Lay the Blame on Dame
You would think that La Cieca would climb on her very high horse about the elementary school music theater in Colorado who riled up parents by showing the “Who’s Afraid of Opera?” version of Gounod’s Faust to her students. And certainly some of those parents overreacted in the good old American way. (One mom called the show “a satanic video,” when the real problem is the cheesy production values and Dame Joan Sutherland‘s mushy French diction.)
Oddly enough, though, La Cieca is inclined to take a contrarian position on this issue. Even when performed by a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire and a supporting cast of hand puppets, Faust isn’t really a story for children. Take away the “classic” status, and what’s left? Attempted suicide, making a bargain with Satan, a song about how the Golden Calf rules the world, a virgin seduced with a box of jewels, the same girl (now pregnant and unwed) tormented by demons in a church, a brother cursing his sister just before he dies, insanity, infanticide, and a specifically Christian representation of an after-death experience.
Saying that video games or television shows are just as bad is irrelevant: the teacher didn’t bring Doom or “The O.C.” into the classroom. I really believe her heart was in the right place, and I think it’s wonderful that kids have some kind of exposure to opera. But the sexual and religious themes of this particular work are ripe for misunderstanding and consequent panic on the part of parents.
The good news is that opera can still be regarded as something other than anodyne. Oh, and while we’re on the subject, wouldn’t you know that La Cieca has a relevant video handy?
our local opera house in this most enlightened and worldly of european city-states put on a production of tannhäuser last september where the venusberg scene featured a rape of europa enacted by a french art-porn star and his usual female sidekick. the gentleman made his entrance wearing a large bull’s head and nothing else, sporting an impressive erection au naturel (21 centimetres, according to the press office, no stuffed phalluses here) with which he proceeded to hump his partner until it was time for the leda and the swan scene.
there was quite a kaffuffle at the time (which made it all the way to dear la cieca’s cher public, who were all abuzz about the fact that a respectable opera house had hired a MALE PROSTITUTE) around questions of taste and propriety, and would children be allowed in the house to witness the olympian stiffie??? in the end, a simple caveat was posted at the box offce and at the ticket barriers… and no ID cards were requested for the younger members of the audience.
ITDCS, i have no idea what AVA is but it sounds nasty and censorious. do you people really live in “the land of the free”?
ginerva, we actually had discussed that production here a few months ago – I think I was the one who brought it up. One of the singers in that production was telling me about it in the Met’s green room (he was there covering Ramfis). The man who told me of the experience had used the term “male prostitute” rather than “porn star” – seeing that English was not his primary language (he is Icelandic) I could understand if he was not acquainted with the correct terminology – I merely repeated what had been told to me when posting it here with the intent of allowing discussion to ensue and also to get an idea of what actually took place, since, like I have said, the gentleman was not very specific in his details. What was the name of the French porn star? Does anyone perchance to know?
AVA is the abbreviation for the Academy of Vocal Arts. Like I said, I was not there in attendence to view the production and wasn’t a part of it either so forgive me if I am unable to supply further details of the production. I only know what has been told to me by one of my closest and oldest friends who was in that very production, several other AVA students that I know, and a well-known costume designer that worked on the same production with a different opera company. It does make some sense that AVA or any university would choose to censor such an explicit production given the nature of their audiences which tend to often be made up of family members (including children), other musical students, accademic sorts, and the general public. Since AVA is an accademic institution of sorts, they may have felt that utilizing such an avant-garde and graphic production may have upset sponsors, patrons, faithful opera-goers. Even though it is art, and I truly admire Mr. Kazan’s work…certain things are very difficult for the general public to swallow and understand – they can be easily offended by certain things (i.e. watching Marge get raped on stage). I’m not saying that I necessarily champion their decision to chop up Gounod’s masterpiece and Kazan’s brilliant visual interpretation of the storyline…but I can understand their point of view.
ITDCS, many thanks for your kind and detailed explanations on AVA. i understand the issues at hand (harrumph!) better now. academic institutions of that ilk can be priggish, prudish and over-bearingly mothering at times, but hardly censorious.
the french art-porn star is called hervé-pierre gustave (aka HPG “‘ash-pé-gé”). you can read more about him (en français, cher public) on http://www.360.ch/presse/1999/10/dossier_x_tout_ce_que_je_fais_est_extreme.php; or visit the gentleman’s personal website on http://www.hpgnet.com/