Met “Tosca” Booed: Luc Bondy vs. Franco Zeffirelli

Pre-emptively trashing the Tosca production that was replacing his wasn’t exactly sporting of “F-Zeff,” but his thesis matches one that John has advanced in this pages: Puccini’s original settings are too much fun to sacrifice on the altar of Regietheater. That’s why Puccini seems rarely subjected to directorial intrusion, and perhaps why messing with Tosca at the expense of the Zeffirelli production seems a particular affront to some members of the audience.  Add the fact that this opening was the season’s Gala (with an audience self-selected for perhaps a greater conservative tendency) and we have ourselves a big, fat “Boooooo…”

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I'll Offer Him a Setting He Can't Refuse: Puccini and Regietheatre

Puccini is relatively immune to the phenomenon of Regietheatre because his scene settings are irresistable. Roman dawns, Seine twilights, and miner’s cabins in the mountains (complete with sterotypical indians) are good enough for anybody, it appears.

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Elitism and the Marketplace in Opera

One of the ironies implicit in the Mac Donald essay, discussed in this forum yesterday, is that traditional and respectful performances of the standard repertory may soon be presented by, and enjoyed by, a sort of elite; an elite distinguished by sane cultural values as opposed to a common denominator of hubristic trash which will come to “abduct” operatic culture. Well, this is unlikely, except just possibly in Germany, but it could happen, I guess. It seems like it is happening, actually, by some barometers. Mac Donald doesn’t address the underlying cause of why opera administrators, and in some cases the public as well, are duped by the excesses of Eurotrash. I can suggest at least one reason; the narrowing of the repertory. I know “opera lovers” who only like a half dozen or so operas, and aren’t even interested in anything else.

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Regietheatre: It's a Fad

Updated on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 12:00 by Bonnie Gibbons

I recently recommended the Heather Mac Donald article, “The Abduction of Opera” which appeared in City Journal. I continue to recommend this unusually astute evaluation of some of the directorial excesses afflicting the operatic world today, but would like to comment more specifically, and include a few reservations.

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What Would He Say Now?

Like street drugs and cheap handguns, operatic directorial license is designed to be abused. From a director’s standpoint, if you do something reasonable, audiences and musicians will leave the opera house thinking about Mozart or Wagner. If you do something insane, audiences and musicians will leave the theatre thinking about you. It’s a no-brainer. But it doesn’t impair or kill the listener. It’s only a narcissistic exercise in inane infantilism. Epater le Bourgeoisie! I have my doubts about the future of literalistic stagings, however.

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Reviews of Katharina Wagner's "Meistersinger" at Bayreuth

Since John has brought up the latest directorial excesses from Bayreuth I thought I’d provide some links for those who want to read more. See John’s take on the situation, and his list of operas that shouldn’t be messed with. You will see that Die Meistersinger is certainly one of them.

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This is Insane

Updated on Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 05:54 by John Gibbons

According to the NY Times for Tuesday, July 31, Katharina Wagner’s new production of Die Meistersinger for the Bayreuth Festival featured topless dancers, complete male nudity, plastic phalluses, and “a bizzare auto da-fe” In the third act. My wife related to me a production (this one?) that had Hans Sachs made up as Hitler. One doesn’t have to have seen the particular production to comment. We’ve all seen eurotrash productions. For years I’ve vacillated back and forth about the validity of such productions. I’ve been reluctant to condemn this sort of thing outright out of cowardice (just like many, many critics), a reluctance to appear to be a close-minded reactionary. But enough is enough. Some operas may potentially benefit from deconstructionst treatment, and some you should leave strictly alone. Here’s a partial list.

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