# Opera Name and Shame



## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

The Bayreuth Festival's 2010 Die Walkure has been placed into Valhalla's Halls of Infamy but what other productions truly stink. I've found a few on youtube but I'd like to give others a chance to show us their not-so-favourites.

Imagine if one of these productions was your introduction to opera.

Commiserations to anyone who gave up some hard earned cash for these productions. :lol:

Behold! Brunhilde as a Killer Tomato.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Couac Addict said:


> The Bayreuth Festival's 2010 Die Walkure has been placed into Valhalla's Halls of Infamy but what other productions truly stink. I've found a few on youtube but I'd like to give others a chance to show us their not-so-favourites.
> 
> Imagine if one of these productions was your introduction to opera.
> 
> ...


Coincidentally I've been watching watching it right now. Apart from the Brünnhilde costume (and a rather random telegraph pole in act 1) I don't really get the problem. Johan Botha started quite well, surprising me after his deadpan Radames in the Met Aida, but soon started singing with his eyes firmly glued to the conductor. Linda Watson looks like Brünnhilde's grandmother, which only really matters because of the closeups. Albert Dohnen lacks gravitas as Wotan, and he's too pretty (although that might explain why all these women keep falling into bed with him). But on the scale of bad productions this comes nowhere, it's just not very exciting.

Calixto Beieto's Carmen with Alagna and Uria-Monzon. That's worth a few rotten tomatoes. Moderately revolting, and utterly dull.

There is a 1980s La Scala Don Giovanni with lovely Thomas Allen which I've never been able to finish because it is unutterably boring.

A Rinaldo with David Daniels set in a Tel Aviv hotel which is just too silly.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Some of recent Saltzberg Mozart productions have been horrors. The 2006 Figaro directed by Guth was pretty dreadful IMO.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

DavidA said:


> Some of recent Saltzberg Mozart productions have been horrors


They do awful productions in Saltzberg but Wagner festival at Bay Rooth isn't much better, not to mention some things from Viyennah or Bartselonnah


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

anything by Guth, good call. Atrocious. The man has the uncanny knack of removing the last shred of humour from anything. I only sat through his Nozze and DG because of Roschmann but dear god...


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Doesn't quite fit, but I'm gonna post it anyway.

Marriage of Figaro - The Musical


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

deggial said:


> anything by Guth, good call. Atrocious. The man has the uncanny knack of removing the last shred of humour from anything. I only sat through his Nozze and DG because of Roschmann but dear god...


Interesting that in a Figaro he introduces a Cupid like figure that Mozart and Da Ponte have unaccountably omitted. What a Plonker! For Roschmann go to the Covent Garden Figaro produced by McVicar. Actually does what Mozart intended instead of a barmy 'vision' from a demented director. Most unusual these days.


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## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

http://www.theonion.com/articles/unconventional-director-sets-shakespeare-play-in-t,2214/

this made me laugh quite a bit.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

DavidA said:


> Interesting that in a Figaro he introduces a Cupid like figure that Mozart and Da Ponte have unaccountably omitted. What a Plonker! For Roschmann go to the Covent Garden Figaro produced by McVicar. Actually does what Mozart intended instead of a barmy 'vision' from a demented director. Most unusual these days.


yes, I've seen the McVicar version as well. What a relief (and I normally can take regie but here I have to go with the traditional version - well, I've seen so many Nozze and some of the less traditional work as well). That Cupid in Guth's production was just useless, flailing around for no reason. Maybe that was his way of keeping some levity.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I like Guth's Don Giovanni but not so much the Nozze. Partly to do with Bo Skovus' combination of bad singing and extreme sweating. Harnoncourt's lugubrious tempi didn't help either.


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## waldvogel (Jul 10, 2011)

I had the misfortune of seeing this production in Leipzig... sorry that I can't find any video, but perhaps it's for the better that it has left no trace of its existence.

http://operachic.typepad.com/opera_chic/2008/10/the-flying-dutchman-will-slaughter-your-dog-leipzig-riots-production-suspended.html


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

mamascarlatti said:


> I like Guth's Don Giovanni but not so much the Nozze. Partly to do with Bo Skovus' combination of bad singing and extreme sweating. Harnoncourt's lugubrious tempi didn't help either.


Bo Skovus must be the least romantic Count Figaro ever came up against. His ham acting doesn't help.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

There is apparently a simply dreadful Fidelio at the ENO at the moment, which the producer shows us what Beethoven really should have written. At the end Don Fernando shoots Florestan. What a way to treat an old friend!


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Couac Addict said:


> The Bayreuth Festival's 2010 Die Walkure has been placed into Valhalla's Halls of Infamy but what other productions truly stink?


To paraphrase a setting from _Carmina Burana_... "Dies Noxious Omnia." But anyway, the Halls of Infamy *aren't* located in Valhalla, they're in the other place- and it's filling up...

A lot of Wagnerians can answer this one in their sleep- how about:
The "Rats" Lohengrin.
The "Shoe Fetish" Meistersinger.
The "Space Cadet" Parsifal. 
The Codpiece Rienzi.
The Lolitas bouncing about on an oversized bed, like- totally... Rheingold.
There was even a "Viet Minh" setting for a Wagner opera (didn't commit to memory which one).

That, unfortunately, is just off the top of my head...


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Chi_townPhilly said:


> To paraphrase a setting from _Carmina Burana_... "Dies Noxious Omnia." But anyway, the Halls of Infamy *aren't* located in Valhalla, they're in the other place- and it's filling up...
> 
> A lot of Wagnerians can answer this one in their sleep- how about:
> The "Rats" Lohengrin.
> ...


What is it about Wagner productions that attract the crazies. People say that the Ring cycle is the most difficult to direct. Here's a hint: dress everyone up like Vikings.

The only way to improve Die Walkure is with riding crops and hillbilly zombies.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

mamascarlatti said:


> Coincidentally I've been watching watching it right now. Apart from the Brünnhilde costume (and a rather random telegraph pole in act 1) I don't really get the problem. Johan Botha started quite well, surprising me after his deadpan Radames in the Met Aida, but soon started singing with his eyes firmly glued to the conductor. Linda Watson looks like Brünnhilde's grandmother, which only really matters because of the closeups. Albert Dohnen lacks gravitas as Wotan, and he's too pretty (although that might explain why all these women keep falling into bed with him). But on the scale of bad productions this comes nowhere, it's just not very exciting.
> 
> Calixto Beieto's Carmen with Alagna and Uria-Monzon. That's worth a few rotten tomatoes. Moderately revolting, and utterly dull.
> 
> ...


...not helped by the fact that people travel around the world for this festival ...and the very long waiting list.


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

The infamous Planet of the Apes Rigoletto surely deserves to be on this list. Unfortunately (or perhaps not?), there is no video of it I can find on Youtube.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

rgz said:


> The infamous Planet of the Apes Rigoletto surely deserves to be on this list. Unfortunately (or perhaps not?), there is no video of it I can find on Youtube.


This one?










No wait it's Don Giovanni!!!


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

DavidA said:


> There is apparently a simply dreadful Fidelio at the ENO at the moment, which the producer shows us what Beethoven really should have written. At the end Don Fernando shoots Florestan. What a way to treat an old friend!


Yes I saw a lot of that online when it premiered. Our little friend Calixto Bieito strikes again. One interesting part of it, however, was his emphasis on the PTSD that he assumed Florestan would be suffering from, once freed. But the ending was unnecessary.


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> This one?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Haha haven't heard of that one. Here's one of the few pics I could find of the Rigoletto:







That's Diana Damrau as Princess Leia, not sure about the ape. You can find a picture of Piotr Beczala as an ape by searching 'piotr beczala planet of the apes' but it's not available for linking purposes here.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

mamascarlatti said:


> This one?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


What the demented director imagines happens. Mozart and da Ponte seem to have overlooked this bit:

As the audience enters the auditorium to take their seats, they are prepared to some extent for what is to come. Industrial workers in pink paint-spraying protective gear, with white wellington boots, are painting banners with religious motifs, such as "Fürchtet Gott, denn die Stunde seines Gerichts ist gekommen" (Fear God for the moment of his judgment is nigh); apt, of course, for this opera. Only when the curtain rises, do we see the related aspects of Herr Baumgarten's vision for this opera. The workers turn out to be members of a Christian sect, with long beards and the typical dress and headgear of the Amish. Don Giovanni is the cult leader of their sect, dressed in Act I all in white. The scene is set in a ritual room of a convent, at the back next to the font and some illuminated angels a cleric plays the harpsichord accompaniment to the recitatives, eerily modernised for this modern production. At the front a short curved wall with openings for doors and windows serves to indicate that the inmates of the convent (including the audience) are watching a morality play. Don Giovanni appears in a gorilla suit carrying Donna Anna ready for rehearsals in King Kong.
At the back is a video screen, depicting Don Giovanni's conquests (a bottom being spanked) and the Seven Deadly Sins as the opera progresses. At the front, a veil descends from time to time with video images of Don Giovanni pulling funny faces. It is all over-produced; there are simply too many elements to assimilate. The masked ball descends into a Ku Klux Klan ritual sacrificing of a young virgin, in this instance Zerlina. Blood spurts from her abdomen. There are some spectacular crocheted multi-coloured costumes for the band. Then follows some fairly explicit Marquis de Sade-style bondage. Don Giovanni, by now dressed all in black, has sex with Zerlina in a bath, luckily the naked bodies are only shown on film. You get the flavour.
By the last Act, Don Giovanni is dressed in red pyjamas, with the Devil's horns. Or was it a re-appearance of Jimmy Savile? The names of the men most famous for their libertine sexuality (including the Marquis de Sade and Casanova) are shown on the video screen and deleted one by one, until it is Don Giovani's turn. After the banquet scene goes up in some fairly spectacular flames, with flashing theatre lights around the proscenium arch, the video screen at the back depicts Don Giovanni taking the lift down into the flames of Hell. Members of his sect enter impassively, looking strangely like Oompa Loompas.

And to think people PAY to see this stuff.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

mamascarlatti said:


> This one?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Did he just burst out of John Hurt's chest?


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Wagner again...of course.

When I first saw Ride of the Valkyries from this Valencia '08 production, I couldn't stop laughing. The costumes. Valkyries on boom lifts. Did anyone hang around for the third act? Did they miss this turkey?
The person who uploaded this to youtube has the entire Ring Cycle from this production. 
All I can say is wow. It's...erm...different.
I later found out that this was quite a successful production and was very popular with new audiences. 
So...umm...behold, the future of opera! 






Gone are the days when you just assumed the third position to sing - now you need swimming lessons.





Duck your head and watch out for flying Fruit Loops.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)




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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Couac Addict said:


> Wagner again...of course.
> 
> When I first saw Ride of the Valkyries from this Valencia '08 production, I couldn't stop laughing. The costumes. Valkyries on boom lifts. Did anyone hang around for the third act? Did they miss this turkey?
> The person who uploaded this to youtube has the entire Ring Cycle from this production.
> ...


I think they went in for the hydraulic lifts after the horses demurred at the size of the Valkyries!

At least it was trying to tell the story as Wagner would have seen it. That descent into the depths was quite spectacular!


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

mamascarlatti said:


> This one?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


what woman could resist that DG?! :lol: I normally like Zurich productions but that was a bust.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Couac Addict said:


> The person who uploaded this to youtube has the entire Ring Cycle from this production.


the Valencia Ring is great! the only way to get me to sit through Wagner.


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## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

deggial said:


> anything by Guth, good call. Atrocious. The man has the uncanny knack of removing the last shred of humour from anything. I only sat through his Nozze and DG because of Roschmann but dear god...


Indeed this production takes all the fun out of the Nozze. The audience wonders if they are allowed to laugh.. the one or two moments this happens. Even the sinfonia sounds like a funeral march... which is such a brilliant piece of music. And what is that strange "dancing" and dead birds all about ? Anyway, it has some enjoyable moments, and there is Netrebko.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Dongiovanni said:


> And what is that strange "dancing" and dead birds all about ?


they're about nothing. I'm convinced the man is trying _really hard_ to be weird.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

DavidA said:


> There is apparently a simply dreadful Fidelio at the ENO at the moment, which the producer shows us what Beethoven really should have written. At the end Don Fernando shoots Florestan. What a way to treat an old friend!


Oh yes, our friend Bieito again -- though he's done much worse than this.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

deggial said:


> what woman could resist that DG?! :lol: I normally like Zurich productions but that was a bust.


I couldn't resist him if he took of his Alien/Gorilla suit and then sang _deh vieni alla finestra_ to me (It's Peter Mattei).


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

^ in that case you shouldn't be able not to resist him even with the suit on. It's all about the voice, isn't it?


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

MAuer said:


> Oh yes, our friend Bieito again -- though he's done much worse than this.


Signal for us all to keep clear of operas houses these days. I mean, who wants to pay for expensive tickets to see rubbish?


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

The trouble is, that sometimes one person's rubbish is another person's cherished production. There are two Lohengrins that some hate (one, the Rat Lohengrin, has been mentioned in this thread), but that I love:


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

deggial said:


> ^ in that case you shouldn't be able not to resist him even with the suit on. It's all about the voice, isn't it?


For once, yes. But I think that he might sounds a bit muffled with the mask on. I mean, do these costume designers know that people are expected to sing in these things?

How is poor Christine Goerke supposed to make herself heard in her crocodile head? (PS, guess the opera):


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

mamascarlatti said:


> (PS, guess the opera):


Judging from the scenery, it's queen of the night.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Parsifal, but it would so work for the Queen of the night, haha. Gators are known for their high pitched mating calls.


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## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

So, "The Kiss" in Parsifal was then bestowed upon a Kundry with an alligator head??


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## Oreb (Aug 8, 2013)

That's not Kundry - it's the Grail.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

deggial said:


> the Valencia Ring is great! the only way to get me to sit through Wagner.


Don't get me wrong. I'm not a Luddite and I think new technologies should be explored. However, this is a very barren and sterile stage. You can't really set anything up because it'll obstruct the video. I also have no problem with operas in new settings if the story allows it. A modern setting for La Traviata works for me because that opera was contemporary when written.
There are however, a few operas where its audience have some pre-conceived ideas of how it should look. I want ancient Egyptians in Aida and Vikings in the Ring Cycle...not space vikings. Yeah, yeah, they're gods and therefore it can be subject to any interpretation. It's just that it's getting harder to tell people that you enjoy opera when Valkyries are dressed like crash-test dummies.
All jokes aside, I do genuinely believe that this is where opera will be headed. I also suspect that video screens will someday be introduced into concert halls as well. As much as the purists will hate it, the writing may already be on wall.



mamascarlatti said:


> For once, yes. But I think that he might sounds a bit muffled with the mask on. I mean, do these costume designers know that people are expected to sing in these things?
> 
> How is poor Christine Goerke supposed to make herself heard in her crocodile head? (PS, guess the opera):


I had just assumed that it would be from Aida. An escapee from the Nile.



Aramis said:


>


I love nothing more than paying top dollar for front row tickets - only to learn that the performance is happening five rows behind me.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Another thing. Here, we only get two main-stage opera productions a year, so if one them happens to have a singing crocodile you can be sure that it's going to be a long 6mths.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Couac Addict said:


> Another thing. Here, we only get two main-stage opera productions a year, so if one them happens to have a singing crocodile you can be sure that it's going to be a long 6mths.


Goodness Brizzy is as bad as Auckland. What are you getting next year? We have Don Giovanni and Traviata, and Boheme in Christchurch. I told NZ Opera on Facebook where they could stuff their warhorses. I'm going to fly down to Wellington for Ainadamar at the NZ Festival with the money I've saved.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

mamascarlatti said:


> Goodness Brizzy is as bad as Auckland. What are you getting next year? We have Don Giovanni and Traviata, and Boheme in Christchurch. I told NZ Opera on Facebook where they could stuff their warhorses. I'm going to fly down to Wellington for Ainadamar at the NZ Festival with the money I've saved.


It used to be more but the season just gets smaller and smaller. We might be the worst in the country these days. Now it's just 4 productions a year. 2 warhorses for the main stage and 2 new productions for the smaller stages.

2014 is La Boheme (probably the same production as yours) and Rigoletto...coupled with The Perfect American and a new local opera called Abandon.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Couac Addict said:


> It used to be more but the season just gets smaller and smaller. We might be the worst in the country these days. Now it's just 4 productions a year. 2 warhorses for the main stage and 2 new productions for the smaller stages.
> 
> 2014 is La Boheme (probably the same production as yours) and Rigoletto...coupled with *The Perfect American* and a new local opera called Abandon.


Sounding good. I'd sign up for that, but your main operas sound as predictable as ours.


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## Oreb (Aug 8, 2013)

Any of you other people lucky enough to live in the Superior (i.e. Southern) Hemisphere going to see the Melbourne Ring? I've been looking forward to it but can't say the first image of the Rhinedaughter costumes has filled me with confidence (although I am a big admirer of Armfield, so will reserve judgement):

http://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2013/october/1380549600/peter-conrad/ring-cycle-melbourne


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

Why did Wotan's spear break by itself?


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

bigshot said:


> Why did Wotan's spear break by itself?


Poor workmanship? If he got it from Amazon, he can probably get a refund, and they'll pay return shipping.*

*He's probably stuck with it if he did something stupid like carving the shaft. But that's unlikely. Any sensible person would wait until it was out of warranty to do anything like that.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Oreb said:


> Any of you other people lucky enough to live in the Superior (i.e. Southern) Hemisphere going to see the Melbourne Ring? I've been looking forward to it but can't say the first image of the Rhinedaughter costumes has filled me with confidence (although I am a big admirer of Armfield, so will reserve judgement):
> 
> http://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2013/october/1380549600/peter-conrad/ring-cycle-melbourne


I thought about it, but it would have ended up costing me about NZ$5000 to travel there and attend, and the cast did not look starry enough for me at that price, not to mention trying to organise childcare and teaching relievers for a week.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Oreb said:


> Any of you other people lucky enough to live in the Superior (i.e. Southern) Hemisphere going to see the Melbourne Ring? I've been looking forward to it but can't say the first image of the Rhinedaughter costumes has filled me with confidence (although I am a big admirer of Armfield, so will reserve judgement):
> 
> http://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2013/october/1380549600/peter-conrad/ring-cycle-melbourne


No, I was in the U.S. when the tickets were on sale so it wasn't really on my radar. I believe the whole cycle was sold out within a day.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

The problem we have is that if people go to see these dreadful productions, they will continue. The producers of these things are generally people of such huge ego that bad reviews or even booing by the audience is not going to convince them they have missed the mark. Why I avoid the opera house unless I know the production is going to be sane. But by that time tickets have been sold out anyway.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

*WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!*

The next video may offend someone.

It's a Swedish performance of Carmen from 2010 - What could go wrong?

If you don't like nudity - *do not click on the link.*
If you do like nudity...but only the _good kind_ - * do not click on the link*
If you have any kind of appreciation for the performing arts - *do not click on the link*

I'm almost certain that it isn't Jonas Kauffman but to be fair, I have previously only seen his face.

2014 season at the Met?


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## Oreb (Aug 8, 2013)

Bloody hell.

And people wonder why the EU's going down the crapper...


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

oh dear... :lol: that poor chap. Was it Don Jose, I wonder, who was thrashing about? I blame whoever let poor *Dragana Jugovic* on stage for inspiring this production


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

Oh... holy... Jesus...

I don't know what I find most disturbing... her voice - or that dude flapping about like a dying fish out of water, looking like he's having a seizure from her absolutely... unique voice.

I saw a Pagliacci some years ago where Canio sounded... well, not AS bad as that, but not too far removed: a vibrato that'd kill low-flying birds, non-existent bottom end, vile middle range, hooting the top end. This coupled with Silvio virtually fingering (among other things) Nedda on a table on the stage during their duet. I haven't seen a whole crowd collectively look the other way as fast before. Sadly/luckily this production wasn't filmed...



Couac Addict said:


> *WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!*
> 
> The next video may offend someone.
> 
> ...


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## Dins (Jun 21, 2011)

Couac Addict said:


> *WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!*
> 
> The next video may offend someone.
> 
> ...


Oh my! That theatre is very close to my work (about 1 kilometre ) . Luckily i missed that they did Carmen and fortunately missed the whole thing. I would not have been happy if i had paid to see that.

Backa Theatre is known for doing experimental theatre so im not too surprised though.


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

Another one that was (apparently) deadly serious about her work (and was really extraordinarily unmusical) was Florence Foster Jenkins. Her "Queen of Night" was... yeah, I have no words.


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## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

Good Lord. Those high trills sound like a squeaky ferris wheel spinning fast out of control and jettisonning riders faster than the theater patrons making for the exit.


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

mamascarlatti said:


> I thought about it, but it would have ended up costing me about NZ$5000 to travel there and attend, and the cast did not look starry enough for me at that price, not to mention trying to organise childcare and teaching relievers for a week.


If I was closer (I'm in Northern Europe) I'd hop on a plane down there. Terje Stensvold as Wotan (all three) and Stuart Skelton as Siegmund sounds pretty good to me (and I'm no huge Wagner fan, it has to be said)  But I agree, for $5000 it should be George London doing at least one Wotan  - and possibly with Elvis taking tickets at the door ("thank you very much, uh-huh!").


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

I have seldom laughed as hard as I did over that _Carmen_ clip! Never knew that opera was supposed to be a comedy. :lol:

Some other really terrible opera productions:
- Tannhäuser the Nazi at Düsseldorf in May (the one that portrayed Third Reich atrocities realistically enough that some audience members sought medical attention afterward, and the Deutsche Oper am Rhein's management replaced the staging with concert performances for the rest of the run)
- Frank Castorf's _Ring_ staging at this year's Bayreuth Festival
- Sebastian Baumgarten's Bayreuth _Tannhäuser_ set in a biogas facility, and with Venus in an advanced state of pregnancy
- The _Fidelio_ in outer space production seen this year at the Opéra de Lyon and the Edinburgh Festival


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

Revenant said:


> Good Lord. Those high trills sound like a squeaky ferris wheel spinning fast out of control and jettisonning riders faster than the theater patrons making for the exit.


She must have either been mentally deranged or taking the ****. Right? This is from Wikipedia:

_Despite her patent lack of ability, Jenkins apparently was firmly convinced of her greatness. She compared herself favorably to the renowned sopranos Frieda Hempel and Luisa Tetrazzini, and dismissed the abundant audience laughter during her performances as "professional jealousy."

_Yeah... professional jealousy was definitely it.


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

MAuer said:


> Some other really terrible opera productions:
> - Tannhäuser the Nazi at Düsseldorf in May (the one that portrayed Third Reich atrocities realistically enough that some audience members sought medical attention afterward, and the Deutsche Oper am Rhein's management replaced the staging with concert performances for the rest of the run)
> - Frank Castorf's _Ring_ staging at this year's Bayreuth Festival
> - Sebastian Baumgarten's Bayreuth _Tannhäuser_ set in a biogas facility, and with Venus in an advanced state of pregnancy
> - The _Fidelio_ in outer space production seen this year at the Opéra de Lyon and the Edinburgh Festival


Some people don't agree with me here, but I have to add "La Bohème" by Stefan Herheim to that list. Or as I like to call it: "Death by Che Gelida Manina." Mimi dies of cancer during this aria and the rest of the opera is seemingly just a depressing figment of the tenor's imagination. Then, when the death scene occurs at the end, it's about as emotional as getting slapped around the face with a wet fish or having a colonoscopy - _considering she's already been dead for 2 hours_. On this particular day it also looked like the director had just thrown the idea in their faces and then left the premises, leaving it to them to figure out where to stand, walk and react. The tenor spent most of his time either rolling around on the floor or pulling his hair out. The audience got robbed (or at least I felt I was) of every emotion you're meant to have in this opera. Changing the story line "to fit modern times" is just ******** if it doesn't fit the friggin' music. I'm not against modernising stuff, they could have set it on Mars in 3021 for all I care, as long as they stick with the basic story line in the way it was intended.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Operafocus said:


> Some people don't agree with me here, but I have to add "La Bohème" by Stefan Herheim to that list. Or as I like to call it: "Death by Che Gelida Manina." Mimi dies of cancer during this aria and the rest of the opera is seemingly just a depressing figment of the tenor's imagination. Then, when the death scene occurs at the end, it's about as emotional as getting slapped around the face with a wet fish or having a colonoscopy - _considering she's already been dead for 2 hours_. On this particular day it also looked like the director had just thrown the idea in their faces and then left the premises, leaving it to them to figure out where to stand, walk and react. The tenor spent most of his time either rolling around on the floor or pulling his hair out. The audience got robbed (or at least I felt I was) of every emotion you're meant to have in this opera. Changing the story line "to fit modern times" is just ******** if it doesn't fit the friggin' music. I'm not against modernising stuff, they could have set it on Mars in 3021 for all I care, as long as they stick with the basic story line in the way it was intended.


I think that is something that these deranged, egoistic directors have not grasped. Their first job is to serve the composer's vision no over-ride it with some daft concept of their own. 
If they want to do their own thing they should write their own Opera!


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Operafocus said:


> Another one that was (apparently) deadly serious about her work (and was really extraordinarily unmusical) was Florence Foster Jenkins. Her "Queen of Night" was... yeah, I have no words.


...hard to believe that she once sold out Carnegie Hall.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

MAuer said:


> - The _Fidelio_ in outer space production seen this year at the Opéra de Lyon and the Edinburgh Festival


Just the way Beethoven had originally intended it to be but alas, lacked the resources to do so.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Les Troyens:










This photo just blows me away. I was particularly mad with this production - it was near and if the staging would be any good, I would most likely go and have a chance to see that fine opera live.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Aramis said:


> Les Troyens:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wow. I can't believe you turned that one down. 
I wonder how many productions would change if you could get a refund after the first act?

I don't want operas to be safe and boring but I do think that too many directors are trying to be shocking just to get noticed.
Too many companies have mistaken _extraordinary _for _creativity_. Any peanut can create an extraordinary setting - just shoehorn your favourite opera into whatever movie you watched last night.
The Barber of Seville meets The Great Escape...Rosina tunnels her way out of Bartolo's house.
La Traviata meets Taxi Driver...Travis Bickle tries to persuade Violetta to quit her job.
Don Giovanni meets Titanic...if The Don goes down - everyone goes down.
It's easy to be be extraordinary. The talent is being creative without changing the story - be it via good stagecraft or whatever.
Save the wacky settings/costumes for new operas.

What's the first rule of music videos? Make sure the singer looks cool.
The videos may be completely nuts but the singer will still look cool.
...very difficult when you're draped in a laptop.

Consider the people who were introduced to opera via this production of Das Rheingold in Los Angeles.
I know the story and still can't work out what's going on.


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## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

Operafocus said:


> Some people don't agree with me here, but I have to add "La Bohème" by Stefan Herheim to that list. Or as I like to call it: "Death by Che Gelida Manina." Mimi dies of cancer during this aria and the rest of the opera is seemingly just a depressing figment of the tenor's imagination. Then, when the death scene occurs at the end, it's about as emotional as getting slapped around the face with a wet fish or having a colonoscopy - _considering she's already been dead for 2 hours_. On this particular day it also looked like the director had just thrown the idea in their faces and then left the premises, leaving it to them to figure out where to stand, walk and react. The tenor spent most of his time either rolling around on the floor or pulling his hair out. The audience got robbed (or at least I felt I was) of every emotion you're meant to have in this opera. Changing the story line "to fit modern times" is just ******** if it doesn't fit the friggin' music. I'm not against modernising stuff, they could have set it on Mars in 3021 for all I care, as long as they stick with the basic story line in the way it was intended.


I agree with you, this Boheme is terrible. Some time ago , someone posted the youtube link here to the full performance and I watched it, but I stopped. The idea that Rodolfo is having flashbacks or is dreaming just doesn't work on a stage. The hospital part of the stage just looks terribly cheap, it's almost comical when the bed with Mimi 'enters'. I remember the opening scene. The music doesn't match what we see on stage, this is one of the basics of opera. If I remember correct we see a grieving Rodolfo after Mimi has died, when suddenly the opening music starts. The result is terrible. Clearly to this director music is not important. Rodolfo singing "Che gelida manina" to a Mimi who is dying (and seems unconscious) seems like a very wierd sense of humor. Mimi comes alive during this aria... What I also don't understand is that when Rodolfo is having flashbacks, he seems to go back to the 19th century. Why didn't they update this to modern times ? I'm sure they didnt do chemo therapy in the 19th century.

Well I guess I made my point, I can keep going. It's really sad to see how this production just kills the opera and the ideas that their creators had.


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## Notung (Jun 12, 2013)

I found the Kupfer productions of the Bayreuth Ring atrocious. Couldn't finish it. I know the "Ring" is dark, but the director takes it to a "literal" level where everything is just...black. Brünnhilde's "Heil dir, Sonne" makes no sense when there is no sun to begin with. The rheinmaidens look like Pat Benatar, Siegfried looks like a mechanic, and Wotan looks like a replicant from Blade Runner (Brünnhilde isn't far behind in that department, either...), and the giants looked like floats in a Disney parade (and not in a good way, either). The only good thing was the dragon.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Notung said:


> The rheinmaidens look like Pat Benatar


To me, that statement sounds like scandalous libel...Oh wait, what's this?
_Love_, it seems, _is_ indeed _a battlefield_. Or, in this case, an underground sewer.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Couac Addict said:


> Any peanut can create an extraordinary setting - just shoehorn your favourite opera into whatever movie you watched last night.
> The Barber of Seville meets The Great Escape...Rosina tunnels her way out of Bartolo's house.


that one has real potential! but only if we do away with Almaviva altogether and Rosina escapes with Figaro. Then Nozze should be about their Bonney & Clyde act.

I think this is exactly how the out there regie directors work: put newspaper cut-outs in a hat and go with the first one they pick.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Operafocus said:


> On this particular day it also looked like the director had just thrown the idea in their faces and then left the premises, leaving it to them to figure out where to stand, walk and react. The tenor spent most of his time either rolling around on the floor or pulling his hair out.


isn't rolling on the floor one of the first rules of regie? I especially love it when you can tell that the singers were not told where to stand or what to do. Can I get a job as a regie director, too? I'll just have one meeting with the singers, put my wacky concept out there and leave them to work it out best they can. The only musts will be rolling on the floor, singing upside down and generally looking unconfortable :lol:


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

deggial said:


> isn't rolling on the floor one of the first rules of regie? I especially love it when you can tell that the singers were not told where to stand or what to do. Can I get a job as a regie director, too? I'll just have one meeting with the singers, put my wacky concept out there and leave them to work it out best they can. The only musts will be rolling on the floor, singing upside down and generally looking unconfortable :lol:


That dude in the Swedish _Carmen_ has taken rolling on the floor to a whole new level.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Couac Addict said:


> Consider the people who were introduced to opera via this production of Das Rheingold in Los Angeles.
> I know the story and still can't work out what's going on.


Silly! Don't you know that: _ "The psychological dimension is outsourced to other forms of expression, like the lighting _" - LA Times article showing that even the singers voiced their hatred of this production, citing safety concerns and stifling masks. Please also note the director Achim Freyer's reaction to suggestions that the public might not understand: _"In the past, Freyer has expressed detachment when asked about public reaction to his work. "Not my problem," he told The Times in 2009, when asked about the public's expectations."_


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Dongiovanni said:


> I agree with you, this Boheme is terrible. Some time ago , someone posted the youtube link here to the full performance and I watched it, but I stopped. The idea that Rodolfo is having flashbacks or is dreaming just doesn't work on a stage. The hospital part of the stage just looks terribly cheap, it's almost comical when the bed with Mimi 'enters'. I remember the opening scene. The music doesn't match what we see on stage, this is one of the basics of opera. If I remember correct we see a grieving Rodolfo after Mimi has died, when suddenly the opening music starts. The result is terrible. Clearly to this director music is not important. Rodolfo singing "Che gelida manina" to a Mimi who is dying (and seems unconscious) seems like a very wierd sense of humor. Mimi comes alive during this aria... What I also don't understand is that when Rodolfo is having flashbacks, he seems to go back to the 19th century. Why didn't they update this to modern times ? I'm sure they didnt do chemo therapy in the 19th century.
> 
> Well I guess I made my point, I can keep going. It's really sad to see how this production just kills the opera and the ideas that their creators had.


The fact is - which some of these turkeys don't realise - is that Puccini was a theatrical genius. He knew exactly what he wanted and wrote accordingly. The whole opera builds to Mimi's tragic death and hence to rearrange the opera destroys it. Now if I know that as a layman with limited experience of directing, how much more should a professional man of the theatre know it.
Unfortunately these guys seem to be driven to try and come up with original ideas of their own. And in doing so destroy what they are supposed to be illuminating.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

deggial said:


> isn't rolling on the floor one of the first rules of regie? I especially love it when you can tell that the singers were not told where to stand or what to do. Can I get a job as a regie director, too? I'll just have one meeting with the singers, put my wacky concept out there and leave them to work it out best they can. The only musts will be rolling on the floor, singing upside down and generally looking unconfortable :lol:


Nonono. You forgot taking your clothes off, simulating sex, shooting someone, and rubbing raw meat and fake blood over yourself at some point. Wearing a hippopotamus mask.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

mamascarlatti said:


> Silly! Don't you know that: _ "The psychological dimension is outsourced to other forms of expression, like the lighting _" - LA Times article showing that even the singers voiced their hatred of this production, citing safety concerns and stifling masks. Please also note the director Achim Freyer's reaction to suggestions that the public might not understand: _"In the past, Freyer has expressed detachment when asked about public reaction to his work. "Not my problem," he told The Times in 2009, when asked about the public's expectations."_


A typical reaction from an idiot egoist.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

mamascarlatti said:


> Nonono. You forgot taking your clothes off, simulating sex, shooting someone, and rubbing raw meat and fake blood over yourself at some point. Wearing a hippopotamus mask.


don't reveal my ideas for next year's production of [any Wagner opera] at Bayreuth!


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## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

mamascarlatti said:


> Nonono. You forgot taking your clothes off, simulating sex, shooting someone, and rubbing raw meat and fake blood over yourself at some point. *Wearing a hippopotamus mask*.


And then conflate the opera with Kundry, so the hippo and the alligator can fight!


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## Oreb (Aug 8, 2013)

I wonder how long the regie-style would survive if funding depended on ticket sales and the support of opera lovers?

Unfortunately these productions seem to thrive when arts funding is linked to bureaucracy and state largesse rather than any sense of obligation to the audience (I would add 'or the composer', but in our post-Barthes world that would be unpardonably gauche  ).


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

mamascarlatti said:


> _"In the past, Freyer has expressed detachment when asked about public reaction to his work. "Not my problem," he told The Times in 2009, when asked about the public's expectations."_


This guy has a bright future in politics.


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## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

Oreb said:


> I wonder how long the regie-style would survive if funding depended on ticket sales and the support of opera lovers?
> 
> Unfortunately these productions seem to thrive when arts funding is linked to bureaucracy and state largesse rather than any sense of obligation to the audience (I would add 'or the composer', but in our post-Barthes world that would be unpardonably gauche  ).


If you're implying that the state bureaucracy shouldn't decide what the opera lovers are going to see, and if you deny the right of the deconstructionist to do their post-modern thing, which is to deny the proper respect to the creators of a work of art, then it wouldn't be unpardonably gauche to contravene that trend, rather, it would be unpardonably droite.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Revenant said:


> If you're implying that the state bureaucracy shouldn't decide what the opera lovers are going to see, and if you deny the right of the deconstructionist to do their post-modern thing, which is to deny the proper respect to the creators of a work of art, then it wouldn't be unpardonably gauche to contravene that trend, rather, it would be unpardonably droite.


Quite right. Wagner _wanted_ Kundry to have a crocodile head but was always kept down by _The Man_.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

mamascarlatti said:


>


...from Parsifal - The lost libretto.
_Nein, ich! Die Schönste handtasche bin ich_


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Couac Addict said:


> ...from Parsifal - The lost libretto.
> _Nein, ich! Die Schönste handtasche bin ich_


:lol: :lol: classic 25 characters


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Not an actual opera but give it time.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

MAuer said:


> - The _Fidelio_ in outer space production seen this year at the Opéra de Lyon and the Edinburgh Festival


Uh oh! Going to see new production of Simon Boccanegra in Lyon next year. I'll report back - if I'm not in some French gaol for assaulting the Director David Bösch.


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## Oreb (Aug 8, 2013)

Couac Addict said:


> Quite right. Wagner _wanted_ Kundry to have a crocodile head but was always kept down by _The Man_.


 LOL.

It's not an easy issue, because I fully accept that without a degree of state funding opera would be a thing of the past in most countries - which would be a great loss. So my issue is not with that income source in itself. It's more that I see in the self-indulgence of some productions a lack of accountability that goes hand in hand with the lack of artistic integrity.

IF these productions were providing genuine insights (i.e. enhancing the lives of the populace) then I would have no problem with my taxes going in that direction.

Then again, perhaps I'm wrong. Looking again at the Krocodile Kundry I wonder if the director was not in fact exploring Parsifal's actualisation of his inner Captain Hook. Pretty deep, if you unpack it.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

When I think of great American sopranos, I think of names like Callas...Price...and Mari Lyn.
During the 80s, I believe Mari Lyn did something like 9 half-hour programmes on public access TV in the States.
Sit back and enjoy - America's _Other_ Diva


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## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

Couac Addict said:


> ...hard to believe that she once sold out Carnegie Hall.


Not so hard to believe. Drivers slow down to watch the wreckage from a road accident.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Couac Addict said:


>


:lol: best laugh I had all day (err, the day just started). The subtitles are hilarious as well. To be fair, coloratura by its very nature is ripe for a good **** take.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

It's forgivable to be sucked into this production. Mozart's _Ascanio in Alba_ has Damrau on stage and Fischer conducting.
On paper, it sounds like an enjoyable production and overall it does _sound_ decent enough...just don't open your eyes.
It's another one of Salzburg's lemons.

This video clip has Damrau as Fauno swinging around in what must be the world's worst_ Chair-O-Plane ride.
_ One of the Voyagers (who only _recite_ the libretto) kindly translates with what looks like sign-language for the hearing impaired. 
...Damrau rewards him with a pair of 3D glasses. Well, of course she does.

This aria/scene is possibly the most normal part of the production.
Everyone's having seizures. The shepherds wear knitted vests with knotted handkerchiefs on their heads and they're running around carrying potted plants. Any familiarity with this opera will not help you understand what's going on.
The scenery looks like it was designed by your local high school.

On a positive note - Mozart is long dead and was spared this atrocity.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Couac Addict said:


> It's forgivable to be sucked into this production. Mozart's _Ascanio in Alba_ has Damrau on stage and Fischer conducting.
> On paper, it sounds like an enjoyable production and overall it does _sound_ decent enough...just don't open your eyes.
> It's another one of Salzburg's lemons.
> 
> ...




Makes the Jenůfa I saw in Zurich, where Kostelnička leaves the baby in an attic room to slowly starve to death, seem positively traditional.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

^^ I bet what happened was, Salzburg had to put together the entire 22 opera oeuvre and they ran out of money. So they gave their artier 3 year olds some candy and let them come up with a cracking concept


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

How about an Australian production?
You may know Teddy Tahu Rhodes as Escamillo in the last Met Live production of Carmen. 
Down here, we know him as _Mardi-Gras Zorro_.
...by the way, he's playing Don Giovanni.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Couac Addict said:


> How about an Australian production?
> You may know Teddy Tahu Rhodes as Escamillo in the last Met Live production of Carmen.
> Down here, we know him as _Mardi-Gras Zorro_.
> ...by the way, he's playing Don Giovanni.


I have a horrible feeling that his is the one that's on when I am planning to be in Sydney next August. I'll see it anyway, but really....


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

I'm sorry but LMAO :lol:



Couac Addict said:


> H


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Operafocus said:


> I'm sorry but LMAO :lol:


It does beg the question, how on earth are you going to "forzar la figlia" when you are laced and belted into those?


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

mamascarlatti said:


> It does beg the question, how on earth are you going to "forzar la figlia" when you are laced and belted into those?


For kavalierbariton...shorts remove itself. 
Donna Anna may want to stand back a bit.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Benvenuto Cellini. What's the first thing you think of? 
That's right. Helicopters and robots.

Oh, Salzburg. You've done it again.


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## Celloissimo (Mar 29, 2013)

[video]www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJZDoaVHkhw‎[/video]

'Nuff said.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Celloissimo said:


> [video]www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJZDoaVHkhw‎[/video]
> 
> 'Nuff said.


Just had a skim, looks a bit clunky but largely harmless. Wotan has a flowing robe, an eye patch and a spear, not an S&M outfit, a light sabre and a giraffe mask, so what's the problem?


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

I hope this was just in a dress rehearsal and she was saving her voice. Her continual employment at the Met is one of those things I find rather baffling. I can think of several singers I'd much rather hear who never get gigs there - Liz Caballero comes to mind.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

mamascarlatti said:


> Just had a skim, looks a bit clunky but largely harmless. Wotan has a flowing robe, an eye patch and a spear, not an S&M outfit, a light sabre and a giraffe mask, so what's the problem?


Or perhaps, a Wotan being performed by Indiana Jones. I'm giving a special thumbs up for the sunglasses with the missing lens.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Attention, costume designers.

*Cool Wotan*








*Lame Wotan*









Get it sorted!


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

^ a slinky has made its sneaky way into opera  I for one love those costumes in themselves, but it does not scream Wagner to me.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

...because it's art.

Another gem from Salzburg, where gratuitous nudity is the _rigueur de jour_.
*Not safe for work* - unless you're European, in which case, it is probably your screensaver.

I've seen this opera from the front row. I was robbed. Everyone was clothed and at no point was I thinking about getting a hepatitis shot.


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

Couac Addict said:


> ...because it's art.
> 
> Another gem from Salzburg, where gratuitous nudity is the _rigueur de jour_.
> *Not safe for work* - unless you're European, in which case, it is probably your screensaver.
> ...


Ugh. OK, that was far too many close-ups of lady parts for a Friday afternoon  Legs together, dear. Legs together. Especially when naked on a stage with a camera up your... pleasure palace. Makes me wonder what the ladies got paid extra for that. At the ROH, at least, the ballet dancers get extra money per tit they expose. I'm sure there's a different fee for exposed... cracks. Or maybe not 

Is it just me, or is the "madam"'s voice pretty rough-as-a-badger's-behind...?

Oh well.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

I'm never sure of what these 'get your kit off' directors aim to achieve as usually the nudity has nothing to do with what is actually going on in the script. Perhaps they have no real ideas of any note so try and distract the audience's attention away from their dire direction.


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## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

Couac Addict said:


> It's forgivable to be sucked into this production. Mozart's _Ascanio in Alba_ has Damrau on stage and Fischer conducting.
> On paper, it sounds like an enjoyable production and overall it does _sound_ decent enough...just don't open your eyes.
> It's another one of Salzburg's lemons.
> 
> ...


Lol! :lol: She looks like a Dr. Seuss character. That's why Diana Damrau is one of my favorite sopranos. The greatness of her voice outweighs even the silliest costumes.


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## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

Couac Addict said:


> ...because it's art.
> 
> Another gem from Salzburg, where gratuitous nudity is the _rigueur de jour_.
> *Not safe for work* - unless you're European, in which case, it is probably your screensaver.
> ...


Well, at least the Youtube comments were good for a laugh.


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

What about that production of Lohengrin at the Bayerische Staatsoper in 2009 where they were all dressed in black sweatpants and blue t-shirts? How's that for the bleakest Lohengrin production, possibly ever? Kaufmann looked fine dressed like that (then again, who are we kidding here, he'd look good in a plastic bag...) - but when Johan Botha stepped into the same production he looked like a blue toad . However, (and I'm almost afraid saying that in here) I think I actually prefer Botha's vocal out of the two.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

marinasabina said:


> Lol! :lol: She looks like a Dr. Seuss character. That's why Diana Damrau is one of my favorite sopranos. The greatness of her voice outweighs even the silliest costumes.


Have you seen her in "1984" as a really scary exercise instructor?


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Couac Addict said:


> ...because it's art.
> 
> Another gem from Salzburg, where gratuitous nudity is the _rigueur de jour_.
> *Not safe for work* - unless you're European, in which case, it is probably your screensaver.


Confirmation that i AM European. Seemed pretty mild to me. I was more interested really in seeing that Gwyneth Jones is still damned cool.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Operafocus said:


> However, (and I'm almost afraid saying that in here) I think I actually prefer Botha's vocal out of the two.


oh, no  some ladies might beat you senseless with their handbags for that one.


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

deggial said:


> oh, no  some ladies might beat you senseless with their handbags for that one.


I'd have thought it would be a welcome view - one less lady to fight over him with :lol:


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Damrau in one of her sexier roles. (couldn't find a video of her exercising)
Come on...it's an all-star cast. How bad can it be?


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

Operafocus said:


> I'd have thought it would be a welcome view - one less lady to fight over him with :lol:


Yes, I'll gladly leave Botha for you. Kaufmann and Harteros sound so fabulous in that production that I forget Jones' goofy "concept" in the pleasure of listening to them sing.


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

MAuer said:


> Yes, I'll gladly leave Botha for you. Kaufmann and Harteros sound so fabulous in that production that I forget Jones' goofy "concept" in the pleasure of listening to them sing.


I'm not a particular fan of Botha, but he has moments. I though this Tannhäuser was boring as... That may also be because Tannhäuser is a dreadfully boring piece - I don't know. Anyway. Yeah, Harteros and Kaufmann seem to do well together. Their "Don Carlo" at the Garden i May was pretty sensation. Not just down to them, obviously, but they certainly helped.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Operafocus said:


> I'd have thought it would be a welcome view - one less lady to fight over him with :lol:


Very nice version from Botha there, better than on his Wagner disc. But overall his acting is so non-existent I have to stick to just hearing him.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Couac Addict said:


> Damrau in one of her sexier roles. (couldn't find a video of her exercising)
> Come on...it's an all-star cast. How bad can it be?


This is a top notch production of a second-rate opera.


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## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

Couac Addict said:


> Damrau in one of her sexier roles. (couldn't find a video of her exercising)
> Come on...it's an all-star cast. How bad can it be?


Yikes! I stand corrected! Then again, this is the first time I've heard her sing anything atonal (or borderline atonal).


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

mamascarlatti said:


> Very nice version from Botha there, better than on his Wagner disc. But overall his acting is so non-existent I have to stick to just hearing him.


Yeah, the acting isn't really happening, is it. This may have been why Tannhäuser didn't work for me. Some say they don't really expect much acting from opera singers but I don't see _why _we shouldn't be able to expect that as well as a good voice. At least some basic skills. There's plenty of opera singers who just... you know... park and bark.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Operafocus said:


> Yeah, the acting isn't really happening, is it. This may have been why Tannhäuser didn't work for me. Some say they don't really expect much acting from opera singers but I don't see _why _we shouldn't be able to expect that as well as a good voice. At least some basic skills. There's plenty of opera singers who just... you know... park and bark.


I think he simply can't multi-task, ie act AND sing. I realised this in a Walküre I just watched. He was OK in the recit-type parts, quite good actually, but as soon as it got more aria-like and difficult he just HAD to watch the the conductor and concentrate on technique. It was quite comical actually, watching him physically snap out of his singing trance and look at the soprano (to whom he had just been singing a love song) the second he stopped.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

...and the booby prize goes to...

7mins of teasing before she truly _bursts_ into song.
There's so many trouser roles in this opera that I'm sure it was just done to remind us who's _supposed_ to be a woman.

...kindly pass me the opera glasses.


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

Couac Addict said:


> ...and the booby prize goes to...


Well, that even outdoes Angela Gheorghiu hanging _all out_ towards the end of "Faust" at Covent Garden.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Operafocus said:


> Well, that even outdoes Angela Gheorghiu hanging _all out_ towards the end of "Faust" at Covent Garden.


It doesn't, just like hunting down some urban kitten doesn't outdo wounding a lion.


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

Aramis said:


> It doesn't, just like hunting down some urban kitten doesn't outdo wounding a lion.


I was talking in terms of making it about **** rather than vocals.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Operafocus said:


> I was talking in terms of making it about **** rather than vocals.


Eh, so was I. I meant that seeing the whole thing in this Alcina video doesn't really outdo Gheorghiu in Faust. And that's because even if we can see the whole thing, that whole thing is still far less ravishing that just a part of the Gheorghiu's thing.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Sometimes, the video director is the one to blame.
Brace yourself for weird camera angles, editing and extreme close-ups


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Couac Addict said:


> Sometimes, the video director is the one to blame.
> Brace yourself for weird camera angles, editing and extreme close-ups


This one seems bad enough even without the camera work.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Couac Addict said:


> There's so many trouser roles in this opera that I'm sure it was just done to remind us who's _supposed_ to be a woman.


there's only one  Bradamante is supposed to be a woman, yo. I think it was done because Cath... I mean, Alcina is supposed to be a babe. I never quite got why so many people bitched about this production; it looks fine all around to me. I'm not so much into CN's singing but I'm with you on the opera glasses. _They_'re tiny


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

deggial said:


> there's only one  Bradamante is supposed to be a woman, yo.


What about Oberto and Ruggiero? Or did someone finally prove their commitment to opera and were castrated.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

yes, Ruggiero is the one. Oberto is a kid, so he doesn't count  I've seen him sung by boy sopranos in the past, but I will concede in this production you're right. Considering it's one of my fave operas I always manage to forget about Oberto :tiphat:


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Well, I just sat through this production of Die Walkure. No, I don't know why either. I think that I was just hanging around for the third act because I just _knew_ that Ride of the Valkyries would be insane.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Couac Addict said:


> Attention, costume designers.
> 
> *Cool Wotan*
> View attachment 27576
> ...


Sure! It's just that the creators (and some of the consumers actually!) of modern operatic productions believe that costumes of the first type will be liked only among World-of-Warcraft-playing and fantasy-film-watching teenagers, but for "high culture" you need something more sophisticated.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Crayola commercial? Or should I just be thankful for Robert le Diable being performed?


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Couac Addict said:


> Crayola commercial? Or should I just be thankful for Robert le Diable being performed?


Good fun actually. Wait till you see the zombie nuns.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

^ to be fair, it's really faithful to period paintings (and fun to see).


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Couac Addict said:


> Crayola commercial? Or should I just be thankful for Robert le Diable being performed?


It was fab. Loved the dancing bear.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

...you had me at _dancing bear._


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

...only because it made me laugh. This is the production of La Boheme where Schaunard almost dies before Mimi.
Fast-forward to 1:35:50 and watch as Schaunard tries to navigate his way through the door.

_Oh, wait I think I'll just lie down here and try to look sad. Where am I? Why is the room spinning? Is that Mimi or Violetta in the chair?_


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Couac Addict said:


> ...you had me at _dancing bear._


I kid you not! Reminded me of this guy.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)




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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I love this production of Ercole Amante. Cavalli shouldn't be taken too seriously and his operas are a lot of fun.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

I was thinking of the poor singer -- that costume looks as though it would have been pretty uncomfortable and difficult to move around in. The platforms on those boots look like an invitation to a sprained ankle (or worse).


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Couac Addict said:


> Sometimes, the video director is the one to blame.
> Brace yourself for weird camera angles, editing and extreme close-ups


IMO everyone is to blame here. This is a very good reason NOT to watch Wagner's operas. Elderly singers, nonsensical direction, bad singing and turgid conducting. Actually a good reason not to listen either. The one plus was that she didn't take her kit off. For one horrible moment I thought she was going to!


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

MAuer said:


> I was thinking of the poor singer -- that costume looks as though it would have been pretty uncomfortable and difficult to move around in. The platforms on those boots look like an invitation to a sprained ankle (or worse).


He (Luca Pisaroni) says it was pretty tiring and very HOT!


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

*Priscilla, Queen of the Rhinegold*

I confess that I haven't seen this Ring Cycle production that is currently being done in Australia. It may be awesome but I suspect that I may have just saved myself $2000.






...but I always say that a good Ring Cycle can be judged by its Valkyries. For some unexplained reason - if _Ride of the Valkyries_ doesn't look weird, the rest will fall nicely into place.
What is this?


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

Oh dear, swimwear really doesn't flatter some of those folks in that opening scene from _Das Rheingold _. . .


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Ovations after the performance of opera entitled _Hot Blonde Damsel Gets It From Horny Army of Hairy Guys_:


















The second geezer from the right, first row - you can see he enjoyed it.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Aramis said:


> Ovations after the performance of opera entitled _Hot Blonde Damsel Gets It From Horny Army of Hairy Guys_:


The Rape of Lucretia? Looks like someone kicked it up a notch.


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