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Ruth Elleson
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« Reply #60 on: 13:06:11, 09-11-2007 » |
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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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harpy128
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« Reply #61 on: 13:35:55, 09-11-2007 » |
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I've seen other people complaining about the design overshadowing the music and action, but I'd say it was the marketing department (and my personal section of the audience  ) that was at fault rather than the production itself. I didn't find the designs nearly as overbearing as I thought they were going to be - the lighting stopped them from appearing overly flamboyant (and sitting half a mile from the stage may have helped too). The production did perhaps emphasise the personal over the political, but it seems legitimate to do that sometimes. Anyway surely the personal relationships in this one embody the politics of colonialism etc in action? |
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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #62 on: 14:38:57, 09-11-2007 » |
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The production did perhaps emphasise the personal over the political,
If it did, then they got it right - and most AIDA productions do the opposite. You have to look where the story is - it's not in the big crowd scenes, no story is told there ( that story exists, but we never see it - it's the war between Egypt and Ethiopia, and it happens entirely offstage). The story is about a Princess who cannot, for all the wealth in the world, buy the love of the man she loves... because he loves a girl who's a slave and a foreigner from an enemy country. It's the story of three people, and in comparison to armies and pyramids and conquests... It doesn't take much to see that the problems
of three little people doesn't add up to
a hill of beans in this crazy world. |
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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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oliver sudden
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« Reply #63 on: 15:08:36, 09-11-2007 » |
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And what a fine opera Casablanca is.  |
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Ruth Elleson
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« Reply #64 on: 15:49:37, 09-11-2007 » |
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I'm afraid I am a hopeless case. I won't be seeing you in the day tickets queue tomorrow whether you're there or not, harpy128, as I just went onto the ENO website out of - ahem - curiosity, and found a really nice seat in the fourth row of the stalls which was vastly out of my usual price range but proved completely irresistible  So, having ALREADY written off this month's finances due to eating out every night during the Ring Cycle, I am now broke till Christmas. And do I care?  |
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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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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #65 on: 16:09:43, 09-11-2007 » |
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, I am now broke till Christmas.
Well, there's always... Radio 3 |
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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 #66 on: 16:19:28, 09-11-2007 » |
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I don't need Radio 3  I already have tickets to NINETEEN live performances over the next THREE weeks. I don't know why I end up doing this but it's usually enjoyable! It's the beer money that will finish me off. (Actually, I take it back. I DO need Radio 3. I need it tonight, when the 2005 performance of Walkure at the Proms is being repeated on Through the Night ) |
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« Last Edit: 16:25:07, 09-11-2007 by Ruth Elleson »
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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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harpy128
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« Reply #67 on: 17:03:30, 09-11-2007 » |
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You have to look where the story is - it's not in the big crowd scenes, no story is told there (that story exists, but we never see it - it's the war between Egypt and Ethiopia, and it happens entirely offstage). The story is about a Princess who cannot, for all the wealth in the world, buy the love of the man she loves... because he loves a girl who's a slave and a foreigner from an enemy country. Yes, and I thought the production did quite a good job of bringing out that the main point was the love triangle thing. They used lighting in quite a subtle way to pick out the protagonists from the crowds, for example. But surely it's also about the interplay between public and private, and perhaps they could have done more in the crowd scenes to show the forces that were determining the protagonists' fate. For example in the triumph the captives were depicted in what seemed to me to be a rather racist way, instead of focusing on their human predicament. I might have misunderstood what the director and choreographer were trying to do there but if so I wasn't the only one. Sounds as Ruth is going to get a close-up look so she can put me straight |
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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #68 on: 17:50:39, 09-11-2007 » |
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For example in the triumph the captives were depicted in what seemed to me to be a rather racist way, instead of focusing on their human predicament.
But I think racism is at the core of the story? Radames and Amneris are lighter-skinned Egyptians from the Mahreb - Aida's skin is jet-black Ethiopian. Not only are their countries implacable enemies in war - their cultures and races are visibly differentiated from each other. Moreover, the Egyptians used the Ethiopians as a slave-class on their building projects, and this was institutionally racist from the outset. The opera's story dares to open this can of worms, and I'm glad to hear the ENO production didn't shrink from addressing on grounds of "political correctness". As so often with Verdi, there is a thinly-concealed heartfelt appeal to tolerance and understanding at the heart of the piece. Not only does Radames love another girl - she's black. |
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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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harpy128
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« Reply #69 on: 18:00:40, 09-11-2007 » |
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Yes, obviously there is racism in the story but that doesn't mean the production should depict the non-Egyptians in a racist way, surely. Someone else I was talking to thought some of the dancers' costumes made them look like the cannibals from a Robinson Crusoe pantomime |
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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #70 on: 18:19:46, 09-11-2007 » |
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Yes, obviously there is racism in the story but that doesn't mean the production should depict the non-Egyptians in a racist way, surely.
Hard call, isn't it? Ruth's very right when she says the ceremonial music for the Egyptian scenes sounds "false" - I think Verdi's real sympathy, as always, is with the underdog. The music for the entry of the conquered Ethiopians is instantly horriyfing and laden with menace - they clearly believe they've been brought there to be executed. They've obviously been demeaned (quite possibly beaten?) and they must not look at all "noble", even in defeat. And they must also look clearly different as a people to the Egyptians. |
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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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harpy128
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« Reply #71 on: 18:30:44, 09-11-2007 » |
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Fortunately the actual entry of the captives was done OK - it was in the ballet that the cannibal problem arose. Although Amonasro's costume was rather regrettable as well, doubly so as Iain Paterson's singing was exceptional.
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Il Grande Inquisitor
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« Reply #74 on: 16:29:01, 24-12-2007 » |
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I thought this might be the place to flag up that SkyArts are showing Aida this evening and, although they're not being too clear about it on ther website on in the RT, it could well be the La Scala opening performance from a year ago with Alagna as Radames before he walked off in the second performance. http://www.skyarts.co.uk/ |
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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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