OUTHERE Orchestra E Coro Dell Arena Di Verona - Bizet: Carmen (DVD)

Carmen (Vega) is a gypsy who seduces a soldier, despite being married to someone else. She then drops both for a bullfighter she is in love with.

Dr Barnes Wallis struggles to convince the Air Ministry of the merits of a bouncing bomb attack on the dams of the industrial Ruhr, but a Lancaster squadron under Wing Commander Guy Gibson is eventually entrusted with the mission.

Pure post-war spectacle, The Dam Busters isn’t concerned with the after effects, only the national pride that led to a British victory.

If all you care about is the music, if all you need out of your Carmen is a careful recreation of Bizet's brilliant and lively score, this take on the material will more than meet your needs. While director Bieito would like you to focus on his own reimagining of the considered classic, all you really need are the arresting arias. This earns this otherwise ordinary Blu-ray presentation a Recommended rating. The lack of top notch tech specs and the uneven casting cost it further consideration. In the end, it's about time all us arrested adolescents stop singing about "neither a borrower nor a lender be" and recognize the majesty that is this arch musical. For all its ties to an aging artform, Carmen remains contemporary and vital, no matter the modifications.

Whether you're a demanding opera aficionado who expects nothing less than the finest, most sensitive treatment of music, libretto, and voice, even from a filmed opera, or a die-hard cinephile who demands "movie-ness" always, even from an opera film, Francesco Rosi's splendiferous cinematic rendition of Bizet's Carmen will ravish your eyes and ears. It stands easily with Rosi's better-known achievements, as well as with any great movie musical you might care to compare it to. It is actually surprising that a movie this good adapted from an opera this famous and well-liked has been stuck in the vaults for so long, but that error of omission has now been corrected. This wonderful accomplishment is finally available for us to get acquainted with, enjoy, and celebrate as it deserves. Highly Recommended.