The Dutch National Opera and its institutional failure. People have had enough of the infuriating dilettantism of the painfully failed The Shell Trial, the artistic monstrosity of Fidelio, an obvious case of label scam, and dead-on-arrival productions like Le lacrime di Eros. DNO’s meteoric decline has lost its accidental character under the reign of intendant Sophie de Lint.
Tag: regietheater the ruination of opera
According to The Dutch National Opera, “Michieletto has now become one of the most in-demand directors in the world.”
Shows perfectly what The Dutch National Opera DNO’s priorities are all about.
Discordia Hall in Amsterdam. In the area of diversity, the Dutch National Opera is seriously failing. Opera lovers who are attached to a libretto-compliant performance are often called “traditional”. This is nonsense. If a restaurant that serves rice and potatoes decides to serve potatoes only, do we suddenly call rice lovers “traditional restaurant-goers”?
For the so-called “traditional opera lover,” opera is an episodic art form that is best enjoyed when the composer and librettist are unconditionally accepted and respected and no disgusting shenanigans are pulled by the director, such as Die Zauberflöte in Auschwitz or “moving” Aida to Evita Peron’s Peru.
Are we addicted now ? We must also consider the impact of “regietheater” and the fanaticism of “political correctness.” These are two forces that are transforming the world of opera. In the name of “political correctness,” every possible reference to anything that does not conform to the new doctrine is modified or eliminated. We are seeing more and more often “Aida” with light skin, Turandot who avoids any possible reference to China, changes to terms in the libretto considered racist, and so on.
Opera houses like De Nederlandse Nationale Opera are not only guardians of culture, however dubiously that task may be interpreted, but they cannot shirk the social duty to give reviewers free rein.
De oorspronkelijke historische of culturele achtergrond, waar velen in geïnteresseerd zijn (opera is een episodische kunstvorm), wordt uitgewist. De authenticiteit en emotionele impact van het origineel verdwijnt in de versnipperaar; het publiek moet een “uitdaging” aangaan om zich te verbinden met de bedoelde boodschap van de regisseur, niet van de componist en librettist.