CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Bellini - Norma / Patane, Caballe, Vickers, Veasey, Theatre Antique d'Orange

starring: Montserrat Caballé, Jon Vickers, Joséphine Veasey, Agostino Ferrin, Marisa Zotti
directed by: Pierre Jourdan

Release Date March 11, 2003
The performances by Caballe and Vickers were excellent, but the visual quality of the video is inferior, blurred with mushy color. The original was too old to reproduce satisfactorily, I assume.

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

Bizet - Carmen

starring: Grace Bumbry, Jon Vickers, Justino Díaz, Mirella Freni, Olivera Miljakovic
directed by: Herbert von Karajan

Release Date June 14, 2005
I have heard Carmen sung by many mezzos (and sopranos), but I've never heard it sung as well as Grace Bumbry did in this movie. The singing is as close to flawless as I've ever heard. Bumbry surely must have thinned down for this part because her waistline is wasplike. She looks fabulous and struts about in several wonderful outfits.
Jon Vickers is not one of my favorite singers, but he looked and acted the part well and, amazingly, sang it well too. He sang the Flower Song almost entirely mezza voce, with a gorgeous pianissimo ending.
Justino Diaz was the youngest Escamillo I've ever seen, very realistic, and he did a fine job.
Mirella Frena was a beautiful Micaela, and how beautifully she sang!
Except ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Saint-Saens - Samson et Dalila / Jon Vickers, Shirley Verrett, John Tomlinson, Maldwyn Davies, Matthew Best, Colin Davis, Covent Garden Opera

starring: Jon Vickers, Matthew Best, Maldwyn Davies, John Dobson, Shirley Verrett
directed by: Jonathan Summers

Release Date December 20, 2005
I've never thought that I could witness such a powerful and commanding performance till the day I've watched this dvd. I must admit that I've ordered this dvd for Verrett because I wasn't expecting Vickers to sound as powerful as in his thrilling 1963 samson recording with rita gorr on emi. but I was so wrong!
He's singing here with a terrifying power and in a complete trance that makes you think that he's truly a semi-god like samson. Even Madame Verrett who in san francisco production had dominated the stage in every scene she was in, is a bit shadowed by Vickers' divine aura. And I didn't like her short hair either. She was much more vibrant, agresive, glamorous in san francisco and so was the production. the rest of the covent garden cast isn't ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

The Erotic Adventures of the Three Musketeers

starring: Chi Chi La Rue, Deidre Holland, Jon Dough, Steve Drake, Nina Hartley
directed by: Paul Norman

Release Date January 30, 2007
Sometimes I feel watching a sort of humoristic mimicry on soft porno movie with some reference to Duma novel.

Funny, some porno stars (Jeremy, for instance) involved non-sufficiently are.

Provides not much info on a classic book but passing time in absence of something more hard-depicting.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Britten - Peter Grimes / Davis, Vickers, Harper, Bailey, Royal Opera Covent Garden

starring: Jon Vickers, Colin Davis

Release Date November 18, 2003
There is much that is engaging in the production, staging and singing are consistanly on a high level. Davis is a marvelous conductor and his singers seem to embody the characters they portray. But having known this opera rather well for nearly 40 years, I find myself less and less convinced that it is a great work. It is certainly an effective dramatic vehicle and contains some of Britten's most striking music. Unfortunately, most of that is in the orchestral interludes. The vocal music, solos and ensembles suffer from a lack of direction except when Britten uses a short repeated phrase. The libretto itself contains much very awkward writing and Britten seems to choose the most awkward way of setting it. Many of the lines are directionless, shapeless ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Verdi: Otello

starring: Jon Vickers, Mirella Freni, Peter Glossop, Stefania Malagu, Aldo Bottion
directed by: Herbert von Karajan

Release Date June 14, 2005
This film version of Verdi's Othello -- directed and conducted by Herbert Von Karajan, a man of many talents -- is excellent in many respects, and more than adequate in most. The occasional variation in decibel level is perhaps the only flaw. Buckets of water (intended to serve as the spray of breakers) aside, the 'special affects' are pretty good. The film is nicely filmed; there were times I was convinced they'd found some Maltese castle, but apparently it was done in a Berlin studio. The camera moves subtly and slowly, with none of the frenetic movement (let alone car chases, etc.) that would probably characterize a film version today.

Desdemona would ideally be played by a younger woman than Mirella Freni, but her voice is fine, and her acting ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Jon Vickers: Four Operatic Portraits (Samson, Otello, Fidelio, Peter Grimes)

starring: Jon Vickers, Irene Lensky, Die Walkure, Richard Wagner

Release Date October 01, 2002
Amazon,

I am happy to be the first to review this DVD for you. This is amazon review #2 from me. I am probably a bit young to offer proper analysis for this great singers work, but here goes.

Let me just say that Jon Vickers is my Favorite Singer out of a long list of great singers, including Fischer-Dieskau and Domingo. I have been inspired by his work for the last six years since I was first introduced to this leagendary voice on one of his recordings of Don Jose in Carmen.

This video performance made in his fourth, and last, decade of public performance finds Vickers in, still, fine vocal condition. Yes, the high chest register, so profoundly present in the two previous decades is not what it once was( yet the lovely pianissimo head ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Wagner - Tristan und Isolde / Bohm, Nilsson, Vickers

starring: Jon Vickers, Ruth Hesse, Birgit Nilsson (II), Walter Berry, Bengt Rundgren
directed by: Pierre Jourdan

Release Date May 14, 2002
Your company ought to be ashamed of itself!

Your DVD selections are, to put it mildly, mostly atrocious.
I have now viewed and listened to many operas - from many different companies- on my state-of-the-art home theater equipment. By far, your DVDs are outrageously POOR!!!!!!

Not only are your cover materials lacking in useful technical information, but also your lack of descriptive written material is unbelievable- again in contrast to most other DVD media companies.

Most significantly, the picture and sound quality of your DVDs are usually atrocious; for example: check out your Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde with Birgit Nilsson and John Vickers conducted by Karl Bohm filmed live at the Theatre Antique d'Orange, France in ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

Opera Hits / Domingo, Carreras, Vickers, Ewing

starring: Giacomo Aragall, Janet Baker, José Carreras, Ileana Cotrubas, Ghena Dimitrova

Release Date September 28, 2004
On the cover picture there is a small portrait of Raina Kabaivanska as Butterfly. Strangely why she is not even mentioned among the singers.Her performance is one of the greatest moments on this DVD.You could not imagine more beautiful Butterlfy than Kabaivanska. Fan Site: www.rainafan.tk

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

The Art of Karl Bohm

starring: Karl Bohm, Jon Vickers

Release Date April 08, 2003
This DVD is made up of a rehearsal/performance of Beethoven's 7th symphony, and a concert of Mozart, Beethoven and Wagner with Jon Vickers.

For the most part, the technical quality of this DVD leaves a bit to be desired. These performances are rather murkily filmed and recorded and the music-making is solid but not particularly revelatory.

What *is* special about this DVD is the rehearsal sequence of the opening of the first movement of Beethoven's 7th with Bohm and the CBC Festival Orchestra. Bohm was reportedly not a beloved figure amongst many musicians, and you can see why here with his strict and irritable manner towards the orchestra. That said, it is an absorbing look into his rehearsal technique and his priority with precision of note values, ... Read More: