ROH 'William Tell'

[Serial_Apologist]

Dub Franck. Now I would give THAT a spin !

Sounds like some sort of counterfeit currency like the Euro.

Perhaps Avaaz could organise a mass petition to have some sent to the Greeks, who presumably are OT on this forum.

[Flosshilde]

Post no. 204

Not normally, no. But at certain points it becomes necessary, where the music and the drama jar so much.

Post no. 205

Yes, I do understand what a Messageboard is for, but some are now just repeating themselves endlessly in a futile quest to have the last word!

[Prommer]

Lawks a mercy! You win... Arggghhh....

[MrGongGong]

critical theory has something to say about this. But I probably bang on about it too much.

Edit: some interesting thoughts here

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=0rTJKxc0q8oC&pg=PA237&lpg=PA237&dq=how+robust+are+musical+works&source=bl&ots=ftkmwv5qXI&sig=AHfMFGUMe-xEhlJHIq8_KqvvXxA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=drGaVbr9Dsbg7QaxrrmwAg&ved=0CFkQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=how%20robust%20are%20musical%20works&f=false

and on P241 touching on the role of the listener , and what audience bring to a performance.

Thanks for this
will have a read

[Flosshilde]

Lawks a mercy! You win... Arggghhh....

I didn't realise there was a competition?

[Barbirollians]

Having just read Richard Osborne's coruscating review of the Graham Vick production on DVD in Gramophone today I wonder what he would make of this .

[vinteuil]

coruscating

...

[Barbirollians]

Well it made me laugh it was very witty hence the word coruscating .

[Prommer]

Yes.

[Flosshilde]

Thank you very much for that, jean. We've had tickets for some time and I was a bit worried when I saw the comments (even making the front page of the Evening Standard).

When are/were you due to see it, Don B?

[HighlandDougie]

I'm not sure that I would rush to see William Tell again, irrespective of the production. It does go on a bit (even with the odd nip and tuck, as in this one). From a seat perched in the Gods, it was sometimes difficult to work out what was going on but I thought that the production was an intelligent attempt to provide a more contemporary context for what is a bit of a lumbering beast of an opera. Better that than green tights and codpieces. In that context, the by now toned down scene didn't seem gratuitous to me. I suspect that some people would have decided that they hated the director's conception of the work a long time before the offending scene which simply added fat to the fire. Musically, I liked it a lot. Tony P keeps a firm grip on proceedings- and I thought that Tell was particularly well sung and acted by Gerald Finley. Going back to the work, though, I'm not sure that I wouldn't have swapped the entire work for one of the Ravel Mallarme settings I heard on Monday night in the Wigmore Hall.

[Don Basilio]

When are/were you due to see it, Don B?

Tuesday 14 July. I'll be in my kilt.

[aeolium]

HD, I agree that the complete WT does have longeurs and I thought the WNO production directed by Pountney last year provided an effective compromise, cutting it down to around 3 hours of music.

As to this production, I had already decided it was not for me irrespective of the gang-rape (now apparently considerably toned-down) but on the basis of other reports, not just broadsheet reviews but blogs from those who had attended, including this one. The most valuable information for me in an opera review is factual description about the production, including photos if possible, rather than the opinions of the reviewer, since tastes in productions can vary widely. The quality of the music-making has impressed most reviewers and I will listen to the R3 broadcast next Tuesday evening.

[David-G]

I went last night. I love "Guillaume Tell" deeply, and have been waiting years to see it at Covent Garden, but to say that this was a disappointment would be an understatement. I found it monotonous, dramatically inept, infantile, and deeply boring. A mood of depression settled on me which made me unable to enjoy or appreciate any of the superlative musical performance. I went home profoundly depressed and feeling that the whole evening had been a waste of everybody's time.

Incidentally, there was significant booing after the rape scene, in the pause between scenes.

I feel annoyed and frustrated that the inanities of the production prevented me from enjoying the musical performance. I might try going again on Tuesday - but I shall have to take care that I see nothing. I think a blindfold will be required.

[jean]

I only saw it in the cinema, but my experience couldnt be more different - and that includes my experience of the rest of the audience, who arrived determined to support the production and were cheering before the performance even started (do you think they were specially vetted, because the performance was to be relayed?)

Nobody booed the rape scene - indeed I don't see what reason you could possibly have for doing so, as there was no nudity, no sound from the actor who played the woman and as far as I could see, despite the obvious intentions of the soldiers, Tell snatched her away before any rape was perpetrated.