No, not a reference to Sir John in Love but...

I have taken of late to renting opera DVDs.  It's good to see as well as hear, for those of us who don't have the opportunity to see much live opera.  That, after all, is what's intended.

However I do find myself distracted when the the supposedly beautiful heroine or femme fatale is clearly matronly and rather plain, or the dashing, young knight evidently approaching, if not well into, middle age.  In sum, I think perhaps the productions in my head are better (at any rate the heroines, heroes et al. there are always just right), and maybe I'm better off with just the CDs or the radio.  Shallow or what?

Furthermore, are modern productions making greater efforts to match the physical characteristics of singers to those of the characters, and, if so, is there an impact on musical standards?  Maybe Reiner has a view.

As if 

It´s a fair point, Jim.  I think it´s in Hoffnung´s MUSICAL CHAIRS in which there´s a picture titled "Television will establish a new intimacy between performer and listener", accompanied by a drawing of a tubby gent at home tickling the on-screen conductor under his armpits    Of course, the whole medium of opera (and theatre as a whole) - especially in its "commercial" C19th form when box-office receipts had to pay all the bills without a sponsor or patron helping-out - depended on mass audiences,  and thus on huge theatres.  The idea of being able to count the prima-donna´s eye-lashes in close-up, or check on the manicure of the tenor, is completely new.  Acting for the small screen is a completely different can of worms than treading the boards - I´m sure Ron will expand on this, since he´s done both?

I went through a long period of never buying ANY opera dvds - partly because the screen transfers were often poorly done, partly because I prefer the live medium and the "record-collector fetish" for "benchmark" performances, but also - ehem - because they used to be outrageously expensive.  I´ve come full circle as the price has dropped,  and my feeling is that if I can see an interestingly-looking production from somewhere else in the world I´d never get to in person - and only pay 10-15 quid - then it´s worthwhile.  I´d shrink from some of the 30-40-pound box sets, however, simply because it´s very, very unlikely I would ever watch anything much more than once.

As you say, you´d have to be quite convinced before lashing-out for a pricey opera dvd.  I recently bought the Boulez/Chereau HOUSE OF THE DEAD, and I´m afraid I don´t like the production at all (it fails on so many levels).  However, as a musical performance it´s worthwhile, and I´ve found I´ve listened to the music alone without the screen presentation.