What opera have you been watching lately?

[JohnGerald]

May Mercury, the courier of the gods, speed this vulgar opera, with its bikini clad heroine and skimply clad choristers to my humble abode.

(No "cough cough" here [I wonder if Alama means the "turn your head and ...variety] Now THAT'S a scary thought!).

From the reviews of the performance, the audience loved it. While I prefer traditional staging, there are some modern settings that work very well. From the clips I've seen, I suspect Rossini, a man of the theatre if there ever was one, would like it.

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

May Mercury, the courier of the gods, speed this vulgar opera, with its bikini clad heroine and skimply clad choristers to my humble abode.

(No "cough cough" here [I wonder if Alama means the "turn your head and ...variety] Now THAT'S a scary thought!).

From the reviews of the performance, the audience loved it. While I prefer traditional staging, there are some modern settings that work very well. From the clips I've seen, I suspect Rossini, a man of the theatre if there ever was one, would like it.

I'm not saying that vulgar is a bad thing in this kind of staging. I was just stating a fact. It does look vulgar. Now, vulgar can be funny in an over-the-top way, but it can also be annoying if it is done in bad taste. It depends. Since I haven't seen the full production, I can't say.

About traditional versus modern stagings, we had some incredible discussions about it. There is a pretty good thread about it somewhere, on Regietheater (I don't know where to find it now but the Search function should help, if you are curious), and one of our interviews - the one with stage director Thaddeus Strassberger - also addresses it extensively (clicky).

Personally, I don't like the two extremes: ultra-traditional stuffy productions with static blocking and heavy sets, or ultra-Regie productions that cross the boundaries of good taste or alter too much the fabric of the opera, going against the music. Everything in between I love, including the very modern productions that know better and stop short of the extremes I'm mentioning, or the very traditional ones that are beautiful and still creative.

Certainly this L'Italiana doesn't seem to cross the extreme line I was mentioning (although I wouldn't call the simulated humping of a bent-over woman, tasteful, but it isn't in itself a problem in this kind of over-the-top approach). Some productions, however, do cross the line, and the sad thing is that in an attempt to shock the audience, they become predictable in their own way (the obligatory 5 gallons of blood and rotten dead animals, the 10 feet-tall masturbating bunnies, the ever-present anachronistic machine guns, the Nazi symbolism, the required naked old woman, etc., etc., became such staples of extreme Regietheater done for no other reason than shock value - with no relationship whatsoever to the music or the libretto, that they turned into something that is frankly ridiculous). Short of that, I want and love modern productions, and furthermore, I love (with a passion) contemporary opera.

But like I said, it depends.

[Amfortas]

10-feet tall masturbating bunnies *always* work.

[JohnGerald]

Thanks for the directions to the thread on staging; I'll take a peek at it.

Like you, though, I'll wait until I see the production before judging it. It should be obvious that my whacky sense of humor gets out of control now and then.

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10-feet tall masturbating bunnies *always* work.

I didn't think Bunnies' paws allowed them to do that. The things one learns online!

[MAuer]

Thanks for the directions to the thread on staging; I'll take a peek at it.

Like you, though, I'll wait until I see the production before judging it. It should be obvious that my whacky sense of humor gets out of control now and then.

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I didn't think Bunnies' paws allowed them to do that. The things one learns online!

From the Wolf's Glen scene in Der Freischütz -- which might have been pretty spooky without that bit of silliness.

[JohnGerald]

Ouch!

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

From the Wolf's Glen scene in Der Freischütz -- which might have been pretty spooky without that bit of silliness.

Yep, this is one of them with masturbating bunnies I was thinking of (although this staging is not so bad, actually) but there are others. Some bunnies are taller.

[Nekrotzar]

[Soave_Fanciulla]

COAG, listen to this as well. You will never hear another note quite like Kaufmann's first "Gott" in "Gott Welch Dunkel" on this recording.

[JohnGerald]

I hate to sound plebian, but tonight it was La Boheme on a DVD with Aquiles Machado and Inva Mula. Superb from all perspectives, and, yes, I still get misty when Mimi dies.

[Nekrotzar]

So cool. COAG, listen to this as well. You will never hear another note quite like Kaufmann's first "Gott" in "Gott Welch Dunkel" on this recording.

Aha, I've heard that one when I became curious about Fidelio last week. I listened to all of it twice through and today felt compelled to watch it! Excited to see this version on YouTube. I only got through the first 35 minutes or so in my lunch break but I'll try to watch the rest tonight. If not, I'll put that recording on again.

[MAuer]

Gawd, yes!!! My absolute favorite version of this opera -- love Kaufmann and Nylund in the two leads.

[Nekrotzar]

Gawd, yes!!! My absolute favorite version of this opera -- love Kaufmann and Nylund in the two leads.

It's awesome I was really quite surprised by how politically relevant this is today....

[Nekrotzar]

Idomeneo

Just watched the first two acts, will finish later.

[MAuer]

Getting acquainted with this opera. However, I'll eventually need to acquire a recording of the revised version in which the prologue is sung. This is the original, with actors performing Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme in the prologue.