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Walter Felsenstein Edition. DVD. Film restoration edition. [Halle an der Saale, Germany]: Arthaus Musik, 2007. 101 345. $149.99.
Walter Felsenstein, the founder and director of Berlin's Komische Oper from 1947 until his death in 1975, is often cited as a pioneer by today's proponents of "opera as theater." Unlike many directors of his era, many of his productions were recorded and his rehearsal process was well documented. He is also one of the only postwar opera directors to be the subject of several scholarly studies (in English, The Music Theatre of Walter Felsenstein: Collected Articles, Speeches, Interviews, and Others, ed. Peter Paul Fuchs [New York: Norton, 1975; London: Quartet Encounters, 1991]; in German, for example, Robert Braunmüller, Oper als Drama: das "realistische Musiktheater" Walter Felsensteins [Tübingen: Niemeyer, 2002]).
This DVD set (twelve DVDs; Ludwig van Beethoven, Fidelio [1956]; Leos Janácek, The Cunning Little Vixen [1965]; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Don Giovanni [1966] and The Marriage of Figaro, [1975/76]; Giuseppe Verdi, Otello [1969]; Jacques Offenbach, The Tales of Hoffmann [1970], and Bluebeard [1973]), presents digital restorations of seven of Felsenstein's productions dating from 1956 to 1976. The performance circumstances vary: Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro are both filmed performances at the Komische Oper, while The Cunning Little Vixen, Otello, The Tales of Hoffmann, and Bluebeard are studio films slightly adapted from Komische Oper stage productions. Only Fidelio is...