ROH 'William Tell'

[subcontrabass]

[QUOTE=Flosshilde;494838I regret even more now not going to see Welsh Opera's (?) production.[/QUOTE]

I saw the Welsh National Opera production of William Tell in 1963 in their northern outpost in Llandudno. I do not remember anything that would have made it memorable. It was somewhat abbreviated.

[Flosshilde]

The William Tell (and other operas) don't break social taboos until the contemporary directors get hold of them.

Not really totally true. Plenty of operas upset the censors when they were written - portraying contemporary prostitutes, relatively recent regicide, portrayal of religious ceremonies on stage, for example.

[Flosshilde]

I saw the Welsh National Opera production of William Tell in 1963 in their northern outpost in Llandudno. I do not remember anything that would have made it memorable. It was somewhat abbreviated.

Didn't they do it more recently - like last year? Or was that another company?

[MrGongGong]

Not really totally true. Plenty of operas upset the censors when they were written - portraying contemporary prostitutes, relatively recent regicide, portrayal of religious ceremonies on stage, for example.

L'elisir d'amore = Sex and drugs

[french frank]

Not really totally true. Plenty of operas upset the censors when they were written - portraying contemporary prostitutes, relatively recent regicide, portrayal of religious ceremonies on stage, for example.

Yes, it would be a sweeping generalisation to say it was NEVER true. But I think I might still argue (until totally flattened ) that taking, say, an opera which had nothing 'outrageous' about it when composed and introducing gratuitous elements into a production which could be predicted to shock is rather different. In opera, in particular, this seems to be a modern phenomenon.

[french frank]

Didn't they do it more recently - like last year? Or was that another company?

Yes, they did.

[MrGongGong]

http://www.roh.org.uk/news/guillaume-tell-a-response-to-recent-debate-and-discussion

[Barbirollians]

Oh dear they are damned if they do and damned if they don't now .

The scene sounds like a seriously bad idea and the number of very unpopular new productions since the arrival of Kasparov Holten is rather striking .

[HighlandDougie]

Oh no! My half-a-bottle of rosé inspired impulsive purchase of a cheap seat up in the gods for what will no doubt be a hot evening next Wednesday is beginning to seem like a bad idea, having read the above posts. Suggestions of alternative events to fill an evening in London on 8th July gratefully received!

[MrGongGong]

Oh no! My half-a-bottle of rosé inspired impulsive purchase of a cheap seat up in the gods for what will no doubt be a hot evening next Wednesday is beginning to seem like a bad idea, having read the above posts. Suggestions of alternative events to fill an evening in London on 8th July gratefully received!

Why not make up your own mind?

[teamsaint]

Oh no! My half-a-bottle of rosé inspired impulsive purchase of a cheap seat up in the gods for what will no doubt be a hot evening next Wednesday is beginning to seem like a bad idea, having read the above posts. Suggestions of alternative events to fill an evening in London on 8th July gratefully received!

If you are of a militant disposition ,HD, you could join thE picket lines for the evening, and sell the ticket for the strike fund.

Hope your lodgings are on a bus route or a walkable distance from Covent Garden.

[french frank]

Oh no! My half-a-bottle of rosé inspired impulsive purchase of a cheap seat up in the gods for what will no doubt be a hot evening next Wednesday is beginning to seem like a bad idea, having read the above posts. Suggestions of alternative events to fill an evening in London on 8th July gratefully received!

Splurge out on a good meal.

Sometimes listening to others is wiser than ignoring them to 'make up your own mind'. At any rate, it's a bit more sense than going to something which you wouldn't otherwise have gone to - but for all this publicity.

[Richard Tarleton]

Interesting counter-coverage in The Times today. Article based on interview with the director on p. 9, and a challenging piece by Anna Picard in T2 (supportive of the director, critical of the audience).

(Plus, for balance, an opinion piece in favour of heckling by David Aaronovitch who doesn't like opera anyway).

[Flosshilde]

(until totally flattened )

That'll be an event to go into the history books

[Flosshilde]

Yes, it would be a sweeping generalisation to say it was NEVER true. But I think I might still argue (until totally flattened ) that taking, say, an opera which had nothing 'outrageous' about it when composed and introducing gratuitous elements into a production which could be predicted to shock is rather different. In opera, in particular, this seems to be a modern phenomenon.

From Wikipedia -

"Political concerns have also contributed to the varying fortunes of the work [William Tell].
In Italy, because the work glorified a revolutionary figure against authority, the opera encountered difficulties with the Italian censors, and the number of productions in Italy was limited."

and, as has been said in various articles, there is a reference to rape in the libretto. Of course, at the time it was written, rape as a weapon of war might not have been particularly controversial