Stage the opera of your choice

[Schigolch]

Staging is now one of the most popular attractions in the Opera Houses.

This is something new. In the past, there have been periods where the scenography was also very important, like in the great Baroque shows, or in French Grand Opéra, but the story was invariably set in the manner described by the libretto, and with the events unaltered.

Today, and for the last few decades, "Regie theater" has changed this landscape, and the rules of the game allow for the staging to take place in different periods than the libretto, or even to develop a parallel storyline.

What will you do if you were offered the opportunity to decide on the staging of the opera of your choice?.

For instance, this is what I would do with Tannhäuser:


Japan, early 17th century


Tannhäuser, a samurai in the service of the daimyo Wartburg, is living since several months into a pleasure quarter, enjoying the favours of the incredibly beautiful and skilled tayū Venus. Tannhäuser feels split between the duties of his Christian faith, and the erotic attractions of the quarter. Finally, he asks Venus's permission and depart for Wartburg. In the road, he find other samurais, that are grouping for a poetry tournament that will take place in the castle of the daimyo, the prize being a tea bowl manufactured by Honami Kōetsu.

The daimyo's son, Elisabeth, is in love with Tannhäuser. During the tournament, while the samurai Wolfram, in agreement with the Christian doctrine embraced by his liege, declares that Love should be a pure spring, that will join husband and wife spiritually, Tannhäuser maintains that love is only a pleasure for the senses. This amounts to a challenge for the rest of samurais, that menace to impale Tannhäuser in their swords, but the intervention of Elisabeth rescues him from this danger. However, Tannhäuser must go on a pilgrimage to Nagasaki, and receive absolution in the biggest cathedral of Japan.

Elisabeth, escorted by Wolfram, that secretly is in love with her, is waiting for Tannhäuser's return. However, when Wolfram and Tannhäuser meet, we understand the rogue samurai has not being pardoned, and he is prepared to return to Venus's pleasure quarter. Just then, the sad news of Elisabeth's death reach Tannhäuser, that feels his soul overwhelmed with sorrow and remorse, and finally prepares himself to redeem his sins.



I do believe in the possibility of using a temporal and/or space displacement to underline some of the deeper meanings of an opera. However, I think that the basic events, including the original ending, of the opera must be preserved.

Of course, you can agree with my opinion, or use a totally different approach. Also, you can present a few lines (even fewer than my own) to share with us your staging, or go for a few pages, no problem.


How will you stage the opera of your choice?

[Anne of Green Gables]

I'd do something that would shock the audiences, musical environment and arouse huge controversy and confusement around the world: I would stage La Traviata in early XIXth century customes, same scenography and direct it according to historical habits and netiquette, also without obscenity and palpation.

I can't think of anything more original and anti-mainstream these days.

[Almaviva]

I'd do something that would shock the audiences, musical environment and arouse huge controversy and confusement around the world: I would stage La Traviata in early XIXth century customes, same scenography and direct it according to historical habits and netiquette, also without obscenity and palpation.

I can't think of anything more original and anti-mainstream these days.

There are some like this, such as this one, you should check it out, musical values not great, but settings, looks, couldn't be more perfect:

[Almaviva]

I'd stage Les Troyens in the Amazon forest, featuring a legendary Amazon tribe, sea monsters would be legendary river monsters, folk-like devils, the Troyens would travel up-river to found one of the major cities there, stuff like that.

[AnaMendoza]

I want to see something like Satyagraha or Anna Nicole set in the 18th century.

[Schigolch]

Yes, every year there are in average more than 400 productions of La Traviata, worldwide. Many of them, are choosing Paris in the 19th (or 18th) century as the background for the action, Violetta dies of consumption in the arms of Alfredo and Giorgio is just a traditional father.

[MAuer]

The updated stagings of Fidelio to the 20th or 21st century have become so commonplace that it's almost a cliche. I might do something a little more unusual and set it in the 16th century, which was what Bouilly originally intended and was followed by Beethoven's and Paer's librettists. (Note the avatar's costume.)

[Almaviva]

I want to see something like Satyagraha or Anna Nicole set in the 18th century.

That's an original idea, to go back in time, unlike most regies.

[Sacramento Johnson]

Greetings!
I've thought about staging several operas over the years; Parsifal, Bank Ban, Lohengrin, Tristan and Der Freischutz, come to mind.
Here's an excerpt of an email I sent to San Francisco Opera back in 2007 regarding doing "Der Freischutz"; I still think this staging would work:

"As for "Der Freischutz", I agree absolutely with you about it being difficult to stage, at least in a fashion that has some relevance to a modern audience. Contemporary audiences, especially here in the US, don't have much, if any, knowledge of Bohemia shortly after the end of the Thirty Years War, and the notion of a Wolf's Glen and selling one's soul to the devil has become less than scarey, and probably a bit passe, compared to when Weber wrote this opera. Might I suggest something to put to those who might be tasked with coming up with a production in the future? (Now if this has already been done, I do most earnestly apologize for wasting your time. I'm not aware of any such production, but my knowledge of productions is very limited, having only seen it in a very traditional perfomance on DVD from the 1960s.)
> Move it to German East Africa (at one point called Tanganyika; now Tanzania, just south of Kenya), post Boer War (1899-1901) but pre-WW1. This would allow the German flavor of the piece (and the language being sung/spoken) to fit. This would also allow the hunting aspect of the piece to be preserved; after all, a good marksman/hunter would be an important person in a prized profession (hunter or game warden or both) in that area, given the type of wildlife one might encounter and hunt for various reasons (big game/trophy, wildlife management of rogues/maneaters, daily sustenance etc.) This would make clothing and firearms fairly easy to come by as well; lots of khaki, wide brimmed hats, modern bolt action rifles with wood stocks, and double barrel shotguns (16g double barrel shotguns could easily double as double rifles for the elite hunters of the group). (Perhaps the costume designer could screen "Out of Africa" and "The Ghost and the Darkness" for clothing ideas etc.) Various african game trophy heads could adorn the interior of Agathe's house. One could also go with native african dress of indigenous peoples for some of the singers/chorus members etc. (Even the wise Hermit could be played as someone gone 'native', so to speak, who has taken up residence with a local tribe.)
> As for the Wolf's Glen, yes agreed, a tough scene to stage these days. It just doesn't have the punch and fear for an audience that has seen the Omen, Freddy Kruger, Silence of the Lambs, etc... But there is still one thing humans fear, and that is not being at the top of the food chain. Perhaps it's still somehow in our genome, but the possibility of being attacked and eaten by a lion still makes modern man nervous. Think about the Maneaters of Tsavo; that pair of maneless lions that killed and ate nearly 140 people building a railroad in that very area around 1898 till finally after months, they were hunted down. (Check out the this link the the Chicago Field Musem, that has the lions on display:
> http://www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibits/...vo/default.htm)
> (This isn't just in the past; another maneless man-eating lion appeared in Kenya in 2002 and killed 50.) Make it a man-eating lion's den, complete with human bones/remains left by them. Add in some of the unfamiliar (to a US audience) sounds of the Dark Continent to the scene, like the sounds of lions roaring, native birds and other creatures found only there. One could even make lions a motif for the devil, Samiel, and his henchmen in appearance/costume. (The local tribes people did infact believe the above mentioned man-eating lions were devils.) As for casting bullets; yes, modern ammunition (and ammunition of that era as well) is jacketed, but one still has to get the lead into the little copper jackets/tips (I read about this in a book on modern ammunition manufacturing); this is what Kaspar could be doing. As there is a time interruption of several hours from when he casts them to when we see him and Max again, it could easily be assumed he took the bullet tips home and assembled them into cartridges, as any good ammunition hand loader would do then (and even today). As for changing any spoken references of "Wolf's Glen" to "Lion's Den", that would be up to those in charge of such things. Any sung reference would have to stay, I assume, but I expect professional singers would be able to handle this incongruity without too much mental discomfort, and the audience would probably not be too put off by a subtitle listing it as "Lion's Den".
> I believe updating this opera to the above time and place, and tieing it in with the man-eating lion aspect would sufficiently resonante with a US audience today. (A hundred plus years later, people are still fascinated and spooked by those Tsavo Man-Eaters!)"