Jean Pierre Ponnelle

Jean-Pierre Ponnelle (1932-1988) was one of the most eminent opera directors of the second half of the 20th century. His productions not only graced the repertoires of opera houses in Salzburg, Milan and New York, but also enhanced television programming with original, classical opera films produced exclusively by Unitel. Ponnelle always bestowed particular love and care on Mozart's operas, whether popular works such as "Die Zauberflöte" and "Figaro," or less known works such as "La clemenza di Tito," "Idomeneo" and "Mitridate."

This luxuriously cast film of Mozart's beloved opera buffa features a host of legendary interpretations, including Kiri Te Kanawa's exquisite Countess Almaviva, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as her philandering husband, Hermann Prey as the wily title character, Mirella Freni, a delight as his no less savvy bride Susanna, and Maria Ewing, hilarious as the lovesick page Cherubino. Director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's imaginative camera-work tellingly emphasizes character and mood in this immortal story of love, intrigue and class struggle, set against the historical background of ancien regime Europe sliding inexorably towards revolution.

Filmed in 1980 among the ruins of ancient Rome, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's stunning production marked the beginning of a renaissance for Mozart's late opera and continues to stand out as one of the finest opera films of all time. James Levine conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker in this performance of Mozart's operatic marvel driven by imperial intrigue, fury and forgiveness.

Claudio Abbado’s youthful Beatle­cut marks the age of this film‚ still one of the better screen Barbieres if not absolutely the best. Jean­Pierre Ponnelle based it on his Scala stagings‚ but filmed it‚ as he always preferred‚ in studio and in lip­sync – more successfully than most. As a result‚ it looks and sounds very much fresher on DVD than contemp­orary videotapes.

This extraordinarily powerful 1983 production may be the best-sung performance by Luciano Pavarotti on DVD, but when acting values are counted in, Ingvar Wixell manages to outshine the tenor star. Verdi gave the Duke two of Italian opera's most brilliant arias ("Questa o quella" and "La donna e mobile"), but he gave the deformed jester Rigoletto a depth and complexity of character that is reflected in music of great variety and enormous emotional impact: the cruel mockery of the opening scene, the self-doubts inspired by his dialogue with Sparafucile, the paternal anxieties and final despair at his daughter's sad fate, and the burning, self-destructive thirst for revenge. All these motives work their way into music of great dramatic richness, variety, and intensity. Wixell rises to its challenges, not only in the title role but in a cameo appearance as Rigoletto's nemesis Monterone. Location filming provides an atmosphere unavailable in staged productions. (Joe McLellan)

I’ve already made mention in these pages of my appreciation for the art of the late Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. Where many other directors/stage designers see operas merely as department store manikins to hang any concepts upon—the more inappropriate, the better, when it comes to gaining notoriety and further employment—Ponnelle achieved his often startling results simply by finding effective solutions to stage problems few people consider…

Barry Brenesal Reviewing earlier TDK release

Filmed and directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle in the unique interiors of Vicenza's Teatro Olimpico in 1986, this DVD offers an intimate glimpse of Mozart's first major opera, written when the precocious composer was just fourteen. Nikolaus Harnoncourt leads a stellar cast in portraying the inner circle of the Roman Empire's fiercest enemy: Mithridates, king of Pontus.

Ah Rossini…! The real inventor of the assembly line. That Ford fellow was just a copycat. One-size-fits-all overtures. Arias you swear you've heard before (you did). Plots that are reused more often than a sandlot league baseball. Why do we love him so much? Because his music is so infectious that it gets under your skin faster than a splinter from a bamboo shade. (Amazon.com; Mike Birman)

On the heels of the recent excellent Clemenza DVD from Opus Arte, comes this DGG DVD of a beautiful film of the opera directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. It was filmed on location in Rome at the Baths of Caracalla, the Arch of Titus and at the Villa Adriana in Tivoli from 10 May-16 June 1980 with the sound recording made in Vienna at Wien-Film 6-12 May 1980. Ponnelle favored singers lip synching their arias so that they might concentrate on acting, thus improving the dramatic aspect of opera. It seems to work here. Clemenza, more than most Mozart operas, relies on lengthy expository recitatives to further the story. These recitatives, as is well known, were not written by Mozart but by his assistants, probably Sussmayr. Slightly less effective as they are, any dramatic enhancements are an improvement…

“Ponnelle's film of his La Scala staging is so imaginative and musically refined that it triumphs over the dubbing. Von Stade is an achingly beautiful Cinderella, Araiza a romantic Prince.” BBC Music Magazine