From The House Of The Dead -OH, Covent Garden

[Conchis]

I imagine I'm not the only forum member to have seen this production.

I found it wilfully obscurantist and contemptuous towards the work itself. An opera that would be difficult to stage anyway became utterly bewildering. And I suspect a crash course in Foucalt wouldnt have helped.


Awful, awful production, imo. The conductor, the orchestra and (especially) the singers had my sympathy.

[MickyD]

Sounds like yet another production which is more about the director than the work. When will people rise up against all this nonsense?

[kuligin]

A dreadful production.

Key elements removed, like the injured Eagle.

Aleja the only significant role for a woman in the opera, he is a young boy in prison,sung by a tenor who appears to cross dress so completely changing the relationship with the nobleman prisoner

Not set in 19th century Russia which makes a nonsense of the text

Far too much incomprahensible action in the backround when the prisoners tell their stories. The play within the play impossible to follow.

A video during the orchestral preludes and between the Acts, I closed my eyes and as it was silent thank god I do not know what it was about.

A mess that did not assist Janaceks music at all but not as bad as Lucia where a new story was imposed running along side the real opera.

[makropulos]

I entirely agree - an absolutely horrible production with not one single redeeming feature visually. I was at the dress rehearsal and went again on Saturday night (I was asked to say a word or two for the forthcoming Opera on 3 broadcast). Musically I thought it was pretty strong apart from the pointless and wrongheaded casting of Aljeja as a tenor (Boulez did the same thing a few years ago - it was a rotten idea then and it's a rotten idea now, especially as Aljeja was Janacek's 'Kamila' character in From the House of the Dead). The orchestra was tremendous, the chorus work was excellent, and of the soloists (all good) I though Jochen Reuter's Shishkov was exceptional. But watching the thing was painful in the extreme. All those inflatable dolls of women, and the wretched basketball player...(the absolute nadir came after the final chord, when the prisoners cheered him for getting a basket). As for the video bits, the one between Acts I and II was particularly intrusive as there was speech as well as vision (that's being cut for the radio broadcast, I'm glad to say). It was a production that did no favours to the work, but I was delighted to see it pretty full on Saturday. And on the plus side it was marvellous to hear John Tyrrell's new edition in all its glory, well conducted, superbly played and very well sung for the most part.