My First (Penderecki) DEVILS OF LOUDON

[lennygoran]

My First (Penderecki) DEVILS OF LOUDON



DEVILS OF LOUDON Preiere Opera DVD $3.49 Hamburg, 1969. Troyanos, Hiolski, Ladysz, Sotin; Janowski (Broadcast, English Subtitles)

Well the opera held my interest but I'll probably never have to see it again-3 reviewers gave it a full 5 stars but the last review is one I agree with.
"Above all, dear reader, you are not required to suffer through Penderecki's obsession; some art is optional. There are plenty of other options. "

The way it was done was interesting and the acting was good enough-a movie with overtones of what you get from live opera. Still from a music point of view it sure didn't offer much for me. Regards, Len


Here are some amazon customer reviews:

1. Garnier Eric
4.0 out of 5 stars Goos Testimony
Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2010
Verified Purchase
I just can simply say that this recording is the only testimony we can afford if we have to study on Penderecki's work (for the CD recording is not avaible any more or at a outrageous price...)
It is weird and gloomy, however there is no reason to steer clear of it =)
Perhaps the staging is not always true towards History. Anyway, what Penderecki and his libretists made of that historical episode is remarquable (in the meaning it must be watched and discovered)

The performance in itself is quite catching, the lipping technique is not always obvious. So every feeling is well given on screen.
Staging is also well built enough to make this work terrifying, oppressive, frightening and horrible (the scenes "buffa" with the two scientists where pseudo-science is melt with religion making something even more striking than it could be).
Please don't feel reluctant towards this opera for those reasons. Considered as a whole, it is worth discovering =)

2.Alfredo R. VillanuevaTop Contributor: Classical Music
5.0 out of 5 stars HORRIFIC AND EXQUISITE.
Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2015
Verified Purchase
I had to buy it twice before I found a copy that worked. It's my third one and it finally worked. It is simply amazing: up there with Lulu and Wozzeck as one of the atonal masterpieces of the Twentieth Century (and there are not many). It's actually a TV movie, but it does not detract at all from the performance. I bought it because of the amazing Tantiana Troyanos, probably in the most powerful role of her career. But it has a Polish tenor, Andej Hiolsky, who is really the towering figure as Grandier. Pendereky masterfully exposes the fundamental hypocrisy of the Catholic Church, as well as taking not a subtle dig at the Nazi regime, Hans Sotin, as father Regnier, completes the magic trio. Sadly, this opera was not well received anywhere. It deserves a larger audience. This DVD is of its premiere in Hamburg. Mesmerizing.

3.Gio
5.0 out of 5 stars Spare yourself!
Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2007
Verified Purchase
I've given this "opera for TV" five stars, but I urge you seriously not to watch it. It's extraordinarily painful, and enough pain will come your way without the help of music and cinematography. Still, anything that disturbs me so strongly must be potent art in its way.
This is a depiction of dementia (as in possession by demons), sado-masochism, flagellation, torture, and burning alive at the stake. It could, I suppose, be perceived as an indictment of religious depravity and the corruption of organized faith. It is certainly depraved, but I take it to be more a portrayal of the torment of religious doubt, the hideous psychological self-hatred innate in a religion of guilt and redemption. The composer, Krzysztof Penderecki, if I remember correctly, went through a religious crisis and "conversion" not long after writing this opera. The visual and verbal impact of this film are much more powerful than the music, if that matters to you. I defy you to remember a musical passage, or to forget the image of the gleeful torturers.

It was filmed in 1969. I would have said, before watching it, that the world has become a more violent and tormented place since then, but The Devils of Loudun has reminded me of the dark and twisted anxiety many of us lived through in the era of nuclear nightmares, Vietnam, the Zodiac and the Zebra killers, etc. I'm glad I survived. I'm glad I have a few flower boxes to water and cultivate. I'm glad I'm not oppressed and perverted by any demons of religious dread. It's good to look at the hills and see millions of years of gentle erosion, to play with my son and feel proud to contain the whole sublime history of evolution in our DNA, to look at the sky and see only stars, not devils nor gods.
Above all, dear reader, you are not required to suffer through Penderecki's obsession; some art is optional. There are plenty of other options.