# The worst production ever made



## HumphreyAppleby (Apr 11, 2013)

Is this the worst production ever made? I think that it is. The singing isn't even very good. While I think an opera in space for example or some other kind of scifi setting would be interesting, this is just a bad trip.


----------



## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

that one probably is. The production that I have seen and thought was abominable was this one of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice:









here's a clip from it (and this ain't the worst, but what I could find quickly):






this Ascanio in Alba is another strong contender, judging by what everybody says (it's the one with the aliens, if I'm not mistaken - if I am, _that_ is the one I'm referring to). I was too scared to approach it (*in spite* of the fact it's got Prina and Damrau):


----------



## Zingo (Feb 17, 2010)

Heh, I reviewed that _Cellini_ upon its release a few years ago. The production certainly ranks with the worst I've ever seen on disc. I would have hated paying money to see it (but I had a good time writing the review!).


----------



## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

That's awful, and probably the "best worst" I've ever seen.

Some years back I made the mistake of buying the DVD of Don Giovanni from director Francesca Zambello. And despite great singing (Keenlyside as the Don) I was unable to watch the whole video because of its totally goofy staging. Left a soggy taste in my mouth that was cured by getting the DVD w. Bryn Terfel and Renee Fleming. Whew. It wasn't a stunning production but it was at least recognizable.

If the opera is itself avante garde (aka Philip Glass' "The Voyage" or the recent LA opera production of "The Fly") then I can appreciate offbeat production. But to vamp on Mozart? A mortal sin.


----------



## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

katdad said:


> That's awful, and probably the "best worst" I've ever seen.
> 
> Some years back I made the mistake of buying the DVD of Don Giovanni from director Francesca Zambello. And despite great singing (Keenlyside as the Don) I was unable to watch the whole video because of its totally goofy staging. Left a soggy taste in my mouth that was cured by getting the DVD w. Bryn Terfel and Renee Fleming. Whew. It wasn't a stunning production but it was at least recognizable.
> 
> If the opera is itself avante garde (aka Philip Glass' "The Voyage" or the recent LA opera production of "The Fly") then I can appreciate offbeat production. But to vamp on Mozart? A mortal sin.


Wow, if that's far out for you, you obviously have a very low tolerance for anything even mildly un-traditional. I class that as a conventional staging!:lol:. I've obviously been watching too much Regie.


----------



## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

What blew my mind was the 3-foot high "statue" of the Commendatore that had an open gap in its sculpture and into which Giovanni stuck his hand to experience the pains of hell.

And at one point, Keelyside does a full kip from a prone position on stage, for reasons I never could understand.


----------



## Marisol (May 25, 2013)

Haha, some funny examples. :lol:

Opera originally was meant for entertainment, having a good time with good music and a good story and of course with it came surprises or shocks as well. It is still so but nowadays things are sometimes so serious that you can get looks if the crinkling of the cellophane around your urgently needed cough pastille is too disturbing.


----------



## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

katdad said:


> What blew my mind was the 3-foot high "statue" of the Commendatore that had an open gap in its sculpture and into which Giovanni stuck his hand to experience the pains of hell.


Don't you think the Comenmdatore scene is really hard to stage? I'm not sure I've ever seen a really satisfactory version. It's always scarier in my mind than in reality.


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

I think the new Pelly _Robert le diable_ was the worst I've seen & soon to be released on DVD - you have been warned :devil:

It was doomed from the start. Originally Juan Diego Flórez was going to sing the role of _Robert_ but then he decided it wasn't right for him. Diana Damrau was due to sing _Isabelle_ but she had to cancel when she became pregnant. Marina Poplavskaya was going to sing _Alice_ but she cancelled due to illness but then recovered so she did sing in the end. Actually I couldn't fault any of the singers & the music is glorious.

It was the production which confused me. It couldn't decide whether it was a comedy spoof or not & the scenery kept getting stuck.


----------



## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

sospiro said:


> I think the new Pelly _Robert le diable_ was the worst I've seen & soon to be released on DVD - you have been warned :devil:
> 
> It was doomed from the start. Originally Juan Diego Flórez was going to sing the role of _Robert_ but then he decided it wasn't right for him. Diana Damrau was due to sing _Isabelle_ but she had to cancel when she became pregnant. Marina Poplavskaya was going to sing _Alice_ but she cancelled due to illness but then recovered so she did sing in the end. Actually I couldn't fault any of the singers & the music is glorious.
> 
> It was the production which confused me. It couldn't decide whether it was a comedy spoof or not & the scenery kept getting stuck.


It looks quite cute and I've got it in my Presto cart as I don't have it in my collection. Now I'm in two minds....


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> It looks quite cute and I've got it in my Presto cart as I don't have it in my collection. Now I'm in two minds....


Oh you _must_ get it to see how awful it is!


----------



## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

sospiro said:


> Oh you _must_ get it to see how awful it is!


Well, that's always a good reason. And I'm sure I'm in safe hands with Hymel and Ciofi.


----------



## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

sospiro said:


> I think the new Pelly _Robert le diable_ was the worst I've seen & soon to be released on DVD - you have been warned :devil:
> 
> It couldn't decide whether it was a comedy spoof or not & the scenery kept getting stuck.


You know, if you can't decide whether it's a spoof or not, that's actually pretty tantalizing ... now I have to see it to see what I think! :lol: good job!


----------



## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

hey, people, stop putting Robert le diable down! you _was_ lucky to see it, considering how rarely it gets staged 

:lol: it's Meyerbeer, 5 acts to tell you the hero's going to hell. If it's not a spoof, somebody _should_ spoof it. The production looks pretty, though.


----------



## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

I wish I could find a suitable video or photo from Gary Hill's "_Lost in Space_" production of _Fidelio_ for the Opéra de Lyon. Leonore, Florestan, & Company were all on a spacecraft, survivors of a doomed Earth. The lucky (?) attendees at this year's Edinburgh Festival will get to see it for themselves.


----------



## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

katdad said:


> That's awful, and probably the "best worst" I've ever seen.
> 
> Some years back I made the mistake of buying the DVD of Don Giovanni from director Francesca Zambello. And despite great singing (Keenlyside as the Don) I was unable to watch the whole video because of its totally goofy staging. Left a soggy taste in my mouth that was cured by getting the DVD w. Bryn Terfel and Renee Fleming. Whew. It wasn't a stunning production but it was at least recognizable.


I saw the Zambello production at the ROH, and liked it. The new season at the ROH has a brand new Don Giovanni production by Kasper Holten. Looks like it's going to be a regie.



mamascarlatti said:


> Don't you think the Comenmdatore scene is really hard to stage? I'm not sure I've ever seen a really satisfactory version. It's always scarier in my mind than in reality.


Yes, especially this scene is hard to stage. DG was my first opera love and I started just listening to the CD. So I may have created an image in my mind of my own production, so just like when your favourite novel is made into a movie, chances are you will get dissapointed.

My latest discovery is the Gyndebourne 2010 DG:





Can't find the commendatore scene on YT, I thinks it's pretty convincing.


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Well, that's always a good reason. And I'm sure I'm in safe hands with Hymel and Ciofi.


Not to mention Il Chocolatisimo


----------



## msegers (Oct 17, 2008)

The Vienna Staatsoper Production of Meyerbeer's _Le Prophete_ of 1998 has to be in the running. Unfortunately, the only video of _Le Prophete_ is a really bad quality video of this production. The three Anabaptists sport enormous Mohawk hair-do's and are followed around the stage by monkeys.

"All this prepares us for Act III, which the libretto says "frozen pond" but in this version has our fur clad chorus in their stadium seats -- and then, the white coated "doctors and nurses" come on stage with hypodermic needles, and, at the beginning of the dance, squirt them all over the stage." - from a review at http://www.meyerbeer.com/viennarev.htm

I think that Mozart and Wagner are so intrinsic a part of opera culture that their works can withstand (and maybe need) experimental productions. But, we so seldom see/hear Meyerbeer's works that we need to go back to basics with him. One of my favorite opera DVDs is a production of _Dinorah_ that is so old-fashioned, I can almost smell the dust from the attic when I watch it.


----------



## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

I recall a production of Les Huguenots at Covent Garden in the mid 90's. First act consisted (in my memory) of semi naked women cavorting in cheap paddling pools throwing beach balls to each other. The audience was in uproar. Just brilliant. I'm not one to walk out on naked women but like many opera lovers there, we felt a sense of duty to walk away at the interval. Great times at the pub for the rest of the evening. Strange how that production wasn't revived :-/


----------



## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

:lol: what makes Meyerbeer such a ridiculous production magnet?


----------

