Buffman glance
A video of Brad Pitt in wet underpants. Now, you would think that there is no way that such a video would be less than fascinating, right? Well, you’d be wrong, because the video is directed by the only man in the world who could make Brad Pitt in wet underpants look boring.
Robert Wilson, of course. Via Vanity Fair.
UPDATE: Oh, and did I mention that Pitt is furious at what his legal representative calls an “unauthorized” use of a still from the Wilson video “portrait” that Vanity Fair used as the cover of their “Art Issue?” The cover identifies Wilson as an “avant-garde impresario,” which of course is zero for two.
Well, but don’t tar all non-traditional productions with the same brush, maybe, baritenor. there’s stupid, juvenile, provocative crap and then there’s unsettling, non-stagnant, provocative non-crap. Isn’t there? Can’t there be middle ground between rigid, idea-less adherence to tradition (my classic example is always the Schenk Ring) and dressing everyone as penguins? For me the productions in this middle ground are the ones most worth going to.
I just can’t say anything right, can I? Look, I’m not a traditionalist by any means. One of my all-time favorite productions is the Ian Judge FIGARO monted for Los Angeles and, I think, San Diego, which is set in the 1930s. I fell in love with John Cox’s minimalist VANESSA and Friedkin’s Ariadne, set in Hollywood. Hell, I enjoyed the highly-publicized MANON starring Netrebko and Villazon that so recently made the rounds in LA: It went over the top at times, but it had some really good things it in. Hell, I even enjoyed the Robert Wilson Butterfly (though in no small part thanks to Patricia Racette). But Wilson’s Parsifal, Friedkin’s Salome, That guy who put fisting into Die Entfuhrung, They make me sick to my stomach.
baritenor: didn’t mean to jump down your throat. Apologies if it sounded that way. (I’m guessing so if your comment began “I just can’t say anything right…”) I’d love to see pictures of a minimalist Vanessa. That sounds kind of swell.
They can be found here:
http://www.losangelesopera.com/home/photo.asp?productionid=181
As you can see, Minimalist is a bit of an overstatement, but it wasn’t the opulent mansion you usually see. And there was an extreamly effective moment at the end. Throughout the evening, the back of the stage was visable through a huge plexiglass wall. When the house was closed up again in the last bars of music, a huge black cutain was drawn behind the wall, cutting out all light but for spots on Erika and the Baroness. Chilling. (This, by the way, was the last performances of a compleate opera Kiri te Kanawa sang)
I just recently bought the Hasmik Papian/Norma DVD….and of course it was performed somewhere in the Netherlands…..Vocally, you can’t get any better than Papian…why that girl hasn’t been invited to be the penultimate Norma at the MET for these generation is BEYOND me….but that’s beside the point…..the production was confusing, it was a cross between Norma Desmond and All About Eve….It looked like it was set in Hollywood during the 40′s, and it took place behind a set for whatever movie they were filming. Norma (Papian) was the movie star, full of attitude and fan worship, Adalgisa was the Eve, but manipulative straight on, god KNOWS what Pollione was, because neither his voice or deportment were at ALL attractive….kinda BIG and LUMPY…Pavarotti without the godsent voice. The setting had a BIG stump in the middle of the stage which never left, and dressing tables were like the thrones that the protagonists kept to. HATED it at first, because the setting was NOT defined, and when Oroveso was addressing the Druidi, being that this was nothing but modern dress, it didn’t even seem cohesive. But, the longer you viewed it, the more it intrigued you, because the acting of Papian and whoever the Adalgisa was is incredible. And besides to Pollione, it came across as lush singing, in which the staging, albeit modern, didn’t detract from the music. I’d PREFER minimalist, nothing but green forest, maybe a naked hunky nymph running to and fro, but if I HAVE to view my favorite singer do the role, and I HAVE to have it modern set, then it made sense, therefore OK…..I mirror Baritenors stance….it HAS to make sense.