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Title: Fine singing, horrible direction
Review: The opera video club I run was really looking forward to this DVD, especially as many of us are Handel fans. Unfortunately, we only made it about 40 minutes in before we had to turn it off! The singing is not the problem, it's the rolling on the floor that drove us crazy. Maybe it seemed like a fresh idea in 1996, but it doesn't now!Don't be fooled by the glorious colors and the intriguing postmodern-retro-baroque production. The end result is that each of the characters ends up an unappealing caricature, someone you really don't care about. This one rolls on the floor all the time, that one tongues his walking stick in a lewd manner all the time... Enough said. Now you have various opinions, and you'll have to make up your own mind...We did enjoy the ENO's production of Xerxes, though, in case you're looking for an alternative.
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