French label Gaumont will release on Blu-ray acclaimed Polish director Andrzej Zulawski's (
Possession)
Boris Godounov (1989), starring Ruggero Raimondi, Kenneth Riegel, Pavel Slabý, and Galina Vishnevskaya. The release will be available for purchase on November 19th.
Synopsis: Andrzej Zulawski directs this acclaimed film adaptation of Modeste Mussorgsky's opera chronicling the tragic demise of the 16th-century Russian Tsar.
Special Features:
- Boris Godounov, the tormented conscience - New documentary produced by Dominique Maillet, and featuring interviews with Delphine Forest, Ruggero Raimondi and Andrzej Zulawski
- Original trailer
Also on November 19th the French label will release on Blu-ray Italian director Luigi Comencini's (
Bread, Love and Dreams)
La Boheme (1988), starring Barbara Hendricks, José Carreras, Luca Canonici, Massimo Girotti, and Angela Maria Blasi.
Director Luigi Comencini resists all efforts to make his filmization of the classic Puccini opera La Boheme self-consciously cinematic. As a result, his version of the opera may find itself out of favor with some film fans, but much treasured by Puccini purists. The principal roles of the tragic Mimi and headstrong aspiring artist Rodolfo are sung by Barbara Hendricks and Luca Canonici. Hendricks seems a tad too healthy for the frail Mimi, but this is a common shortcoming with singers who play this part: if one is too sickly, one can't attain those crystal-clear high notes. James Conlon conducts the National Orchestra of France on the La Boheme soundtrack. As in most other adaptations of this piece, the 1989 La Boheme draws its inspiration as much from the Henri Muger novel {-Scenes of Bohemian Life} as it does from the Puccini opera. (Synopsis courtesy of Hal Robinson).
Special Features:
- La bohème, Puccini au temps de l'insouciance/Time of Recklessness - New documentary produced by Pierre-Henri Gibert, and featuring interviews with Isabelle Partiot-Piéri, Christian Gasc, Robert Penavayre et Ruggero Raimondi