Reply With QuoteTo view Gilda as a "victim" would diminish the selflessness of her actions in the last act.Originally Posted by Povero Buoso
Gilda is a victim of every single other character in Rigoletto. Rigoletto as an Opera is basically the destruction of an innocent girl who's only problem is her naivety and having a really bad dad. Rigoletto as an opera wins for having every single other character but Gilda being a bit evil. She is quite probably the only good character in the whole thing (good as in morally) it says something that an assassin is possibly the second most moral character in the opera.
"Non sono in vena" Rodolfo summing up P.B's feelings on his dissertation.
To view Gilda as a "victim" would diminish the selflessness of her actions in the last act.
Yup but she woz dun up like a kipper
Not necessarily. It's only because she has been misled and victimized by those around her that she ends up sacrificing herself for someone so utterly worthless. Her final act may be courageous and selfless, but it's also a sad waste.
Last edited by Amfortas; December 7th, 2015 at 02:13 AM.
I don't see much indication Mime acted from anything other than self-serving, manipulative motives, or that being treated differently was likely to soften his heart.
Well, we wouldn't want that, would we? A Ring without Götterdämmerung? So, we opera lovers owe it to Siegfried therefore we should appreciate more the poor fellow. I mean, he even gets killed in Götterdämmerung, for our enjoyment! Signed, Alma, President of the AFTS (Association for the Fair Treatment of Siegfried)
"J'ai dit qu'il ne suffisait pas d'entendre la musique, mais qu'il fallait encore la voir" (Stravinsky)
Peter Seiffert a bit past his best (Tannhäuser is a killer of a role, isn't it); lots of writhing and dancing, rather amusing in the beginning in the circular tunnel where you could see the dancers hanging on to the singers to make sure the latter didn't fall over, honestly, directors!). For me this was all about the secondary roles, René Pape and Peter Mattei in glorious voice. I would like to bang on about Peter Mattei for several hours but I suggest you just listen to this instead.
Natalie
I really need to watch some Wagner. If it's all as good as this and the first half hour of Das Rheingold.
"Non sono in vena" Rodolfo summing up P.B's feelings on his dissertation.
This is possibly one of the most beautiful arias in his entire oeuvre (although a lot of the later stuff can't be neatly divided into arias anyway).
Natalie
Tannhäuser was the first recording of a Wagner opera that I owned. I know many of my friends here aren't fond of it, but it is full of wonderful, ecstatic music. Since it is very early Wagner, the opera is constructed in the more familiar Italian style with arias and choruses - there is plenty of familiar dialogue, of course, but the early operas are more accessible and good places to start.
I still count Lohengrin and Tannäuser among my favorite Wagner operas, even if having to concede that they ultimately stand in the shadow of his greater achievements that followed.
If you don't already know it, here is the Pilgrims' Chorus from Tannhäuser - I've chosen a clip from Bayreuth to give you a sense of the drama (um, you might want to turn up the volume on this):
I would say it gets significantly better--less conventionally melodic than Tannhäuser, but more rapturously symphonic than Rheingold.
Sorry, I'm confused. What are we talking about?
Making sweet, sweet love.
But I have a headache ...
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks