Thursday, April 05, 2007
Can opera as an art form survive modernity?
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
XArt forms are not forever, and new ones supplant others. In the audio-visual arts, both classical music and opera have been ailing a long time, feeling particularly threatened by the dying out of the Great Generationg and the pre-1968 crowd, music lovers who formed their tastes before rock took over as the popular appeal.
In opera, attempts have been made to fit in with the younger crowd, introducing glamour, acting and diet, to get away from large singers who just stand and deliver, no matter how wonderful their voices. Some singers took radical action to regain their popularity - Deborah Voight, who was cancelled in Europe, dropped major pounds after a radical piece of surgery, and Ben Heppner took time off to lose 100 lbs in 2002/3. Sexy and gifted stars, such as Anne Netrebko, who could kick up her heels delightedly in Don Pasquale, came in much demand.
Since the departure of Joseph Volpe and the arrival of Peter Gelb as the Metropolitan Opera’s general manager, some new productions and methods came into use.
The new Chinese opera, The First Emperor, by Dan Tun, had its world premiere in December 2006, to mixed reviews. That was despite or perhaps because of Placido Domingo’s dedicated performance, the first new role he originated in his long career. The work, praised for its theatrical values and sought by non-traditional operagoers, was just too monotonous, hard to follow and musically not challenging enough. It was commissioned by Volpe ten years ago, as part of a three opera cycle, including John Harbison’s Great Gatsby and Thomas Pickers’s American Tragedy. To oversimplify, one guesses that the new operas just do not have the melodies and the ethos that make the old warhorses worth hearing again and again.
During Mr. Gelb’s short reign some successful redesign ideas have emerged. In the new Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Rossini, Figaro the barber arrives in a cart pulled by adoring schoolgirl groupies, who bring out their notebooks for autographing, after the crowd-pleasing aria Largo al Factotum (or De Qualita - Figaro brags of his access to the grandees’ houses in Seville). Also, some of the action is carried out to an extension of the stage beyond the orchestra, which allows for more manic panic in comic scurrying.
Some interesting productions, all initiated by Wolpe, include Die Aegyptische Helena by Richard Strauss, last heard here in 1928, a fairy tale of the Helen of Troy saga, in a surrealistic setting and direction by David Fielding, by a special request from Deborah Voigt. We will forgive Strauss for this one.
There’s also the revival of Don Carlos by Verdi, based on a play by Friedrich von Schiller.There are aficionados who are absolutely crazy over this little-played Wagneresque opera, powerful in a wide range of emotions, almost verissimo in its humanity.The Infante Carlos, son of Philip II of Spain (also grandson of Charlemagne the Emperor), who ruled most of Europe with the aid of a Grand Inquisitor, was betrothed to Elizabeth, daughter of the King of France, but his father demanded the girl’s hand to seal a pact with the French. Much in love, the hurt prince was persuaded by his friend, Rodrigo to ask exile to Protestant Flanders, where the inhumane Spanish oppression had destroyed many lives. When the prince demands freedom for his Flemings, his revealed connection with the now queen puts him in jail, in risk for his life. Meanwhile friend Rodrigo, Philip’s trusted general, by outright criticism of the treatment of Flanders had won the King’s confidence, to the point of the ruler warning him against the Grand Inquisitor. But the latter demands his pound of flesh, and Rodrigo is sacrificed while the doomed Prince escapes.
This is a powerful emotional drama, nearly contemporary. It stands in stark contrast with I Puritani, an opera of the English civil war of the 1640s, by Vincenzo Bellini . Here the drama centers around the young woman of a Puritan stronghold, Elvira, daughter of lord Giorgio Walton, who has been promised to another supporter of the Parliament, but is in love with Lord Arturo Talbot, a Loyalist faithful to the Stuart monarchy. When he departs, to aid the escape of Henrietta, the widow of the beheaded King Charles, Elvira breaks down in madness and sorrow, and does not recover until Arturo returns, a peace treaty saves him, and the lovers reunite. Here the contrast of between operas becomes apparent. I Puritani is woody, the singers have little opportunity to do more than stand and deliver, and even the liveliness of Anna Netrebko, as the mad Elvira, does not sufficiently free up the action. That is the difference between opera genius of Verdi, and the more pedestrian Bellini, whose work survives due to the beauty of his arias.
Speaking of redesign, updating of the audiences is continuing. There is a young professionals’ organization, bringing the current generation to the opera, and a $20 discount ticket sale, Mo-Thurs at 6PM. The latter, though, mostly attracts the elders, who have the time for standing in lines. More anon.
XArt forms are not forever, and new ones supplant others. In the audio-visual arts, both classical music and opera have been ailing a long time, feeling particularly threatened by the dying out of the Great Generationg and the pre-1968 crowd, music lovers who formed their tastes before rock took over as the popular appeal.
In opera, attempts have been made to fit in with the younger crowd, introducing glamour, acting and diet, to get away from large singers who just stand and deliver, no matter how wonderful their voices. Some singers took radical action to regain their popularity - Deborah Voight, who was cancelled in Europe, dropped major pounds after a radical piece of surgery, and Ben Heppner took time off to lose 100 lbs in 2002/3. Sexy and gifted stars, such as Anne Netrebko, who could kick up her heels delightedly in Don Pasquale, came in much demand.
Since the departure of Joseph Volpe and the arrival of Peter Gelb as the Metropolitan Opera’s general manager, some new productions and methods came into use.
The new Chinese opera, The First Emperor, by Dan Tun, had its world premiere in December 2006, to mixed reviews. That was despite or perhaps because of Placido Domingo’s dedicated performance, the first new role he originated in his long career. The work, praised for its theatrical values and sought by non-traditional operagoers, was just too monotonous, hard to follow and musically not challenging enough. It was commissioned by Volpe ten years ago, as part of a three opera cycle, including John Harbison’s Great Gatsby and Thomas Pickers’s American Tragedy. To oversimplify, one guesses that the new operas just do not have the melodies and the ethos that make the old warhorses worth hearing again and again.
During Mr. Gelb’s short reign some successful redesign ideas have emerged. In the new Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Rossini, Figaro the barber arrives in a cart pulled by adoring schoolgirl groupies, who bring out their notebooks for autographing, after the crowd-pleasing aria Largo al Factotum (or De Qualita - Figaro brags of his access to the grandees’ houses in Seville). Also, some of the action is carried out to an extension of the stage beyond the orchestra, which allows for more manic panic in comic scurrying.
Some interesting productions, all initiated by Wolpe, include Die Aegyptische Helena by Richard Strauss, last heard here in 1928, a fairy tale of the Helen of Troy saga, in a surrealistic setting and direction by David Fielding, by a special request from Deborah Voigt. We will forgive Strauss for this one.
There’s also the revival of Don Carlos by Verdi, based on a play by Friedrich von Schiller.There are aficionados who are absolutely crazy over this little-played Wagneresque opera, powerful in a wide range of emotions, almost verissimo in its humanity.The Infante Carlos, son of Philip II of Spain (also grandson of Charlemagne the Emperor), who ruled most of Europe with the aid of a Grand Inquisitor, was betrothed to Elizabeth, daughter of the King of France, but his father demanded the girl’s hand to seal a pact with the French. Much in love, the hurt prince was persuaded by his friend, Rodrigo to ask exile to Protestant Flanders, where the inhumane Spanish oppression had destroyed many lives. When the prince demands freedom for his Flemings, his revealed connection with the now queen puts him in jail, in risk for his life. Meanwhile friend Rodrigo, Philip’s trusted general, by outright criticism of the treatment of Flanders had won the King’s confidence, to the point of the ruler warning him against the Grand Inquisitor. But the latter demands his pound of flesh, and Rodrigo is sacrificed while the doomed Prince escapes.
This is a powerful emotional drama, nearly contemporary. It stands in stark contrast with I Puritani, an opera of the English civil war of the 1640s, by Vincenzo Bellini . Here the drama centers around the young woman of a Puritan stronghold, Elvira, daughter of lord Giorgio Walton, who has been promised to another supporter of the Parliament, but is in love with Lord Arturo Talbot, a Loyalist faithful to the Stuart monarchy. When he departs, to aid the escape of Henrietta, the widow of the beheaded King Charles, Elvira breaks down in madness and sorrow, and does not recover until Arturo returns, a peace treaty saves him, and the lovers reunite. Here the contrast of between operas becomes apparent. I Puritani is woody, the singers have little opportunity to do more than stand and deliver, and even the liveliness of Anna Netrebko, as the mad Elvira, does not sufficiently free up the action. That is the difference between opera genius of Verdi, and the more pedestrian Bellini, whose work survives due to the beauty of his arias.
Speaking of redesign, updating of the audiences is continuing. There is a young professionals’ organization, bringing the current generation to the opera, and a $20 discount ticket sale, Mo-Thurs at 6PM. The latter, though, mostly attracts the elders, who have the time for standing in lines. More anon.
# posted by Wally Dobelis @ 7:43 PM 
