parterre box

41 comments

• NYCOQ says:

  Lohengrin was the first opera I ever listened to on the radio. I have have seen other productions and they all stood around. I actually went to see it for Debbie Voigt and Ben Heppner AND to get a chance to see a Robert Wilson production – who I think is a genius BTW. I am NOT a slavish devotee of eurotrash productions – particularly those half thought out concepts of Mark Lamos and his ilk. But a when a director has VISION – like Peter Sellars or Mr. Wilson – it can make the theater experience transcendent.,

  on August 31, 2006 at 6:58 PM
• Cuprousone says:

  Well, nycoq, we have something in common, as Lohengrin was the first Met b’cast I made a point of listening to (Konya, to date myself). I also prefer a challenging production, as long as it respects the work.

  on August 31, 2006 at 8:36 PM
• la divina due says:

  I do miss Voigt in the Wagner. Do you think that her days of dramatic singing are over?

  on August 31, 2006 at 11:20 PM
• Micaela says:

  I think one of the things that gives opera in the US its reputation for dowdiness is the generally staid stagings. Many of the Met productions are just representational and sometimes, well, rather boring compared to the more exciting theater out there. And I don’t mean Broadway. The Met seems to be reaching a Broadway level now, while people here are looking for something more like the UK’s National Theatre (and rightly so).

  I hope I’m not a “slavish devotee of Eurotrash,” but I think that a lot of European productions get something that ours often miss. They’re exciting, and they’re real interpretations. The better nontraditional opera productions, I think, focus the action and attention to the singers and the action more sharply than most traditional productions. We don’t need Zefferelli and his castle and his sheep to tell us where the opera is set, and something that both doesn’t detract from the singing and is about something larger than the plot at hand is a lot more interesting.

  Oh, and as for a stunning and very nontraditional production, Peter Konwitschny’s Don Carlos in Vienna completely blew my mind. If you ever have the chance to see it, don’t pass it by (and you get the whole uncut score in French!!!).

  on August 31, 2006 at 11:49 PM
• opera80221 says:

  La Divina Due, I have to totally agree with you….except…
  In one season here in Denver, we had 2 modernist approaches to both Norma and Entfuhrung….the latter worked famously, practically one of the best productions I’ve ever seen, the Norma did not. Entfuhrung was set on the Orient Express, and kinda of reminded me of the setting of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express….intrigue was the theme of the evening, the costumes were stunning in the 1920′s Beau Monde. Every nuance supported the singers, the drama, the plot. Norma’s detracted visually from the plot, and in the end, the singers SAVED the production….it was a hideous slatboard look alike of a lumberyard…whatever the reason for the setting, it failed. My point is I LOVE modernist approach as long as it makes SENSE…as long as it’s presented as a cohesive whole, and ADDS to the singers interpretation, not detracts from it. Michaela, from what I’ve seen and read about Eurotrash productions is that the attention is drawn AWAY from the singers, the drama, and is totally meant to manipulate, sometimes even offend…at least these directors make a mark even though it might be a foul reputation? Peter Sellars updates make TOTAL sense to me….as a lyric tenor, my LEAST favorite role is Don Ottavio, but I would sing it for Peter’s production anyday….he’s contemplating suicide, looking at a knife, thinking of his nowhere life. It might not be what’s in the original plot, but it MADE SENSE…Throwing crap on the stage and calling it art is senseless…even Callas said we have to approach art with dignity or it’s not taken in with much pleasure

  on September 1, 2006 at 8:07 AM
• butterfly says:

  Maybe the problem lies in the fact that opera singers don’t have a public life like they did a scant 40 years ago. If I were to ask someone who didn’t know a thing about opera who their favorite opera/classical singer was they’d say Renee Fleming. I don’t like La Portamenta, but (thanks to her label I presume), she REALLY gets out there. She’s been on Martha Stewart’s chat ‘n cook show. They make her up to look like Renee Russo in The Thomas Crown Affair and put her in Rolex ads. (It’s amazing what great lighting and a little grease paint can do!)

  My point is, opera lost it’s personality because singers lost their personalities. Callas’ coke/champagne comment on Tebaldi made front page news not 40 years ago! I know a lot of people that would be more than happy to see what the fuss was about and would shell out the money to get a seat just to watch the drama unfold. And when they’re done, they will have sat through a performance of whatever and maybe will have thought, DAMN, that was really good. Come for the drama, stay for the music.

  Then again, I’m young. What the hell do I know?

  on September 1, 2006 at 9:37 AM
• Diva-in-Training says:

  I don’t think Peter Gelb’s advertising blitz is that far off the mark, costly though it may seem. Opera and classical music nowadays are so unrelatable that even music lovers and enthusiasts of other arts forms find it foreign. Listen to top 40 radio nowadays and one hears a myriad of styles from the popular genres of hip-hop/R&B, teeny pop and alt-rock, to the less popular genres like Michael Buble and Jamie Cullum’s jazz and Alicia Keys’ old school soul.

  The only representatives of opera in this field are singers we don’t even acknowledge as opera singers, the likes of il Divo and their ilk, whereas the young stars of true opera like Netrebko and Villazon are nowhere to be found!

  With a falling importance in education, the way for opera to survive is by establishing itself onto the mainstream culture, at least letting people know that such venues of entertainment exist. It is especially important for opera producers not to get complacent and rely on mostly charity for their income, while ignoring the general public at large. Its one thing to blame the educational system, but lets not forget that schools are meant to instill basic education and moral values in children, and western music education might not necessarily be an important part of the mix (not for an Asian country like mine anyway).

  That’s why I fully support Renee and Netrebko’s less than subtle attempts to get the press’ attention (differing opinions of their talents not withstanding), anything to get the word out is great! Publicity makes up for what traditional education is not doing anymore, by educating an audience with disposable income abt what they can get out of opera.

  My local opera company recently staged Mozart’s Figaro as our one (pathatic) annual production, and while I found the production somewhat dull (having been spoilt by the great selection on DVD), the huge advertising blitz resulted in sold-out performances (the ads obviously cost more than what went on stage), with 80% of the audiences discovering this opera for the first time and laughing at jokes written 250 years ago. If advertising can increase audiences to such high levels as this, isn’t it a cause worth supporting?

  on September 1, 2006 at 1:06 PM
• actfive says:

  Let us remember that the Met used to attempt to “play to” the notion that its audience was culturally superior (I think Gelb’s approach will work MUCH better).
  Two of the Met’s “themes” for the year in the early eighties were:
  LET THE GRANDEUR BE YOURS
  and
  MAKE A DATE WITH CIVILIZATION
  Just a little pretentious?

  on September 1, 2006 at 2:57 PM
• Cuprousone says:

  Diva in Training, you say “lets not forget that schools are meant to instill basic education and moral values in children, and western music education might not necessarily be an important part of the mix” I could not disagree with you more. Our moral values are encoded in our cultural produce, western classical opera included, along with the great works of all world cultures. By marginalizing them we’ve debased ourselves and betrayed our children. This is entirely aside from the proven pedagogical benefits of including music in the standard curriculum.

  on September 1, 2006 at 3:27 PM
• NYCOQ says:

  Diva has a point…part of the reassessment of ‘music classes” was the why should we honor old dead white men? thing that happened in a lot of inner city schools back in the 80′s (student) and 90′s(teacher) when I was a part of the education system.

  Did anyone catch the Netrebko spread in Vogue? Just what opera needs. RECOGNITION! better her – someone with genuine talent – than Il Divo or Opera Chics. And Lord knows I am sick of Renaaaay being the face of American opera. I think Mr. Gelb is going in the right direction publicity wise. The people with an interest will feel welcomed and those that you couldn’t drag in kicking and screaming will ignore the ads.

  on September 1, 2006 at 9:14 PM