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oliver sudden
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« Reply #225 on: 17:50:44, 18-03-2008 » |
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Well, there are two I can think of, albeit that the first is a bit mischievous: cut the final scene from Don Giovanni so that it ends with his descent into hell. The final scene seems so pointless and anti-climactic, which I suppose is the point Mozart was trying to make.
I believe that was how it was done in the C19, to make it a Faustian tragedy. Apparently it doesn't appear in the libretto for the Vienna performance in 1788 - so perhaps even Mozart might have done it that way on occasion. (So the way they do it for the film Amadeus isn't without historical basis.) Although he did make other alterations for the last part of the finale for Vienna so it would be odd if he hadn't actually performed them... |
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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #226 on: 20:30:03, 18-03-2008 » |
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I believe that was how it was done in the C19, to make it a Faustian tragedy. Maybe I just can't face a tragic ending, but DG is far more than that, and the epilogue is integral.
Entirely agreed - in fact it's my favourite moment  At last they can all get with the things that have been occupying their minds all the while... Zerlina might marry Masetto if he shapes-up a bit, Leporello can find himself a better master, and Donna Anna puts Ottavio's protestations on hold yet again  It reminds me of the end of LE GRAND MACABRE, when Necrotzar has blown the entire world to bits... but Piet the Pot still finds time to have another little drinky? Which is surely a DG hommage? |
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"I was, for several months, mutely in love with a coloratura soprano, who seemed to me to have wafted straight from Paradise to the stage of the Odessa Opera-House"
- Leon Trotsky, "My Life"
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Ruth Elleson
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« Reply #227 on: 23:21:39, 18-03-2008 » |
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... Donna Anna puts Ottavio's protestations on hold yet again Having grown up with G&S and not seen Don Giovanni for the first time until age 21, this bit always makes me think of Phoebe Meryll's line "And we will be wed in a year - or two - or three at the most." I've never worked out whether this is an intentional allusion to Don G. |
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Oft hat ein Seufzer, deiner Harf' entflossen,
Ein süßer, heiliger Akkord von dir
Den Himmel beßrer Zeiten mir erschlossen,
Du holde Kunst, ich danke dir dafür!
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Il Grande Inquisitor
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« Reply #228 on: 12:54:57, 30-03-2008 » |
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Is it something to do with transformations?
Strauss - Daphne (transformed into a tree)
Handel - Orlando (someone is transformed into a bush, aren't they? or back from one?)
Cavalli - Calisto is transformed into a little bear and then a constellation (quite a day for her)
[Even later still, so another colour change is called for: If we make the Handel one Acis and Galatea instead (Acis turns from Shepherd into Water Feature) then maybe the connection is that the transformations are all taken from Ovid?]
Assuming George is correct in his investigations, what other operas feature transformations of characters and (assuming you may have seen the operas involved) how have directors dealt with them? Has anyone ever seen Strauss' Daphne? (I've got the Fleming CDs) How do you turn your soprano into a tree?! |
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« Last Edit: 12:58:37, 30-03-2008 by Il Grande Inquisitor »
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Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency
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richard barrett
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« Reply #229 on: 13:24:22, 30-03-2008 » |
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Has anyone ever seen Strauss' Daphne? (I've got the Fleming CDs) How do you turn your soprano into a tree?!
I've seen a concert performance! It would depend on what kind of tree you wanted. Something like this might not be too difficult.  |
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harmonyharmony
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« Reply #230 on: 13:27:11, 30-03-2008 » |
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How do you turn your soprano into a tree?!
That sounds like the beginning of a joke... |
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'is this all we can do?' anonymous student of the University of Berkeley, California quoted in H. Draper, 'The new student revolt' (New York: Grove Press, 1965) http://www.myspace.com/itensemble |
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Il Grande Inquisitor
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« Reply #231 on: 13:29:02, 30-03-2008 » |
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How do you turn your soprano into a tree?!
That sounds like the beginning of a joke... ...I suppose it would depend on how wooden her acting was!  |
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Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency
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George Garnett
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« Reply #232 on: 14:40:08, 30-03-2008 » |
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Boom Boom, IGI! Take a bough. Given the right stage designer and a couple of game singers I am sure the magic of theatre could match Bernini:   Hmmm. Well, this is probably where the lighting designer has to earn his keep as well. |
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« Last Edit: 15:27:18, 30-03-2008 by George Garnett »
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martle
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« Reply #233 on: 15:34:20, 30-03-2008 » |
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Nature herself is pretty good coming up with ideas, though...  |
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Green. Always green.
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Antheil
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« Reply #234 on: 15:44:42, 30-03-2008 » |
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Martle, where did you get that picture from?
We had a Jesus tree here locally (a Copper Beech)but it had to be felled a few years back
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Reality, sa molesworth 2, is so sordid it makes me shudder
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HtoHe
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« Reply #235 on: 16:44:55, 30-03-2008 » |
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Has anyone ever seen Strauss' Daphne? (I've got the Fleming CDs) How do you turn your soprano into a tree?!
I saw it last year, IGI; I even posted a little write-up when I got back to Blighty (see 26-12-07 threads). Basically they just projected sylvan images over her until she was gradually absorbed . It worked well enough for me; after all, I wasn't expecting much in the way of realism in 'Daphne'! It was the gratuitous political imagery that I found rather leaden. There are some pics here: http://www.dno.nl/index.php?m=archive&sm=archiveSeasons&s=201&as=23&c=picture |
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Il Grande Inquisitor
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« Reply #236 on: 16:49:10, 30-03-2008 » |
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HtoHe, I had just found a clip from that Netherlands production: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFIPkaRaBXAErin Wall as Daphne, Santa Fe Opera:  I believe there's a DVD of a production from Venice which is supposed to be quite good. |
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Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency
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richard barrett
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« Reply #237 on: 16:50:23, 30-03-2008 » |
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It was the gratuitous political imagery that I found rather leaden. That Konwitschny guy is a menace to opera if you ask me. |
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ahinton
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« Reply #238 on: 17:10:31, 30-03-2008 » |
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How do you turn your soprano into a tree?!
That sounds like the beginning of a joke... ...I suppose it would depend on how wooden her acting was! I'd suggest that the whole idea is barking, meself and that one would have to be off one's twig even to think of such an idea, so I'm not about to branch our and take a leaf out of the book of any opera producer who might advocate it - and where would it leave tree-hugging? (yes, I'm sure there's a soprano somewhere that I'd not necessarily be averse to hugging, but...) Seriously, though, that choral pendant An den Baum Daphne is really quite something - and can, of course, be performed entirely without any staging... |
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perfect wagnerite
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« Reply #239 on: 17:21:48, 30-03-2008 » |
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Has anyone ever seen Strauss' Daphne? (I've got the Fleming CDs) How do you turn your soprano into a tree?!
I saw Opera North's production in Nottingham in around 1986 or 1987 - billed as the first professional production by a British company, and with Helen Field in the title role. IIRC, a bush grew up around Daphne and, with some clever backlighting, gave the impression of absorbing her while she continued to sing. Can't remember the exact date, the rest of the cast or the producer - that would need a trip to the loft to find the programme .... |
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At every one of these [classical] concerts in England you will find rows of weary people who are there, not because they really like classical music, but because they think they ought to like it. (Shaw, Don Juan in Hell)
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