Does it matter what opera singers look like?

[gingerjon]

I agree with your thoughts Mary, having a 20 stone Cio-Cio San or a skinny Falstaff would look ridiculous, which is why I prefer to just listen to opera rather than see it. What I really hate though are productions that set an opera completely in the wrong time, location etc, just so a producer/director can gain some notoriety. I could never have watched the recent production of RVW's The Pilgrims Progress for example, it would have ruined the work for me. With all the drive for authenticity these days opera seems to be going in the other direction.

It's surely about whether a production 'works' rather than steadfastly follows everything in the text to the letter. Some updates and tinkering can seem utterly pointless - others bring out drama and emotions in new and interesting ways. Providing the spirit of the original is there (and in opera, the music is treated with respect) I don't see a problem.

As for the OP, there seems to have been a strong element of personal insult in the original comments and I don't think the reviewer has helped himself by following it up essentially describing the singer as a pretty girl who shouldn't worry her sweet little head too much. And, without wishing to sound too Leslie Philips, some of the more hurtful comments and about size, puppy fat etc. seem to be as if the reviewers were actually looking at an entirely different woman to the one whose picture the papers are now showing.

And, finally, finally, if you can suspend your disbelief that these people are singing about their lives in front of 1,000 people (rather than, say, just getting on with things) enough to be swept up in the emotion then you should be able to get past that one of the characters doesn't *quite* look like your blessed fantasy.

[Flosshilde]

Would it ever occur to an opera critic to point out the presence or absence of avoirdupois on the frame of Baron Ochs in this production?

Presumably it doesn't matter all that much (& possibly the less physically attractive the better), whereas Octavian is supposed to be a 17 year old boy. He could be rather plump, but would he have attracted the eye of the Marschalin if he was?

I think the sisze of the singer playing Parsifal in a recent production (referred to above) was commented on by reviewers.

[JimD]

Rupert Christiansen ignoring Lord Healey's sage advice ...
To me, the most interesting words there are 'disinterested criticism'. Mr Christiansen is a gay man and is just as capable of being sexist as any other man brought up in our culture. Telegraph.

"Disinterested criticism"? Ha, who's he trying to kid? I don't know about 'everyday sexism': could it possibly have anything to do with his own judgements of attractiveness in men?

[aeolium]

I agree with gurnemanz's msg 12 picking up on Christiansen's assumption about a "conventional" idea of Octavian, whatever that is. It's easy for the reviewers to pick on extreme examples of inappropriate casting such as a skeletal figure playing Falstaff but in quite a lot of operas there is a fair degree of leeway in what might be suitable. Given what Leporello says about Don Giovanni's tastes in his catalogue aria, for instance, it's hard to think of any casting that would be seriously flawed (visually) for Donna Anna and Donna Elvira. And the context of the production can contradict conventional expectations of a character's image.

I have rarely been bothered by the issue of "appropriate" visual appearance of opera singers in productions - far more often the problem has been the perversity of operatic directors. And for me the quality of the singing would excuse much. If for instance Kathleen Ferrier had looked "inappropriate" (according to current critical taste) for the role of Orfeo in Gluck's opera, would that have been a bar to her singing it on stage?

[kea]

So normally Octavian is a male character who is supposed to be played by a lady. That is ok and cool and super awesome.

But on this occasion Octavian was played by a different kind of lady which is totally weird and gross.

Opera makes no sense

[Nick Armstrong]

Trouble is, all that suspension is just so exhausting.

I have rarely been bothered by the issue of "appropriate" visual appearance of opera singers in productions - far more often the problem has been the perversity of operatic directors.

Quite - I usually end up in the opera house listening with my eyes closed. Which is why I've sort of given up going, seems like a waste of money.

for me the quality of the singing would excuse much.

Ain't that the truth!

[teamsaint]

So normally Octavian is a male character who is supposed to be played by a lady. That is ok and cool and super awesome.

But on this occasion Octavian was played by a different kind of lady which is totally weird and gross.

Opera makes no sense

And thus reviews in the national press sit very nicely with this particular art form?

Inknow that critics have a role to play, but making ones own mind up is rather under rated,min general.
Although probably not round here

[Roehre]

....
Opera makes no sense

Agree, but so does most of classical (and for that matter: all) music

[Roehre]

.... I usually end up in the opera house listening with my eyes closed. Which is why I've sort of given up going, seems like a waste of money.....

Exactly why I have given up going to attend live opera performances.

[Mary Chambers]

There are accusations of sexism in this case. I'm not so sure - or if it is, it works both ways. A friend of mine (female) described her shock when some operatic romantic hero made his entrance and she immediately thought of Friar Tuck. Admittedly she isn't an opera critic and it wasn't in a national newspaper.

It's notable that five male critics wrote similar unpleasant things. That seems to indicate a bit of a problem, unless they all consulted each other. The fault seems to me that they were incredibly personal and rude, not that they criticised the casting, which is a reasonable thing to do.

Has anyone actually seen this production?

[aeolium]

I haven't seen the production, though may go to the live cinema broadcast on June 8th.

A couple of pictures from it on the BBC website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27500461

[doversoul1]

I find all this fuss a bit silly. If you make it your profession to stand in front of people and act and sing, you expect all sorts of things said about you, including your appearance; both good and bad. If opera singers believe that their voice and singing are all that matter, why don’t they just ignore comments they think irrelevant?

I’m sure these reviewers have written unkind things about male singers in opera productions but that doesn’t seem to get picked up. I wonder if this is an odd form of sexism?

I like opera (I’m only talking about Baroque kind) best in a good concert performance. No absurd staging to get in my way and usually singers ‘act’ very well. But these are far and few in between even on youtube. So, back to CDs.

[Flay]

I found the shape of some of Opera North's recent Valkyries quite distracting, perhaps because their dresses did nothing to conceal various bulges.

http://recitative.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/20120630-img_0268-2.jpg

https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/cdn.operanorth.co.uk/uploads/image_asset/asset/398/cropped_Walkure01.jpg

Please will somebody explain to me why so many opera performers, both male but especially female, veer towards (and often beyond) the obese.

[Rolmill]

It's notable that five male critics wrote similar unpleasant things. That seems to indicate a bit of a problem, unless they all consulted each other. The fault seems to me that they were incredibly personal and rude, not that they criticised the casting, which is a reasonable thing to do.

Absolutely. For me, pace Rupert Christiansen's rather feeble defense of his original piece, it's not the fact (or the direction) of the criticism that is the problem, it's the manner in which it has been expressed. As others have said, anyone being paid for performing on stage should expect to have any aspect of their performance (including the visible as well as the aural elements) potentially subject to criticism. However, they should also expect that criticism to be expressed respectfully and without resort to personal abuse.

[Richard Tarleton]

Interestingly colour (which also might be thought to require some suspension of disbelief) is not an issue for anybody - opera has been colourblind, more or less, since Marian Anderson.