Die Fledermaus - Johann Strauss.
Oct. 2nd, 2013 03:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
motodraconisI was still recovering from a shitty cold when I staggered out to the ENO for Die Fledermaus. No worries though, as this is one of my favourite operas and I was looking forward to a top quality staging.
All photos taken from the ENO Flickr site.
Heh.
Well, it did not start well, with 2 singers having to mime while understudies sang from the side. (It being a rehearsal and all.) Even so, I strained to hear the songs even from singers without lurgy. This annoyed me, as I have a few favourites in the first act and frankly, a drinking song ought to be belted out with gusto! Still, things looked like they might get interesting as Alfred (Edgaras Montvidas) began to strip off. I rather hoped for a flash of man-bum, Shakespeare's Globe style and a rather more agreeable sight in Montvidas' case. Alas no!
Managed to meet up with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
crazycrone and helenraven at the interval, both of whom were a little bit stunned from the performance (and not in a good way.) A rather posh and imperious German lady in the box was utterly aghast at the performance so far. "It's too crass! Fledermaus should not be like this! It should be done with subtlety, in the elegant Viennese style which is all about delicate flirtation!"
I'm not sure I agree with that, to me, Fledermaus is all about a bunch of people getting pissed up at a party, snogging people they shouldn't have and it all being a bit embarrassing the next morning. It has no plot, is quite banal, but it should strike a chord with anyone who has been to a student party, up to and including the fetching up in jail bit. (Blah, blah, in my day... students knew how to have fun... blah blah.)
I don't mind vulgarity in opera, and vulgarity and debauchery would be fine in Fledermaus. Half the songs are about boozing and snogging FFS. There were aspects of this production that tweaked vague chords for me - the cast in a hodge-podge of spangles and corsets and bare-flesh, which sort of reminded me of the sort of parties that I go to now. Apart from the fact that the parties I go to have less debauchery (being actually quite civilized) and considerably more sartorial imagination.
There was a moment when the Prison Governor Frank emerged in full eyeliner and feather-trimmed diaphanous gown which made me snort inwardly, but only because he reminded me of a certain infamous character on the scene who had knobbled me a few weeks before at a ball. For the rest of the audience, of *cough* advanced years, this was not going down well. I could practically feel the waves of outrage and fury emanating from Imperious German Lady sat next to me.
I quite liked Orlofsky, (Jennifer Holloway) which is a great role, but in this case a bit over melodramatically played (like much of the staging.)
So far so good? Er... we were into the 3rd act, and the little niggles that had irritated before were unleashed in full force. I like this opera, it is one of my favourites, I can probably be more generous in overlooking its flaws because I love the songs so much, but when I search for words, all that floats to the surface is "execrable." What in the fucking fuck where they thinking? The spoken role of Frosch is generally tricky, but it should at least attempt to be funny. Instead, we were treated to some sort of proto-Nazi pastiche with inexplicable epileptic fits thrown in. The Nazi-thing was offensive, the epilepsy (speaking as someone who has chums with epilepsy) was beyond belief offensive. At one point, Frank is dragged off and beaten up by the prison guards, why? For being a transvestite? Once again, offensive! Why the fuck could they not have played the tranny-card with coolness, and had Frank swanning around his prison in full feather boa and generally being fabulous. After all, he is supposed to be so fabulous that Adele is keen to hook up with him. What The Fuck! It was all, just a bit... nasty. Fledermaus is supposed to be all frothy silliness. What Were They Thinking?
We stumbled out... and did not hang around, perhaps from the overhang of horror pervading us all. As I settled down on the tube to ride home, I saw a daughter, (middle-aged) with her very frail and elderly father sat next to her. I guessed they'd been to the opera (not that there's a type or anything - oh no!) and when I caught a mention of ENO I could not resist asking them for their thoughts. They were not impressed, and wondered if "modernising" an opera is A Bad Thing, though in the case of Carmen, a modern, gritty, and out and out vulgar take resulted in an amazing production that I would urge anyone, particularly an opera novice to see if they play it again - you will not be disappointed! We had an intense chat on it, all the way from Leicester Square to Hampstead where they got off, so if nothing else, the production gets you talking to strangers.
A few days later, I am at work, and one of my co-workers made a bee-line directly at me. He has a chum in the orchestra and generally goes to the rehearsals for free. "What did you think?" He looks at me pointedly. I mumble... but I am not making positive noises. It is enough, and he unleashes a rant about just how appalling the production was...
"Terrible singing - couldn't hear it."
"Seen all that vulgar stuff before - it's old hat"
"The dark and offensive elements - WHAT ON EARTH?"
"It's supposed to be funny - there was one funny bit in the entire opera."
"Dreadful, dreadful set, poor, unimaginative, dull."
"People have to pay a lot of money to see opera - imagine if you were in one of the good seats - you might be paying up to 100 pounds - for that - it's shocking!"
I can't say I loathed it as much as everyone around me, but nor can I recommend this as an opera to see. At worst, you'll hate it and be offended (and not in an edgy way, offended in a somewhat unpolitically correct and utterly unnecessary way) at best you'll be wrong-footed, confused and not especially amused.
The reviews so far are a bit divided, one or two seemed to like it, but the broadsheets consider it more of a dung hill, unfunny and unsexy, or batty in the wrong way.
All photos taken from the ENO Flickr site.
Heh.
Well, it did not start well, with 2 singers having to mime while understudies sang from the side. (It being a rehearsal and all.) Even so, I strained to hear the songs even from singers without lurgy. This annoyed me, as I have a few favourites in the first act and frankly, a drinking song ought to be belted out with gusto! Still, things looked like they might get interesting as Alfred (Edgaras Montvidas) began to strip off. I rather hoped for a flash of man-bum, Shakespeare's Globe style and a rather more agreeable sight in Montvidas' case. Alas no!
Managed to meet up with
crazycrone and helenraven at the interval, both of whom were a little bit stunned from the performance (and not in a good way.) A rather posh and imperious German lady in the box was utterly aghast at the performance so far. "It's too crass! Fledermaus should not be like this! It should be done with subtlety, in the elegant Viennese style which is all about delicate flirtation!"I'm not sure I agree with that, to me, Fledermaus is all about a bunch of people getting pissed up at a party, snogging people they shouldn't have and it all being a bit embarrassing the next morning. It has no plot, is quite banal, but it should strike a chord with anyone who has been to a student party, up to and including the fetching up in jail bit. (Blah, blah, in my day... students knew how to have fun... blah blah.)
I don't mind vulgarity in opera, and vulgarity and debauchery would be fine in Fledermaus. Half the songs are about boozing and snogging FFS. There were aspects of this production that tweaked vague chords for me - the cast in a hodge-podge of spangles and corsets and bare-flesh, which sort of reminded me of the sort of parties that I go to now. Apart from the fact that the parties I go to have less debauchery (being actually quite civilized) and considerably more sartorial imagination.
There was a moment when the Prison Governor Frank emerged in full eyeliner and feather-trimmed diaphanous gown which made me snort inwardly, but only because he reminded me of a certain infamous character on the scene who had knobbled me a few weeks before at a ball. For the rest of the audience, of *cough* advanced years, this was not going down well. I could practically feel the waves of outrage and fury emanating from Imperious German Lady sat next to me.
I quite liked Orlofsky, (Jennifer Holloway) which is a great role, but in this case a bit over melodramatically played (like much of the staging.)
So far so good? Er... we were into the 3rd act, and the little niggles that had irritated before were unleashed in full force. I like this opera, it is one of my favourites, I can probably be more generous in overlooking its flaws because I love the songs so much, but when I search for words, all that floats to the surface is "execrable." What in the fucking fuck where they thinking? The spoken role of Frosch is generally tricky, but it should at least attempt to be funny. Instead, we were treated to some sort of proto-Nazi pastiche with inexplicable epileptic fits thrown in. The Nazi-thing was offensive, the epilepsy (speaking as someone who has chums with epilepsy) was beyond belief offensive. At one point, Frank is dragged off and beaten up by the prison guards, why? For being a transvestite? Once again, offensive! Why the fuck could they not have played the tranny-card with coolness, and had Frank swanning around his prison in full feather boa and generally being fabulous. After all, he is supposed to be so fabulous that Adele is keen to hook up with him. What The Fuck! It was all, just a bit... nasty. Fledermaus is supposed to be all frothy silliness. What Were They Thinking?
We stumbled out... and did not hang around, perhaps from the overhang of horror pervading us all. As I settled down on the tube to ride home, I saw a daughter, (middle-aged) with her very frail and elderly father sat next to her. I guessed they'd been to the opera (not that there's a type or anything - oh no!) and when I caught a mention of ENO I could not resist asking them for their thoughts. They were not impressed, and wondered if "modernising" an opera is A Bad Thing, though in the case of Carmen, a modern, gritty, and out and out vulgar take resulted in an amazing production that I would urge anyone, particularly an opera novice to see if they play it again - you will not be disappointed! We had an intense chat on it, all the way from Leicester Square to Hampstead where they got off, so if nothing else, the production gets you talking to strangers.
A few days later, I am at work, and one of my co-workers made a bee-line directly at me. He has a chum in the orchestra and generally goes to the rehearsals for free. "What did you think?" He looks at me pointedly. I mumble... but I am not making positive noises. It is enough, and he unleashes a rant about just how appalling the production was...
"Terrible singing - couldn't hear it."
"Seen all that vulgar stuff before - it's old hat"
"The dark and offensive elements - WHAT ON EARTH?"
"It's supposed to be funny - there was one funny bit in the entire opera."
"Dreadful, dreadful set, poor, unimaginative, dull."
"People have to pay a lot of money to see opera - imagine if you were in one of the good seats - you might be paying up to 100 pounds - for that - it's shocking!"
I can't say I loathed it as much as everyone around me, but nor can I recommend this as an opera to see. At worst, you'll hate it and be offended (and not in an edgy way, offended in a somewhat unpolitically correct and utterly unnecessary way) at best you'll be wrong-footed, confused and not especially amused.
The reviews so far are a bit divided, one or two seemed to like it, but the broadsheets consider it more of a dung hill, unfunny and unsexy, or batty in the wrong way.
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Date: 2013-10-02 03:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-02 04:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-02 03:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-02 05:00 pm (UTC)Madame Butterfly is next, with minimalist but visually arresting sets. I've been promised a treat.
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Date: 2013-10-02 05:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-02 10:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-02 10:38 pm (UTC)