Quick summary for the lazy reader:

Astonishingly effective, especially for those who are accustomed to
Schickele's unique brand of humor, and even for others.  The performers
are exceptional, and the staging wonderful, bearing in mind the low-
budget style of the piece.

(P.D.Q.  Bach is a hitherto-unknown 21st son of the great Johann Sebastian,
discovered by Peter Schickele, a composer and multi-purpose musician
who began his musical adventures in the late 1960s.  To this day the
authenticity of Schickele's claims are doubted by many, but the music
of PDQ Bach remains enchanting.)

The opera, in 3 acts, has a preposterous and entertaining plot which I
simply cannot bring myselt to disclose.  However, this much I can reveal:
Figaro, Susanna, Don Giovanni, Donna Elvira, and other well-known friends
are present, albeit in slightly modified form.  Almaviva and the Countess
are on vacation.  It is some 30 years after the Marriage of Figaro.

Some highlights are: the appearance of Captain Kadd, a pirate, who
manages to kidnap the plot in a very pleasant way; a ballet sequence
in the second act which I thoroughly enjoyed; and wonderful writing for
voices, including duets, trios, quartets and even a sextet, as well as
a do-wop aria, which brought me to tears.  Susanna, in particular, is
a hysterically funny lady!  Last but not least, there is a wonderful
countertenor --a veteran of many PDQ Bach albums-- singing the role of
Opec, a slave of the Pasha, who has a delightfully sensuous and slyly
mischievous aria that will put goosebumps on various parts of your anatomy
(well, skin, mostly).

I must also confess that I was thoroughly infatuated with Donna Elvira
(Donna Donna, actually), a character so convincingly crafted that one
has to wonder about the people out with whom Schickele must hang.

The DVD was $36 on Amazon.com, on the steep side for DVDs, but well
worth the price.  The music is wonderful, and has none of the weaknesses
I associate with some of PDQ Bach's opera.  (I find myself humming this
insignificant little aria that the doctor sings: "I really must be going,
I have done all I can do." The power of it is practically Wagnerian.)
All the usual wrong-note gags are mercifully confined to the overture.

There is an embarrassing moment at the end when the deaf-mute Schleparello
insists on singing an aria, which mars an otherwise hilariously funny
work.

Warning: a lot of the humor is hidden in the music, so it will tend to
drag somewhat for those unfamiliar with the lyric opera repertoire, and
the beloved cliches there- of.  (Without cliches, PDQ Bach is nothing.)

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