forests. This is interspersed with scenes of Dimitri and Felix coming out of the closet, the latter shooting-up onstage later on. What this has to do with the story or how it's supposed to further our understanding of events isn't clear to me. We gathered this whole scene was irretrievably decadent hours ago. Meanwhile, outside, there's a world war on and the empire is about to collapse, but you wouldn't know it. Ten minutes from the end, the composer/librettist remembers he was supposed to be telling the story and patches all the bits and bobs into one scene, following it with an unsung coda telling us, by the way, there was a revolution happening around the back, forgot to mention it.

Rautavaara talks, in the notes, about creating a dream world. But other people's dreams are generally boring unless refracted through some rigorous process of distillation to produce art. Only then do they deserve our attention. Martinu succeeded in his superb opera Julietta (when, oh when, are we going to get a dvd of this amazing work, or even a modern recording?). Here, in my view, Rautavaara fails totally. His opera Rasputin is neither fish nor fowl, not quite an oratorio and certainly not a stage work. Characters appear onstage and disappear without rhyme or reason and with little or no dramatic interaction. We get to know none of them except, maybe, the Tsarina. Even Rasputin adds little to what we picked up in the first five minutes of his appearance, despite being in front of us for most of the opera.

Perhaps expert direction could, if not rescue the work, at least make it palatable. We have lots of colour on show here, but the sets are confusing and in some cases downright laughable. The poisoning scene is like a provincial Christmas pantomime, villains leering from behind the props, the victim ludicrously oblivious to what the youngest child in the audience is screaming to tell him - "Don't drink it, Mister Rasputin!!!!!!" I've already referenced the "orgy" scenes but they're far from isolated in their ineptitude. This director swings from not-in-front-of-the-children prudery to scenes that are ham-handedly intended to shock - projected soft-porn, self-injection - but only succeed in making us laugh.

For comparisons in the world of opera I'll point you towards Saariaho's L'amour de loin. This is a composer whose music can produce the same sense of stasis as Rautavaara's, but who had the brains to get a pro (Amin Maalouf) to write the libretto. The end result is a masterpiece. And there's Langaard's Antikrist another dreadful all-my-own-work libretto, but at least the work has an unmistakable sense of dramatic development, and therefore offers something as a stage experience.

I'll continue to play Rasputin. The music is very worthwhile. But I doubt I'll bother watching it again.
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Marta
5.0 out of 5 stars Great performance
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 8, 2014
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Matti Salminen as a lead singer did not disapoint, all singers are very good, performence is really great and nice.
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