Hunter's Bride

This is truly beautiful, beautifully filmed and done and sung, but the liner's stated emphasis on making this a cinematic experience explains why there is so much non-singing in it. Now I am not greatly familiar with how much of Weber's opera is spoken dialogue, but I feel not so much as there is here. I would like to see a staging before making a final judgement on this DVD, but, for now, I find the whole less than the sum of its parts.

Despite some criticisms of operas put into a film format, this rendering proved to be admirable. The singing quality was not hindered, and the sets were actually palaces. Furthermore, the singers did show "warts and all." The music was superb.

I had been looking forward to watching this, given the scarcity of even remotely traditional performances of Weber's masterpiece on DVD/Blu-ray. But what a disappointment! Director Neubert delights in drowning out the music with all kinds of background noises (in one case quite literally with a noisy downpour, which makes sure the charming waltz from the first act becomes inaudible). He never runs out of ideas here: stampeding horses, hyperactive children, stormy weather, giggling townsfolk etc. etc. all make sure we won't get distracted by the music.The musical performance itself was rather good, on those rare occasions when one could actually hear it. The rather frequent gratuitous disgusting visual details did not add to my enjoyment.Watch this before your next visit to the opera house. No amount of coughing in the audience will ever bother you again.

Opera lovers have always stated that opera encompass various art forms. This film opera just shows that the art of filming can also be part of the art forms that make opera great. Producing a film opera allows for interpretations and expressions that are not possible on the stage opening new creativity capabilities. This film opera is very well done, with a clear interpretation. The music, orchestra and excellent singers are of very high quality, as is the recording sound. One interesting aspect of filming an opera is the sound combination of the music, orchestra and signers, with the noises available on a film like falling stones, wind, steps over fallen leaves, etc. I am sure there are many opinions on what the best mix should be, depending on personal preferences. Every new technology, when applied to art, allows for exploration of new possibilities, and creates new dilemmas. For this film opera, I found the sound combination appropriate and enhancing the overall experience.The magic aspects of Der Freischutz have never been easy to stage. This film allows a much easier portrayal of magic without being overwhelming while keeping the human aspects on the forefront.I strongly recommend this film to every opera lover, and to those who have not watched this opera before. You will be surprised how many arias you will recognize from casual listening.

I really enjoyed this. I have seen most of available opera movie combinations (as contrasted with filmed stage performances) and I rank it up there with the Domingo-Migenes Carmen. It has a cast, quite comparable in quality to that on the 1968 Rolf Liebermann Freischütz but blows it away sonically and visually with the use of recent technology. I have never heard horns recorded better. The Wolf's Glen scene is enough to give you goose flesh. My opinion is based on the dts-HD 5.1 Master Audio track on the blu-ray. I think that this movie has had only a very limited run in theaters so I would have preferred a full screened 16:9 to the 2:35:1 we get here with the large bands at top and bottom. Director Jens Neubert's commentary track adds to the overall value of the disc. I don't find him all that convincing with his arguments for changing the name of the opera to the original Jägersbraut and moving the setting to the Napoleonic wars of Weber's time from the original 17th century Thirty Years war. However he was very good on explaining how he chose the cast and directed and filmed the performance. Very strongly recommended.

This production suffocates Weber's opera. Yes, the story has always been a little thin and goofy, but the music is wonderful. In this production, though, the story and music are crushed by the director's "artistic" pretensions. The constant groveling in the dirt by the male leads is pointless and tiresome. Did any men in this era ever wash their hair or themselves?Save your money, and just enjoy any of the fine recordings available.

This is what a filmed opera should be -- vibrant, wide dynamic range, beautifully set. You hear the sound of artillery, wagon wheels going by, laughter, sounds of peasants at work and play because that is what the opera is about. Staged opera strives to incorporate some of that into its presentation, but is limited. Filmed opera, however, can carefully mix the soundtrack so you get wind as a backdrop to emotional turmoil, thunder to signal something ominous, laughter to enhance an intimate duet, giving it a very personal touch. Close ups render a chamber opera feel while pans give one the feel of sitting back in the mezzanine, taking in the whole of it. The singing is excellent and the orchestra is quite fine. Someone else wrote that the music was fine when you could hear it over the sound effects and I honestly don't know what they were talking about. If having an opera come alive is too distracting, it is best to stick to a studio recording. But this production is well designed and well executed. I'm grateful for the chance to experience it.

Très beau film d'un opéra si peu présent en DVD.

日本発売版ではなく半額で買へる輸入版を購入しましたが大正解でした。ドイツ語字幕が楽しめるのです。日本発売版は日本語字幕のみです。このオペラの日本語字幕付きを持つてゐる方なら、日本語字幕無しでも大丈夫かと思ひます。映画オペラなので原作の牧歌的風情を楽しめて、とても良いです。が、時代設定を根本的に変更して仕舞ふなどストーリー改変が多すぎる(軍隊が出て来る)ので、普段はオペラ『魔弾の射手』を観て、このオペラ映画は、あくまで息抜きの範疇で鑑賞すべきです。配役については、アガ-テが若いと良いなあ、と思ひました。マツクスは髪がうざつたくて野卑過ぎました。陰者は、びつくりでした。誰かと思ひました。エンヒエンは、可愛くてドイツ語の軽妙なのも良かつたです。悪意ある気味悪い演出でなくて清々しいです。あと、この映画オペラは、ドイツの年齢制限(FSK)では「12歳以上試聴自由」、つまり12禁です。カスパールの歌が嫌らしい所以なのではなく、屠殺鳥獣の調理があつたり戦死体が数多く出てくるからなのでせう。わたくしはそんなに不快ではありませんでした。ストーリー改変があるので☆ひとつ減点です。最廉価なる英国発送新品を選んだところ、ドイツ製リージヨン0(全世界共通)が届きました。問題なく再生出来ました。

Comme l'explique le très beau livret joint au DVD, Max, Agathe et Kaspar, les trois héros de l'intrigue, incarnent une jeunesse qui, juste après 1789, n'a connue que la guerre, issue de la période Napoléonienne qui se solda, en 1813, par un échec à l'issue de l'entrevue Napléon-Metternich, à Dresde.On retrouve l'atmosphère des tableaux de Caspar David Friedrich, à cette différence que le romantisme du peintre, avec ses couleurs douces, ses jolies toilettes, ses couchers de soleil et autres églises abandonnées, fait place, dans le film de Jens Neubert, à un réalisme bien plus proche de la réalité quotidienne de cette époque.Dès l'ouverture, on assiste à des scènes de bataille, avec tueries, sang, baïonnettes et transports de blessés. Si les costumes des militaires sont pimpants, ils n'en sont pas moins le reflet d'une guerre sans pitié. De même, la cour des fermes, les visages des fermiers et de leurs enfants ne sont pas édulcorés, comme c'est souvent l'habitude : la boue est omniprésentes, les robes sont tachées, et les hommes possèdent cette maturité brutale d'une vie rude où la chasse est omniprésente. C'est ainsi que Max, le jeune homme amoureux d'Agathe, est massif, rugueux, avec des cheveux longs et gras : il n'a rien du héros romantique bien fringué qui prend la pose sur une scène d'opéra en attendant les bravos du public.Le réalisateur, qui refuse le terme d'opéra-filmé, mais préfère celui de "film-opéra" a choisi une distribution au renom international (Michael König, Michael Volle, Julianne Banse, Olaf Bär, René Pape) pour incarner ces êtres torturés, envahis de doutes et d'appréhensions, qui jouent avec leurs tripes et leur sueur, dans un environnement où la beauté de la nature n'est pas toujours un refuge. La fameuse "Gorge aux Loups" au fond de laquelle Max va céder à la tentation du Diable, afin de forger, avec la complicité du sinistre Kaspar, 7 balles magiques, est un endroit escarpé où gisent les cadavres des soldats (un serpent sort de la bouche d'un des morts) et qui fait écho aux grands films d'épouvante qui firent le bonheur de la Hammer dans les années 55-70.Faut-il dire, pour terminer, que la musique de Weber est magnifique, et qu'elle connut un succès foudroyant, non seulement en Allemagne, mais aussi à Londres comme à Paris? Ce superbe film en est un poignant témoignage.

As I watched this version of Weber's opera Der Freischutz (The Freebooter) I was puzzled as to why it was decided to depict the character of Max as such a scruffy looking individual with both long hair and scruffy beard severely matted. I found that bringing the action forward from the mid Seventeenth Century to a time towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars in the early Nineteenth Century was confusing. If Max was supposed to be a soldier why was he made to look so dishevelled in comparison to most of the other smart soldiers with their attractive hats, one of which Max never wore? Since Weber must have staged the action in the Seventeenth Century for a good reason, why tamper with his decision? Although changing the period of an opera can work very well indeed, in this case the scenario of Seventeenth Century superstition doesn't quite fit into the Napoleonic era.Fortunately, the miss-relocation is largely compensated for by the excellent orchestration, singing and acting shot in film mode in natural settings. One gets the impression that the whole cast are acting and singing their hearts out as they give of their best in every possible way. Although this kind of Gothic stuff works well as an opera, I think it would lose much of its appeal if acted as a play. One of the great things about opera is that it can get away with silly plots if the music and singing are of the best.One of the most delightful things about the opera was the appearance of a handsome looking real live pig in a sty, with whom Max spent some time. There were also real live horses. We need more of this with composers incorporating horse whinnies and pig grunting and squealing into their music. Pigs actually do have musical voices ranging over the widest possible register. There was also an owl hooting in the night supposedly suggesting sinister goings on. This is a cliché because owls are anything but sinister. I always feel comforted by the tawny owls I hear calling in the night. Sometimes during the performance there were real children obviously enjoying themselves and there were also dogs running around.Each performer gave of his/her best and I much enjoyed all of the singing accompanied by excellent acting. In this case filming an opera in natural settings has worked very well and I look forward to watching this performance many times. I think many other opera lovers will also like it and maybe it will help attract others to the genre. Much careful thought and planning has obviously been put into this presentation and I say: well done to all involved!

I’ve always been a big fan of Weber’s opera “Der Freischütz”. It may be a preposterous piece of Romantic tosh, but I would love to see it on stage. The danger is, of course, is that some crackpot producer would try to impose his or her “vision” onto the work and thereby destroy the Romantic concept which is at the heart of the piece. I actually possess a DVD of the opera, recorded, I believe, for German television in the 1960s and featuring a barnstorming performance from the great German bass Gotlob Frick as Kaspar. It is resolutely traditional, but this film version, directed by Jens Neubert, offers something quite different.“Der Freischütz” long remained a draft entitled “Die Jägersbraut”, from whence this film gets its title. Weber began its composition at the end of the Napoleonic Wars and although he originally set the work just after the Thirty Years War to avoid censorship, there are references a-plenty to contemporary events.Neubert sets the opera at the time of its composition and Napoleon himself puts in a couple of appearances. Whether this adds much to the impact of the work, I am not sure, but he successfully conveys the longing of the central characters for peace and love and visually the film is quite stunning, with authentic Dresden locations and imagery which reflects Caspar David Friedrich’s mystical landscapes. The work is, of course, an archetypically Romantic piece with a strong taste of the Gothic; the spirit of “Monk” Lewis is never far away. In the light of this, I was quite surprised to find the gruesome Wolf’s Glen scene something of a damp squib.It cannot be denied, however, that Neubert is wholly successful in his desire to recreate this archetypal Romantic opera for the screen, integrating music, image and sound to splendid effect. The sound recording was made at the Abbey Road, but it is very much a film soundtrack rather than a conventional opera recording.As the film’s title implies, its real protagonist is the aristocratic Agathe rather than the hunter Max and she is given a wonderful performance by the soprano Juliane Banse. The central characters are supposed to be aged between 20 and 25, but only the Ännchen of a lovely newcomer Regula Mühlemann really passes muster. Banse is, however, a beautiful woman and her singing is as gorgeous as her acting is convincing. The tenor Michael König is also in fine voice and he is a suitably anguished leading man, even though nobody would pretend that he is a conventional romantic lead, having the look of a rather bedraggled Russell Crowe who has gone to seed. Much more effective is that excellent singer Michael Volle as Kaspar, although I would prefer a darker, more bass voice than he commands. René Pape makes a predictably sonorous Hermit (here some sort of cult leader), while Franz Grundheber belays his advancing years as a resonantly sung and convincingly acted Prince Ottokar. Even the tiny part of Kilian is allocated to the distinguished baritone Olaf Bär. Musically, therefore, things are in very safe hands; the London Symphony Orchestra play magnificently under Daniel Harding, while Simon Halsey does an equally splendid job with Rundfunkchor Berlin. The surround-sound is, as I say, spectacular.Jens Neubert’s commentary is not particularly revelatory and while I would not suggest that there is anything especially groundbreaking about this film (the director’s claims notwithstanding), it would be foolish to pretend that this is anything but wholly successful from a dramatic, musical, cinematographic and sound point of view. It will not, I suspect, convert a lot of people to opera, but opera lovers will find much to enjoy.