In the end, all the audience really asks from an opera is a good story with great music and great singing. You get all three in this perfomance of Janacek's classic late 19th century opera. The highlights are Janacek's deeply moving score and standout performances from Roberta Alexander as Jenufa and Anja Silja as Kostelnicka. Best of all, at only $30 it's a great bargain as well. One of the very best DVD's in my collection and one that will be played over and over again. For extra reading you may want to surf over to this 1998 Roberta Alexander interview and her brief remarks about Jenufa.
In his day Franz Schreker was not an obscure composer, although his compositions have fallen decidedly out of favor since then. From what I hear there is a small movement afoot in Europe to revive some of his operas and expose them to new audiences. If this performance is any indication then all I can say is maybe he is one composer best left in obscurity. No, wait, I don't mean that exactly, it's just that after watching this DVD it's hard to know just what to think.I think that there should be rating for operatic DVD's myself. Not for the operas themselves or even for the performances, but for the stage direction. Under my rating system there would be 4 designations:
"S" would be for standard, straightforward productions with period costumes and elaborate sets. The sort of thing that the Met seems to specialize in.
"M" would be for (Modern) Minimalist. Productions with nothing but a box and a chair on the stage and lots of geometric things all over the place would get the "M". Not necessarily a bad thing or a good thing. Just minimalist.
"D" would be for (Modern) Different. This would be for productions that try to add new and interesting twists to old material. Setting Romeo and Juliet in mid-twentieth century New York City, for example, with the Montagues and Capulets replaced by rival gangs. "D", if done right, would generally add some entertainment value for the audience.
and finally,
"B" would for (Modern) Bizarre. "B" would be reserved for productions that are so bizarre and strange that no one, including the singers, musicians or the audience, can figure out just what the hell is going on. Die Gezeichneten would be considered the paradigm of the "B" opera.
Which is all my way of saying that this opera made no sense. At least the way it was staged made no sense. Ok, the hero (if you can call a sexual sadist a hero) is supposed to be some kind of deformed hunchback. So naturally, you would assume he would appear with some kind of lump on his back, a la Rigoletto for instance. Instead, the director has him come out on stage dressed as a transvestite.
Huh?
It's almost unintentionally funny to see the other singers referring to this guy's nonexistent deformities and not a one of them noticing that he happens to be wearing a dress! Later in the opera when the Podesta's daughter (our heroine?) sets out to make a portrait of our hero, instead of getting out her paints she starts taking his dress off.
Huh?
I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was supposed to be going on in that scene. Sure, I know it was supposed to be a seduction scene, but it was such an awkward marriage of actions to words that instead of passion all I could muster was a loud guffaw or two. And the whole opera just continues on and on like this. I know the European audiences like their symbolism, but there comes a point where it just interferes and makes a mess of the whole thing. An interesting exercise for anyone interested in Franz Schreker, but not worth the 30 bucks.
Giulio Cesare (Glyndebourne 2005)
Ah Handel. All you baroque purists out there, all you stuffy opera loving bores are not going to like this production. What's this? Dance numbers? Comedy? In a weighty, important opera like Giulio Cesare? Good God, man, Handel would roll over in his grave.There's a documentary included with this DVD called "Entertainment is not a dirty word" and I think that sums up this production pretty nicely. Sure, this is a time-honored classic, a baroque masterpiece and respect must be given and attention must be paid. At the same time, it's also rather long and there's really nothing wrong with adding a little entertainment to the package. After all, that's what opera is supposed to be, isn't it? Entertaining.
The star of this particular show has to be newcomer Danielle De Niese as the young Cleopatra. I read some of the feedback at Amazon.com and I couldn't believe that no one commented on the show-stopping performance she gives, not only as a singer but as a dancer and comedienne as well. She's simply the freshest breath of air I've seen in an opera in a long time, and it doesn't hurt that she's also quite a looker as well. After all, Cleopatra is supposed to be the most beautiful girl in the world and there's nothing wrong with casting someone who looks the part.
But there's a lot more going on here that just looks. The dancing, in particular, is fantastic. I think the Amazon reviewer called it Bollywood and that describes it perfectly, although I'd call it Baroque meets Bollywood instead. The production is serious when it needs to be serious, and fun when a little fun wouldn't hurt. At $50 this DVD isn't a bargain, that's for sure, but it's so entertaining that I'm sure you won't mind spending the money. Buy it. Highly recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment