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Attended Aida at the Metropolitan Opera Saturday. Since the Met's Aida will appear in theaters in a few months, I thought I'd give you a heads up.For those unfamiliar with the opera, it is a a love triangle set in ancient Egypt during a war with Ethiopia. This would be prime playground for Eurotrash directors, and I suspect that it has been "updated" in that way many times already.
But this was far from Eurotrash. The staging was splendid -- spectacular sets, beautiful costumes, effective cast direction, and two well choreographed dance segments. It created an "idealized" Egyptian setting that was perfectly suited to Verdi's beautiful score.
The orchestra, conducted by Daniele Gatti, was in good form. Pacing was good and they managed the interruptions caused by the applauding audience quite well.
My one reservation had to do with the three main characters. They sang their parts quite well and I have no complaints in that regard. However, I have never seen a single depiction from ancient Egyptian art or historical reference to obese royalty, and figure it would be highly unlikely that the commander of the Egyptian armies would have been sporting so much blubber.
This is one of the things that has reduced my enjoyment of opera since my first exposure to it. It is just too far fetched to see Cinderella or Juliett or other characters, who are supposed to be young and beautiful, and their young heroes who are fighters or lovers, portrayed by 300 lb actors.
Opera is theater, and in this case, the Met's Aida was a great success. The sets and direction and quality of the singing assure that it is well worth seeing when it is broadcast to a theater near you. I would go see it again for the staging alone, which was magnificent (there were live horses, but no elephants). But you will have to ignore the largeness of the three primary soloists.
"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)
Edits: 10/18/09
.... where the film comes from. This is due to be release mid December but there are few advance details. I have a film of that opera on tape which was recorded in Taiwan some years ago, I think by Zeferelli, who was adament the actors should fill the roles appropriately so there is a small, delicate lady playing Butterfly. The forthcoming film has Netrebco in that starring role so I guess she will also star but mime. A documentary starring her used this technique and it was a no 1 disappontment for me with poor synch and far too much gimmeckry.
Inappropriate casting works both ways. The recent BD Handel "Giulio Cesare" had the title role sung by a very small framed lady who stetched the imagination depicting a fighting general. Lovely voice, but ....
John
Sadly (or is it happily?) an incurable audio-video nutter with an indecent number of toys. Classical music forever!!!!
you among those that would see any attempt at originality as contemptible?
I don't know how many times one needs to see ONE version of an opera (Zefirelli's, for instance) before the gorge rises but obviously you have infinitely refined digestion.
Myself, I enjoy giving the younger fellas a go, seeing what true artists can do with old material: imitation may be flattery but it is dull, dull, dull.
. . . one can see whatever production one likes, Eurotrash or not, many, many times. One can see whatever movie one likes many, many times.
Zefirelli is not the only director who tries to honor the opera's stage directions - he's kind of the lightning rod of course, but there are many others.
I enjoy giving the younger directors a go too - but I don't enjoy crass self-regarding self-indulgence which cavalierly disrespects the explicit directions of the artistic creators. I ask again, what did audiences do before the rise of Eurotrash productions - did they all have infinitely refined digestion?
There exists in the memory of many opera goers, and there exist many taped versions, of "classically" staged and directed mainline operas. Ho hum. Surely, after seeing twenty productions of Aida, one wishes for SOME artistic vision?
Invariably, it is older, stodgy fellows that complain the loudest: how many reviewers are young? Same with audiences. I see nothing wrong with staging Hamlet in modern dress in the theater nor do I see a problem with Aida as a terrorist fable, or whatever is exciting, new, and fresh.
If one wishes to see minor artists at work, one will. All that is necessary is to constrict the art world to cast-iron boundaries.
I doubt a man as inventive as Puccini would frown at a reinvention of his art. One can only breath life so many times into Frankenstein's monster before the flesh falls apart.
Hmm. . . didn't Stravinsky say that the more boundaries and discipline he has, the more freedom he has? (I don't have the exact quote, but it's something like that.)
fds
Stravinsky was an immediate celebrity and every scandalous debut at the Ballets Russes increased his notoriety and stardom. Yes, there were tumultuous debuts, which turned into filled houses night after night after night. I would not call him a "victim of hatred."
"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)
I think by the end of his life, the critics were pretty much cowed by him.
But I think we've gotten off the track. I think that following the original stage directions still allows for plenty of innovation. You don't. I guess that's where we stand.
But it is used quite extensively throughout the world to characterize the perversion of content and music into some personalized vision that has nothing to do with the original. Think Aida set in Nazi Germany or Stalin's Russia or some violent future clad in black leather, with Aida a whore rather than the daughter of a king who is a captive handmaiden.
There is plenty of opportunity for directors to be endlessly creative with more modern operas in contemporary settings. But I've seen enough Eurotrash Wagner Rings to determine that, just because someone calls himself a director and an artist does not make it so.
The notion that there is no artistic latitude in designing and directing the traditional great operas is just misguided. And the notion that, in order to be creative, one must destroy the original artistic context of a piece, is also incorrect.
Of course, if you like that sort of thing, there's plenty of it out there now. You are welcome to it. My note was for those who prefer a performance that demonstrates more fidelity to Verdi's artistic conception of the opera.
"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)
. . . I had already graduated, but I had friends who were taking his classes. In regard to your point about heroic/young/beautiful figures in the libretto whose roles are assumed by 300-pound singers, Ducloux (according to my friends) was apparently a believer in filming actors to lip-sync with pre-existing soundtracks sung by the 300-pound opera singers. In fact, one friend told me that Ducloux had visions of filming the Ring cycle in Arizona, with Hollywood actors lip-syncing the sound track. He was concerned exactly with what you mention: there's often a dramatic disconnect between what the various libretti suggest (or explicitly state) should be the qualities of the characters and the actual appearance of these characters on an operatic stage.
Of course, these kinds of opera films with lip-syncing actors have been tried, and not to universal acclaim. There was a series which took Decca-London soundtracks and then used a cast of Czech actors to lip-sync for the films. These included "Eugene Onegin" (Solti recording used as a soundtrack), "A Village Romeo and Juliet", and "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District". As I say, the acclaim for these films was far from unanimous, but they do show that others are concerned about the same problems you mention.
...you'd probably be stuck with some dull studio performance.
The essence of live opera is its... liveness. But for those more concerned with visual issues... well...
P.A.
. . . why don't you just end your sabbatical and rejoin the discussions under your old identity? I think we'll all be able to deal with it. :-)
My own feeling is that studio performances needn't be dull. In fact, I love that Eugene Onegin film which uses the Solti recording as a soundtrack. As I mentioned, not everybody loved it however.
As Amphissa mentions in another post, there needn't be a conflict between visual issues and live opera, although in many cases, the conflict is all too common.
But I would much prefer that they simply cast the parts with singers who fit the part. Just as Hollywood actors and actresses make a concerted effort to maintain their appearance, and are cast in roles appropriate to their age and looks, so it should be in opera. Just as Deborah Voigt was dismissed from the role of her role as Ariadne in Richard Strauss’ “Ariadne auf Naxos” because she had become so obese, directors should simply cast singers who are the best fit for the parts in their operas, rather than perpetuate the current practice. There are plenty of very talented singers who do not weigh 300 lbs.
This is one area in which the Eurotrash directors have made positive steps. Since they commonly require nudity on stage, even by those in key roles, they are not so inclined to hire obese singers for those roles.
If more directors and opera houses made clear their intention to cast individuals who actually fit their roles, the singers will take more care to take their appearance seriously. Deborah Voight returned several years later to play the role of Ariadne, slimmer and most successfully.
"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)
Wasn't there a film version of "Aida" with Sophia Loren slinking about as the heroine, mouthing words sung by Renata Tebaldi?
I saw parts of it. It would have gone better the other way around.
and Renata Tebaldi acting?
I don't think so.
But, it's an amusing scenario.
"If people don't want to come, nothing will stop them" - Sol Hurok
You'd sing a different tune if you sat through that 1953 production, conducted by Guiseppe Morelli. Ms. Loren (in blackface!) can't act her way out of a paper coffin and Tebaldi looked rather fetching at the time. Truly an unbearable musical and cinematic torture.
$20.99 on DVD, available everywhere!
Yeah, but we got a kick out of following her boobs with every deep "agonized" breath.
db
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