La Diva en Vivo

In late 2007, Fonovisa released two versions of Jenni Rivera's live album, La Diva en Vivo: a 47-minute audio CD version, and the DVD version reviewed here. Both the CD and the DVD focus on Rivera's August 5, 2006 appearance at the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City, CA (one of Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley suburbs), and most of the songs that are heard on one are heard on the other. However, two of songs that are on the CD, "Libro Abierto" ("Open Book") and "Navidad Sin Ti" ("Christmas Without You"), are missing from the concert portion of this DVD, which is disappointing but not a deal breaker — especially in light of the fact that the DVD contains some extras that the CD lacks, including an interview section that was filmed at the Gibson before the show, and an autobiographical section in which Rivera discusses, en español, various events in her life (among them: her career in music, her Southern California upbringing, and a troubled marriage). One advantage of the DVD, of course, is the opportunity to see Rivera's Gibson Amphitheater performance in addition to hearing it — and because La Diva en Vivo contains both mariachi and banda, it is a pleasure to watch Rivera interacting with banda's huge wall of brass on some songs and mariachi's horns and strings on others. The mariachi band wears the traditional mariachi attire (including large sombreros), and visually, that is perfect for Rivera when she performs "Paloma Negra," "Brincos Dieras," and a medley of the ranchera standards "Por un Amor" and "Cucurrucucu Paloma." Some hardcore Rivera fans who have acquired the CD version of La Diva en Vivo will no doubt be disappointed by the fact that "Libro Abierto" and "Navidad Sin Ti" are absent from the DVD version, but all things considered, this DVD is a pleasing audio-visual document of Rivera's Gibson Amphitheater show.