Jacques off
“…the director doesn’t end with the ties between Offenbach and Hoffman. He connects the thematic dots, as if it were logically inevitable, to Kafka, who — wait for it — was also a Jew! This is indeed true, but Mr. Sher could just have easily have chosen Norman Podhoretz.” [NY Observer]
A Podhoretz-inspired Hoffmann? With Gore Vidal as the four villains. no doubt…and at the end the Muse inspires Hoffmann to give up literature for political punditry…but what would Heather MacDonald say?
That fox-trot variation of the Hoffmann-Nicklausse duet and the waltz in the Olympia act reminds me of the old song SWEET SUE JUST YOU.
Funny – when anyone ever mentions the song “Sweet Sue” I always think of this episode from “Lucy”!
And I thought you all would have thought of me! LOL!
I don’t believe this was meant to be a review of the premiere performance but a think piece on the production itself. Mr Woolfe’s one real comment on a singer was in relation to Mr. Calleja’s ability, or apparent lack thereof, to deliver the character described by the director in the notes; quality of singing and orchestra playing never came into the mix–which leads to my conclusion that the “review” if you wish to call it that, is only of the director’s work, not of the performance in toto.
This piece is blistering, so much so that I felt a bit sheepish, upon reading it, for having basically liked the production, and publicly so.
That said, I think the production may actually work substantially better if you didn’t read the director’s note and didn’t look too hard for Fellini, Kafka, Anna Freud, Albrecht Durer, whoever else’s ghost was supposed to be lurking up there.
I had heard a little bit about the Kafka thing and promptly forgot it during the prologue, so it didn’t bother me that there really wasn’t much going on up there to evoke Kafka or anyone else. I realize our doynenne found the production terribly dull on its own merits, authorial shout-outs notwithstanding, but I do think at least without the burden of Big Name informing aesthetics, it was palatable enough.
And, c’mon. The umbrellas? That was a bit of alright!
If you’re going to Podcast Hoffmann, John Podhoretz, son of Norman P. and Midge Decter, is somewhat closer to Hoffmann’s age. But, eeeewww!
“Podcast” is good.