Bring back Bondy
A source close to (though not necessarily at) the Metropolitan Opera tells La Cieca that the company’s production staff “late last week” pitched the idea of reviving the Franco Zeffirelli production of Tosca in the fall of 2010 in order to free up some backstage space for the “QEII-sized” sets for the new Rheingold. Peter’s Gelb‘s answer? A resounding “no!” So, La Cieca predicts, you can count on Luc Bondy‘s vision of the Puccini shocker to return the boards as scheduled.
Apparently the necessary elbow room will be obtained by cutting down on some of the clutter of Zack Brown‘s Rigoletto sets, substituting elements from a lighter version of the production created for a 2001 tour of Japan.
A representative of the Met’s press department says, “At this point we have not confirmed next season’s rep.”
i always thought it’d be a cold day in hell if they’d not use the bondy again. that’d be a tacit acknowledgement that gelb failed in his attempt to bring new avant-garde, cutting edge productions to the met.
OMG, there is nothing avant*-garde, cutting edge or remotely provocative in that staging. If this is what passes for avant-garde at the Met, what do you make of the Wilson Lohengrin, theit Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Frau?
Gelb is just standing by his man as he should. There are things to dislike in that production but it is not a disgrace by any means.
hey, i was just saying what gelb thinks he’s doing.
oh yeah, btw, as i said before, i agree with you, i don’t dislike the bondy tosca as others… it’s not totally successful but it’s not that bad.
Why would a revival of the Zeff production free up backstage space?
Something about the Z. breaking down into smaller pieces. Apparently it’s much easier to deal with a lot of small pieces than it is with a few gigantic ones. The Z. is also based on a lot of soft pieces, i.e., drops and the levels are mostly accomplished through deployment of stage elevators. So if the Bondy is designed with solid walls and a lot of steps, all that stuff adds to the backstage clutter.
I see. Many thanks for the explanation. Maybe they should just stage Tosca on the Rheingold set. It can’t be as dull as those brick walls … Or can it?
How long does the Met keep the bits and pieces of terminated productions?
In other words, Zef understands what goes on in an opera house. This is something Gelb needs to take into account as he casts a longing eye at directors who have nary an operatic clue.
Yes, that’s exactly right. The director who created a universally-reviled production that ran wildly over budget and then disabled the Met’s stage machinery for a whole season “understands what goes on in an opera house.”
Je suis confondu.
I’m not surprised. As much as I loved our visit to Dr. Lacieca’s parallel universe, I thought it very odd if Gelb would say yes to bringing back the Zeffirelli production.
MontyNostry: Apparently, the Zeff sets fold up easily and take less space than one would think.
Now, I’m REALLY intrigued as to how massive these Lepage sets are. As I’ve mentioned, when the new Trittico production premiered, the Met was able to present it and the Zeff Turandot (the company’s two biggest sets) on the same day (mat and eve). These Rheingold sets must be really big if they’re paring down Rigoletto and actually considered bringing back the old Tosca.
They should do the Zeffirelli set without the stupid elevator trick
in the last act. Gelb’s answer?
A. “Funny you should mention that, I was just thinking the same thing.
B. “Honey, get Joe Clark on the phone.
C. “Go F yourself”.
The elevator hasn’t made an appearance in Tosca in more than a decade. I think the crew just gave up on teching the show two different ways depending on whether Pavarotti was scheduled for Cavaradossi that season and froze it in the “flat” version.
Totally unrelated, but just discovered by me …
If you wnat to know why Mariusz Kwiecen is a BARI-HUNK, check out his picture on his website from the Warsaw “Don Giovanni”. It’ll give you palpitations.
Yep, there’s a definite cock-shot there in the last photo. tasty.
Link?
Given the fact that the Bondy production is traveling to Munich and La Scala (unless the intendants saw the HD transmission and canceled the transfer), is it too much to ask that the production be revised?
You know the Zef “Turandot” was revised after the prima. Lots of junk was removed from the Riddle Scene palace set in Act II. Scrolls with the answers to the riddles that were pulled out from Turandot’s costume were given to supers on either side of her. (One critic said that the banners coming out from her costume made Turandot the ultimate Zeffirelli heroine – a party favor.)
Frankly a new lighting design, some major reblocking throughout and perhaps new furniture and props in Act II could do wonders. A new soprano couldn’t hurt either. The changes could start going in for the Spring return this season.
To bring back the production is perhaps defensible, to bring it back unchanged is pure mule-headed arrogance and hubris.
“A new soprano couldn’t hurt either.” Yes, but it would probably go to Natalie Dessay. She can REALLY do the eye-popping hysteria as Tosca. Never mind that no-one would be able to hear her.
They’ll bring Ponselle to sing the high Cs for her.
But didn’t Ponselle have trouble with high C’s? [Or is that the point you're making?
]
isn’t dessi singing tosca in the spring at the met?
finally someone with a more italianate sound — although lacking the vocal glamour of mattila’s.
Vocal glamour? Dry, hooty singing with a screeched top? A Vissi d’arte which would make a student blush. Come on!
Who can’t hear Dessay? Is this a hearing-aid problem? Granted, the idea of her doing TOSCA is preposterous, but it’s your idea.
The question, though, is at what point, with all this reblocking, new furniture, new props and lighting redesign the production ceases to be “The Bondy Tosca.” In a way this is like hiring Nelly Miricioiu to sing a bel canto opera, and then dictating to her which ornaments she should use, substitute this cabaletta with another piece, add this high note, leave that high note out, and so forth.
There’s a certain amount of collaboration that goes on during the production process. After the production opens, I think it’s heinous to behave as if an artist is a house painter.
A different situation is in place in other theater, e.g., Bayreuth, where the director is expected to revise his production every year. (Of course the director’s time and effort to continue the creative process this way is budgeted fromt the beginning.)
Just because Franco Zeffirelli is an artistic whore who is content to let his name remain on something that bears only the most superficial resemblance to his original vision doesn’t mean that everyone else has to turn tricks too.
Yes other hands did likely revise the Zef “Turandot”. But what if Bondy revised his own production? Would he be a whore or house painter then?
The most egregious case in the “bad old days” of the Volpe regime was the wholesale dismantling of the Graham Vick “Il Trovatore” after the disastrous opening night. By the time that production had its last revival, there was almost nothing left of it. Uncle Joe sent most of it to the scrap heap with pieces disappearing at each return.
Let’s imagine a more collegial solution? How about Bondy and Gelb sit down and discuss what is not working and what is frankly ridiculous and tacky in the “Tosca” and work to change it for the better? That way the production could still be Bondy’s but it could work for the singers and the audience which I think we both agree, La Cieca, it currently does not?
Well, first of all, we don’t know this isn’t happening on some sort of informal level. The first run of this production suffered the loss of one of the three singing principals barely a week before opening, and then the cancellation of the conductor after the first night, plus the HD coming up after only a couple of week. In that kind of high-pressure circumstance, there does get to be a point where it’s counterproductive to try to make any changes, even when they seem to be clearly indicated and definitely for the better — because performers need for the show to be frozen.
Part of the agreement here is that Bondy does return in the spring for the revival, when there will be some breathing space for changes to be made. There will also be cast changes, which provide more opportunities for rethinking.
The difference, though, is not having the General Director calling a full tech rehearsal as soon as the regisseur leaves for JFK.
Well, I was informed by a well-connected source that right after the very unfortunate open dress rehearsal of the Bondy “Tosca”, Gelb canceled stage rehearsals for “Aida” to allow Bondy revisions to his staging before opening night. Frankly, very little changed for the better. The show looked half blocked rather than totally unstaged. I think the whores in Act II made an earlier exit. That’s about it.
I must also interject that Bondy already dropped many things from his conception before it even got to the dress rehearsal. Such as Scarpia penetrating Tosca’s vagina on the sofa and being stabbed in flagrante delicto. So the production as it currently stands may not reflect his full original conception. I respect the integrity of director’s ideas when their ideas work. When they don’t, they can and should be changed. A major director like Bondy who is known to be very talented should have the opportunity to revise his own work.
Are these whores in the Bondy Tosca the most famous non-title whores in the history of the Met? They certainly do get referenced a lot (and I know I am myself guilty of pointing toward them).
I also think Bondy will have time to re-work the production when it’s done in Munich later this year with Mattila and Kaufmann and then when it’s done at La Scala.
Cieca, Dear, is your good friend and sage Dr. Repertoire back to answer our pressing questions about matters operatic?
I want to know if a person plans on hating a new Ring Cycle, is it okay to boo the Rheingold? Or must one wait until the end of the Gotterdammerung before booing vociferously?
It is considered poor taste to boo any Ring production until the chord changes from E-flat.
Then we are good. Could you imagine if the Ring had been composed by Phillip Glass?
One would hope that he would throw in a different chord by the second act of Walkürie at least.
That’s an interesting comment about Philip Glass and the RING. I would point to the RHEINGOLD prelude as just about the first real example of minimalism in music.
I have been on the Met stage once, but it is my understanding that the stage layout at the Met is the same they used at IU in Bloomington and that is a stage I know very well. The reason why I say that is because the Rheingold sets must really be massive for the Met not to have enough room.
If the IU stage is any indication, stage right, left, and back are exactly the same size as the actual stage. Each of these sides is equipped with a wagon that can move a completely built set without the stagehands having to go on stage to build anything. The Met also has the elevator and that is the same size as the stage.
So technically, the Met has 4 spaces the same size of their stage where a set could be built complete and left there for a scene or act change. If the met is lacking space for all this, then that Rheingold set is a bitch. Anybody seen designs?
When all this stage machinery is used well, it can create magic. Back many moons ago when IU did Hoffman, the prologue was build on the stage left and right wagons (they were rolled and met in the middle of the stage). When Hoffmann said this is the story of my 3 loves we went into a freeze and the wagons were moved to their areas effectively splitting the set in 2; only to reveal the set for the Olympia act all the way in the back of the theater. When the prologue sets were out of the way, the Olympia act was rolled into position as the prologue to the act was played by the orchestra. Audience went mad every time.
Also, let’s not forget that the Lepage Ring is supposed to be bleeding edge computer-aided scene effects. Like his Berlioz, but more so.
This might bring in a whole raft of tech issues that don’t apply to typical productions.
Mariuz has major camel toe in the red pants and major nubbin it the white pants. Now I’m panting.
It can now be confirmed that Mariusz hangs (audience) left.
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/don-gs.JPG
http://www.mariuszkwiecien.com/images/gallery/2002-dg-warsaw-3.jpg
Who was the Leporello in Warsaw? Might partly explain the tumescent kielbasa (but then you can pretty much always see the outlines of Mauriusz’s pole, regardless of the production of Don G production).
I believe the issue with the Rheingold set(s) is not that they are so massive, but that once assembled it’s completely impractical to disassemble it between performances. Thus one of the Met’s side stages will be unavailable to other productions.
I guess if we thought the intermissions in Tosca were long this season….