|
Home
/ FAQ
/ News Classifieds / Events |
Audio Asylum Thread Printer |
Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
174.22.4.52
In Reply to: RE: The non-Eurotrashed Aida posted by Amphissa on October 18, 2009 at 08:23:06
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)
Post a Followup:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2009, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ Go Green ]
[ Take5 ]