Given the trenchant criticism from many quarters of Ticciat's conducting, you do have to wonder if he was the right choice to succeed Jurowski at Glyndebourne.
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Originally posted by aeolium View Post
Everyone I know who's been to it has walked out.
Wild horses etc etc."...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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No-one walked out of the cinema where I was watching itOriginally posted by Caliban View Post
The reasons I go to see an opera rather than just listen on CDs or on the radio are mainly because it is intended to be seen and not just heard, and with foreign language operas there are few that I know so well that I can follow the action simply by listening. I don't go with high expectations of any production and if I had walked out of all the productions that disappointed me then I wouldn't have stayed the course on very many. The musical performance is the most important aspect for me and that was generally of a high standard in the ROH Eugene Onegin, especially the singing. Ticciati's was not the most convincing interpretation of the score I have heard, but it was not the worst either, and as I said there was much to enjoy.Comment
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Not a great opera fan myself, but I have been enjoying the occasional snippet of Handel's italian operas on COTW recently.
However Rinaldo was played on TTN last night, a recording from a live performance. Characterised by heavy foot steps, laughter from the audience, and music a bit thinly spread.
But since it was in Italian, I'm not surprised that the humour may have been lost on the English critics when it was first performed.Last edited by Quarky; 10-03-13, 14:59.Comment
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I greatly enjoyed this Rinaldo. Rather to my surprise - because when I saw this live at Glyndebourne, it was killed stone dead by the schoolboy production. The childishness of it all, the ugliness, the lack of magic and wonder, all (for me) negated the glories of the music.Comment
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I quite agree (I saw the TV production which was shown some months back). Much better to hear on radio than watch it, especially as it was the Proms semi-staged version and not the fully staged one.Originally posted by David-G View PostComment
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I too saw it last year at Glyndebourne and I thought it was crass, totally off beam. Another case of close eyes and enjoy live music (which is still a reward for the journey, but as its a long day journey, not enough) (Must dig out the director/ designer's name and put them on my "approach with caution" list).Comment
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The director was Robert Carsen. I didn't see Rinaldo and the reviews I've read make it unlikely that the production would necessarily appeal, however his Falstaff for the Royal Opera last season was superb and I also loved his ENO production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which was streets ahead of the appalling (IMO) David Alden production which replaced it in 2011.Originally posted by Stephen Smith View PostOur chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency....Comment
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WNO's Madama Butterfly review from last night:
Lovely performance, shame about the audience...
Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency....Comment
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Whoops. The ENO production was so nasty, I got my Aldens muddled up. It was Christopher, not David.Originally posted by Il Grande Inquisitor View PostOur chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency....Comment
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I wonder if that's the production I saw a few years ago - much less, or rather even less, sympathetic to Pinkerton and the US? On that occasion (in Bristol), Pinkerton was booed slightly too, though it was obvious that it wasn't the performer himself or his performance that was disapproved of but the rather less familiar presentation.Originally posted by Il Grande Inquisitor View PostWNO's Madama Butterfly review from last night:
Lovely performance, shame about the audience...It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.Comment
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It is indeed the same production that I'm astonished to realise I first saw on tour in Southampton some 33 years ago! Definitely not my favourite Puccini plot. I'm always tempted to boo gently however fine the singing :(Originally posted by french frank View PostComment
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Yes, the Butterfly production dates from 1978. The Vixen I saw the other night was from just two years later, but both come up fresh as the proverbial daisy... a classic (and refreshing) case of 'if it ain't broke...'.
Re booing, I took a few soundings from singers yesterday and they really don't like it. One response was 'Hate it. Happened to me in DNO Troyens. V disconcerting and unsettling', while another stated 'it's the equivalent of laughing at jokes in Italian when you don't speak Italian to show that you "understand".' Some also made the point that at curtain calls, the audience is applauding the singer, not the character.Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency....Comment
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Did anyone hear the Met "Traviata" yesterday? Domingo was singing Germont senior, I thought he was in tremendous form. And Diana Damrau, singing Violetta, was wonderful. Traviata is not really one of my favourite operas, but I enjoyed the performance very much.Comment
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Yes, I heard (most of) it, & enjoyed it. One thing I did think odd & the was not having an interval between Act 2 & Act 3 - essential I think to allow for the change of pace, & also because of the passage of time between the events of Act 2 & of Act 3Comment
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