Punished by Facebook. I do have a hunch where the “many complaints” are coming from —namely, from those who are covertly working against us— but I can’t prove anything, so speculating about it seems pointless.
Facebook’s latest announcement was that our suspension would end on May 16. We’ll see.
La Clemenza di Tito. Tito’s audience chamber, or office, was correspondingly presented as a sober corporate interior with a large desk and matching furniture. Entirely superfluous, meanwhile, was the stage business during his aria ‘Del più sublime soglio’, when, in the manner of classic Regietheater, several suited men climbed through a gap in the mahogany wall, unwound strips of celluloid from film reels, and draped them over the head of the kneeling Tito as he sang. Quite what this was meant to signify remained wholly obscure; more to the point, it felt studied and inert.
The Passenger (Die Passagierin). *The Passenger* (1968; based on the book by Auschwitz survivor Zofia Posmysz) is his best-known (aria-poor) work, based on an Auschwitz experience. The opera takes place on a cruise ship, where two former “inhabitants” of the Auschwitz concentration camp meet. One is Lisa, who worked as a guard in the camp and is now traveling to Brazil with her husband, a diplomat. The other is Marta, a Polish Jewish woman, who was imprisoned in Auschwitz when Lisa was a guard there; Marta’s fiancé, Tadeusz, is with her. The opera explores the emotions of the main characters on the ship in the present and, in flashbacks, in the concentration camp.
Die Passagierin. De Passagierin (1968; gebaseerd op het boek van Auschwitz-overlevende Zofia Posmysz) is zijn bekendste (aria-arme) werk, gebaseerd op een Auschwitz-ervaring. De opera speelt zich af op een cruiseschip, waar twee voormalige “bewoners” van het concentratiekamp Auschwitz elkaar ontmoeten. De ene is Lisa, die als bewaakster in het kamp werkte en nu met haar man, een diplomaat, op weg is naar Brazilië. De andere is Marta, een Poolse Jodin, die in Auschwitz opgesloten zat toen Lisa daar bewaakster was; Marta’s verloofde, Tadeusz, is bij haar. De opera vertelt over de emoties van de hoofdpersonen op het schip in het heden en, in flashbacks, in het concentratiekamp.
Siegfried. Alexander Soddy, heard again in bringing off the score with flair, offered a truly symphonic version – the big passages never hurried, measured stiffly, but colorful with variations. sprightly version of this chapter in the Ring saga.
Scylla et Glaucus. Nevertheless, none of this detracts from the artistic achievements of the singers.
Chiara Skerath impressed as Circé with dramatic intensity and virtuosic coloratura in her aria “Il me fuit, hélas” – for us, perhaps the musical highlight of the evening.
Das Rheingold at La Scala. Overall, not a bad rendition of Wagner’s prelude to his Tetralogy. Lots of nice touches from McVicar, but also many ideas that were only able to satisfy the need to stage an episode, playing all straight out. Doing for the sake of doing. The weakness lay in the lack of an overall concept. True, better perhaps this version from those elsewhere that go astray, towards the ridiculous, towards what is estranged from Wagner himself. Perhaps, yes, the Ring is impossible to stage. Might there be a curse upon the ring?
Les Enfants terribles Hypnose, fascinatie en de betoverende kracht van deze repetitieve muziek, nooit hetzelfde en toch altijd hetzelfde. Muziek die die tijdloze wereld oproept waarin deze tragische helden zouden willen leven; muziek die ons in haar ban houdt, in de dubbele betekenis dat zij ons als het ware gevangen houdt en ons verleidt.
Les Enfants terribles Hypnosis, fascination and the spellbinding power of this repetitive music, never the same and yet always the same. Music that evokes that timeless world in which these tragic heroes would like to live; music that captivates us: in the double sense that it imprisons us, so to speak, and seduces us.
Jevgeni Onegin in Sydney. De productie van Tsjaikovski’s ‘Jevgeni Onegin’ door Opera Australia, geregisseerd door Kasper Holten, is een complete ramp – een mislukking van epische proporties.