Nag, nag, nag
La Cieca would like to give the cher public a little nudge in the way of a reminder that the procrastination competition will be closed at midnight tonight. So what are you waiting for? (Remember, only comments to the original posting will be considered!)
well, I was going to contribute something fabulous to that thread but then something else came up and my mother called and I had a cake to bake, which took so long make it, and now the comments are closed. Maybe next time, for sure.
By all rights, the prize should already have been awarded to the person who posted first, who after all accomplished the existential feat of putting off the actual act procrastinating itself.
that needs an ‘of’ in there someplace,
Nice try, Betsy.
is that Joseph Cotten in that photo?
I believe it’s Tom Ewell.
Certain things are not subjects of levity. Bert Lahr on the left, E.G. Marshall on the right, Anonymous Carrot, center
Of course you’re right, Betsy. Ewell was in the original production, I believe, replaced when it got to NYC–and I imposed what I believed onto what I was seeing. Of course, I would NEVER do that with opera….
N.B. I know that comment of mine means something, but to tell the truth, I’m not sure what. May I let it sit as a sort of opera-koan?
I PROCRASTINATED but it isn’t midnight yet, and the comments on the entry post are already closed! I know this isn’t the right post, but here is my entry here if La Cieca would be so gracious to accept it. I have almost 45 whole minutes left!
I made the poor choice of the Patrice Chéreau “Siegfried” video on this dark and stormy night and have only made it to the end of Act Two at this point. I have seen the rest of the Chéreau “Ring,” but somehow missed this one, and checked it out of the library today. I hope this still counts, I don’t have a backlog of things I’ve bought. Also, I have been drinking my way through Acts I and II, so I’m not sure if I can come up with anything coherent to say at this point.
But incoherence is my customary reaction to Wagnerian drama in any case. I can get it in theory, and I love the music, but once I see it plopped on stage it often mystifies and sometimes bores me. I’ve seen some Wagner performances that I have loved, but largely for musical rather than dramatic reasons. Chéreau, however, well, I’m not much more than a novice when it comes to the Ring but I can only look forward to seeing more in this staging as I learn more about this opera, I mean, music drama.
Chéreau’s greatest achievement for me is that he makes these often incomprehensible characters understandable in an immediate way. Mime is an annoying old grandfather, but also a tragic figure who doesn’t deserve what he gets. Siegfried? Well, maybe there’s nothing to be done there in the character development department, at least in the first two acts, but he doesn’t annoy me as much here as he usually does. I can only imagine the amount of rehearsal this production took, but the quality, detail, and intelligence of the acting is everything it’s cracked up to be.
Chéreau’s “Ring” makes much reference to the 19th-century history that served as the background for Wagner’s artistic development, particularly the relationship between humanity and nature. “Siegfried” moves between Mime’s smoky, industrialized den and the foggy, primeval wilderness (what 19th-century operatic wilderness isn’t at least a little primeval?). Visually the production is beautiful but for the most part unspectacular, at least on video. It’s mostly dark so far, and does not indulge in showy effects for dramatic moments such as the splitting of the anvil. Chéreau trusts the music to take care of that, a giant light cue would be pushing the point. However, Fafner the Dragon is awesome.
The set is dark and often disappears into the background. The characters, however, stand out (Robert Lepage, are you listening?). The Bayreuth house conceals the orchestra both visually and aurally, and Boulez favors transparency over orchestral muscle. Similarly, the singers are parts of the production, not individual stars. Honestly, this may be because most of the vocal performances are around an A-, good but not outstanding. Cool it, I haven’t gotten to Brünnhilde’s entrance yet, remember?
Yeah. Sorry for the lack of Gwyneth Jones, but I have a deadline here. (And I really don’t want to start a troll war here by stating an opinion about her art.) And I got to go now, there’s still some wine left and I haven’t gotten to Das ist kein Mann yet.