Product Overview
Il Postino DVD 2010 The Postman / Directed by Brian Lage, Ron Daniels / Opera in three Acts / Placido Domingo, Charles Castronovo / La Opera - Theater an der Wien / Libretto by Daniel Catán
UPC 88691919709
REGION 0 NTSC DVD
MADE IN EU
Total Runtime: 144 minutes
English Summary:
Il Postino is an opera in three acts by Daniel Catán with a Spanish libretto by the composer. Based on the novel Ardiente paciencia by Antonio Skármeta and the film Il Postino by Michael Radford, the work contains elements of drama and comedy, integrating themes of love and friendship along with political and spiritual conflict. The opera premiered at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion by Los Angeles Opera on 23 September 2010.[2]
Set on a small Italian island, exiled Chilean poet Pablo Neruda receives so much fan mail that a personal postman, Mario Ruoppolo, is hired to deliver his letters. Mario, smitten by Beatrice Russo, turns to Pablo for help writing poetry that would help him win the heart of the woman he longs for. Soon after, Mario and the barmaid fall in love and wed. In the third act, influenced by Pablo's works, Mario begins writing political poems and while reciting at a communist demonstration, violence breaks out and he receives a gunshot wound, killing him.[3]
Il Postino was commissioned by Los Angeles Opera who co-produced the premiere production with the Theater an der Wien in Vienna and Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.[4] Daniel Catán wrote the role of Pablo Neruda for Plácido Domingo, who sang it at the Los Angeles premiere and in subsequent performances in Vienna and Paris.
- Baritone Vocals [Giorgio] – Vladimir Chernov
- Chorus – Los Angeles Opera Chorus
- Conductor – Grant Gershon
- Directed By [Stage Production] – Ron Daniels (4)
- Film Director – Brian Large
- Mezzo-soprano Vocals [Donna Rosa] – Nancy Fabiola Herrera
- Music By, Libretto By – Daniel Catán
- Orchestra – Los Angeles Opera Orchestra
- Soprano Vocals [Beatrice Russo] – Amanda Squitieri
- Soprano Vocals [Matilde Neruda] – Cristina Gallardo-Domâs
- Tenor Vocals [Mario Ruoppolo] – Charles Castronovo
- Tenor Vocals [Pablo Neruda] – Placido Domingo
Daniel Catán (April 3, 1949 – April 9, 2011) was a Mexican composer, writer and professor known particularly for his operas and his contribution of the Spanish language to the international repertory.
With a compositional style described as lush, romantic and lyrical, Catán’s second opera, Rappaccini’s Daughter, became the first Mexican opera in the United States to be produced by a professional opera company. Upon receiving international recognition, Catán’s next opera, Florencia en el Amazonas, became the first opera in Spanish to be commissioned by an opera company in the United States.Shortly after, Catán received a Plácido Domingo Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship Award for his contributions to music. In 2004, Catán’s opera Salsipuedes: a Tale of Love, War and Anchovies was premiered by the Houston Grand Opera. In September 2010, his opera Il Postino was premiered by the Los Angeles Opera with Plácido Domingo singing as Pablo Neruda, a role written specifically for him. Catán died while working on his next opera, Meet John Doe.
