Match Point is the latest film by Woody Allen film. It stars Brian Cox, Matthew Goode, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Penelope Wilton in a tale described on the posters as one of "Passion, Temptation, and Obsession". It sounds very much like the plot to a typical opera and perhaps this is what inspired Allen to choose a number of passionate songs from a range of operas. For some of the tracks particularly the duets Allen chose more recent recordings from the Naxos label, but in most cases he has selected older recordings by the great tenor Enrico Caruso. The soundtrack booklet has the following words of explanation and caution which are worth repeating here: "The Enrico Caruso recordings date back to the beginning of the twentieth century and have undergone a restoration process designed faithfully to preserve their authenticity. On first hearing, they may surprise the twenty-first century listener, but we are convinced that he or she will quickly be won over by their incomparable magic." Perhaps the beauty and sadness in the singing will indeed surprise a few listeners and win them over to a new realm of music.
The operas of Giuseppe Verdi feature strongly with songs from "Il Trovatore", "La Traviata", "Rigoletto", "Othello" and "Macbeth". Other songs have been selected from Bizet's "The Pearlfishers", Rossini's "William Tell", "Salvatore Rosa" by Gomes and "L'elisir d'amore" by Donizetti. The soundtrack album is highly recommended, and available at these links with further information and soundclips: Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.
Trivia note: Penelope Wilton and Mark Gatiss both have parts in the film and are associated with the new series of Doctor Who.
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