Saturday, January 21, 2012

sundry items

A reminder came down the pike today that tomorrow is Bayerische Staatsoper's live videocast of Don Carlo -- Kaufmann, Harteros, Smirnova, Kwiecien Daniel, and Pape, all if the creek don't rise -- starting at 11:00am, Eastern Time. (5pm CET)

Update: Well, that had its moments, but if you're going with glitter confetti in the auto da fe, there can be no half measures.

Update 1/23: Staatsoper reports 459,000 views of Don Carlo livestream.

Schiller and Verdi tell us power corrupts, but John Webster, Thomas Middleton and their drinking buddies would probably say what corrupts absolutely is just the act of being born, so you might as well poison, stab, and screw (in that combination or any other) as many people as possible, and anyway it's all in good fun. Andrew Dickson muses on the present theatrical ubiquity of Jacobean tragedies. The New York metro area's next opportunity for gleeful exploration of vintage vice will be Cheek by Jowl's Tis Pity She's a Whore, which comes to BAM in March.

Before the Jacobeans' reckless abandon there was Shakespeare's military-political meatgrinder. The Arts Desk has a review of the new film adaptation of Coriolanus.  Reviewer Matt Wolf says it's all down to Fiennes and Redgrave. (I'm in just for John Kani, because there really is a world elsewhere.) Over at The New Yorker, Richard Brody is less enamored.

16 comments:

  1. Your Sundry Items posts are always dangerous. Not only did I read that entire Guardian article (cultural journalism doesn't get better than it), but I clicked on the Yasmina Reza article as well and read that in its entirety. Then one link led to another -- hours, gone. Tsk.

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  2. Hi Stray,

    Could you do mir favor?
    One of my finnish friend has translated a review of the opera "Giulio Cesare" from finnish to english. I'd like to post it on my blog. My friend, however, is not sure about his english, and me, neither. I will be grateful if you cast an eye at the text.
    Thank you so much in advance.

    Best wishes,
    From Frankfurt

    ***

    Barok opera returned playful and modern to National Opera

    Many opera directors have a need to "actualize" old operas. Meaning to show that they have a message and meaning to the modern audience. Everyday politics, familiar to people. When one combines a doze of sex, one might have a functioning concept.

    Ville Saukkonen has directed for the National Opera Georg Friedrich Händel´s Julius Caesar. He came up with the concept of a modern superpower, United States, the culture. politics and specially foreign politics. Opera is about a known Roman war chief Julius Caesar, who allures the director to place the story in the war fields of Afganistan and Irak.

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  3. Hi Lotus,
    Sure! I'm just on my way out the door, but will mull this over the course of the day. On first pass, though, I can say he'll want "dose" instead of "doze".

    back in a bit,
    S

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  4. Thank you sooo much!
    Here is the full text:

    You can say the opening night was a success. Near East show is spectacular and for sure first time to the great part of the audience. The level of Barok singing is high among the solists, although expressing feelings could be stronger.

    The base of the colorful and dancing beat Barok atmosphere is "Helsinki Barok Orchestra" directed by Howard Arman.

    To make the Barok opera´s return trendy as possible, the top man from England Patrick Woodroffe was chosen lightning designer. One would have expected a more impressive vision from Woodroffe. He uses skillfully different types of disco lights and atmosphere lighting in the different scenes - but the lights are not creating drama to bring up magical, mystical feelings.

    The stage is almost quite bare. Often the lighting only emphasizes the emptiness of the stage. Saukkonen´s´directing is a series of pictures from Egypt - and Near East palaces and war scenes. Some of which are very successful, beautiful also gloomy and surprisingly brutal.

    Many scenes are created depending only on Kalle Kuusela' s costume design. The combination of ancient Egypt and barok rich decoration, modern day uniforms and black costumes. Fine and partly funny.

    Saukkonen as a director up till now has been a boyish and wild farce maker. Barok opera with long arias has offered a good possibility to play with sketch humor that often amuses the audience.

    Some of the scenes are some sort of picture riddles, which can create tp some extent confusion. Kleopatra looks once like ´Kike Elomaa´(Well known lady muscle in Finland) Although this notion can also be wrong.

    Saukkonen does not succeed in constructing tight dramatic story. He has obviously decided that just amusing the audience can not be a life´s work to a director. He wants to show also the horrors and cruelty of the soldiers in the Near East.

    Händel opera shows well enough the cruelty of war with lesser efforts. It is a danger that violence changes to a sketch. When the final scene, pricing of the victory of love one sees suicides and collapses - that has the impact of spoiling the joy. Maybe the director wants to leave the audience puzzled.

    Franco Fagioli has a small voice, but skillful contra tenor and boyish lively character. He does not look like a war chief even with uniform.

    Claire Meghnagi, Israeli soprano comes radiantly out with her sensual singing and fine feminine being. In her big stripping number this Kleopatra is very funny.

    Swedish Katarina Leoson as Cornelia brings deep sorrow with her dark beautiful and flexible mezzo soprano.

    Melis Jaatinen, mezzo soprano sings excellently the revenging Sextus.

    Alon Harari from Israel as Ptolemaios pictures well with his contra tenor capricious hysterical narcism.

    Jussi Merikanto Bass baritone as Akilles shows rough and agile behavior.

    Marko Nykänen is noted with his flexible round bass.

    Arto Hosio became the favorite of the audience as the female secretary of Kleopatra, dressed in jacket and with an aunt like behavior. This comical transvestite belongs to barok opera´s standard character.

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  5. Hi Lotus,
    Very rough first draft, in two parts. My comments /questions in brackets, two sentences I didn't understand are in bold type:

    Baroque opera returns, playful and modern, to National Opera

    Many opera directors feel a need to "update" old operas, showing that they have a message and meaning relevant to a modern audience. Everyday politics, familiar to people: add a dose of sex, and you might have a functioning concept.

    Ville Saukkonen has directed Georg Friedrich Händel´s Julius Caesar for the National Opera. His concept is one of a modern superpower -- the United States -- its culture, politics and particularly its foreign policy. The opera is about the famous Roman general Julius Caesar, which has lead the director to place the story on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq.



    You could say the opening night was a success. Near East show is spectacular and for sure first time to the great part of the audience [Not sure what this means, can we clarify?]. The level of Baroque singing was high among the soloists, although the expression of emotions could have been stronger.

    The basis of the colorful and dancing beat [lively?] Baroque atmosphere was the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra under the direction of Howard Arman.

    To make Baroque opera´s return as trendy as possible, the top man from England, Patrick Woodroffe, was chosen as lightning designer. One would have expected a more impressive vision from Woodroffe. His use of different types of disco lights and atmospheric lighting in the different scenes was skillful - but the lighting did not succeed in creating drama, or produce any sense of the magical or mystical.

    The stage was almost barren. Oftentimes the lighting only served to emphasize the emptiness of the stage. Saukkonen´s directing presented a series of Egyptian tableaux [?], of oriental palaces and war scenes, some of which were successful, beautiful but also gloomy and surprisingly brutal.

    Many scenes were created using only Kalle Kuusela' s costume design, a combination of ancient Egyptian and richly baroque decoration, modern day uniforms and black costumes. [This was] Fine and partly funny.

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  6. 2nd part:

    As a director, Saukkonen has up till now been a boyish and wild creator of farces. Baroque opera, with its long arias, offers lots of possibilities to play with sketch humor that the audience often finds amusing.

    Some of the scenes are staged like picture riddles, which can create a certain amount of confusion. In once scene, Cleopatra looks like Kike Elomaa (a well known female body builder[?] in Finland). Although this notion can also be wrong. ["Although this might not have been the intent"?]

    Saukkonen does not succeed in constructing tight dramatic story. He has obviously decided that just amusing the audience cannot be the life´s work of a director. He also wants to show the horrors and cruelty of the soldiers in the Middle East.

    Händel's opera shows well enough the cruelty of war without so much effort. It is a danger that violence changes to a sketch [Not sure what is meant here -- that violence becomes like a sketch (i.e. like a cartoon), or that violence destroys the humor?]. In the final scene, if the price of love's victory is shown to be suicide and destruction - that has the impact of spoiling the joy. Maybe the director wanted to leave the audience puzzled.

    Franco Fagioli has a small but skillful countertenor voice, and a lively, boyish character [personality?]. He does not look like a general, even in uniform.

    Israeli soprano Claire Meghnagi is radiant, with sensual singing and a fine, feminine presence. In her big stripping [strip-tease?] number this Cleopatra is very funny.

    Swedish mezzo Katarina Leoson, as Cornelia, brings deep sorrow with her dark, beautiful and flexible voice.

    Mezzo soprano Melis Jaatinen sings excellently the revenging Sextus.

    Israeli countertenor Alon Harari, as Ptolemaios, protrays capricious hysterical narcissism well.

    Jussi Merikanto, bass baritone, displays rough and agile behavior as Achilles.

    Marko Nykänen is noted with his flexible, round bass.

    Arto Hosio became the favorite of the audience as the female secretary of Cleopatra, dressed in a jacket and acting like somebody's aunt. The comical transvestite is a standard character in baroque opera.

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  7. correction: sorry, end of paragraph 2, that should read "which has led the director..."

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  8. @DtO, that Guardian article has a few rabbit-holes itself, particularly one into the Samuel Pepys diaries, which, had I stayed, I'd have had to quit my job and go to graduate school or something. Life was so much easier in the days before links.

    I'll have to check out that Yasmina Reza article, she wrote God of Carnage, yeah?

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  9. Oy vey, darlings, won't the friend object to copyright and spoiler largesse here? Email addresses, what?

    Looks like an interesting review, but I won't read it here, I'll wait for Madame Lotus Eater to post it on her blog. If I can resist, that is.

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  10. My finnish friend has asked me, per Email, to correct his english translation before the posting. Unfortunately my english is not better than his(ó_ò) Especially translating music review isn't an easy work, because reviewers often create new words or something like that.

    I honestly can't thank you, stray, enough for the correction(♥_♥) The text is clear to me now! I'm going to post it tonight.

    There is a point which I don't like in the review. The finnish reviewer means, the counter tenor Franco Fagioli has a small voice. It's definitely not true(ò_ó) He has the strongest counter tenor I've ever heard. In Germany critics unanimously sing their praises for Fagioli's performance. I should have travelled to Helsinki to support him with bravos. Well, I gradually behave like a football fan(^_^)

    Have wonderful days, guys!
    From gray Frankfurt

    P.S. Thank you for the info. about Finnes's new film. I'm a great fan of him.

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  11. @Lotus, you're very welcome. Again it's a rough draft, so it could use some further adjustments. See what you all think.

    @DtO, yes I know, but Lotus keeps her email a secret, and anyway the comment-reading traffic around here is pretty much you guys. And feel free to read the review here, if you feel so moved -- I wouldn't mind a second opinion, as I was trying to stick to English and not venture into Strayish.

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  12. My finnish friend has allowed me to publish his text.

    Regarding "Near East show is spectacular and for sure first time to the great part of the audience[Not sure what this means, can we clarify?]"

    I think it means, "The staging about Middle East issue is spectacular and it surely is a new experience for most of the audience." Giulio Cesare is the first Baroque opera in 30 years at the Finnish National Opera.

    Would you correct it?

    Re;It is a danger that violence changes to a sketch [Not sure what is meant here -- that violence becomes like a sketch (i.e. like a cartoon), or that violence destroys the humor?].

    I think it means "violence becomes like a sketch". You see, in a cartoon violence looks harmless.

    Re; "In her big stripping [strip-tease?] number this Cleopatra is very funny."

    Which word is better, stripping or strip-tease?

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  13. It seems that all efforts are in vain. Unfortunately I can't post this review, because the source is not clear. I've just found that the artikel written by the reviewer in the newspaper is totally different from what I have(ó_ò)

    Anyway, thank you so much for your support.

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  14. Ah, well, never mind then :-) Hopefully the one that was published was nicer to Fagioli?

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  15. It's quite odd. I've tried to find out this review in the presses, in vain. All are much nicer to Fagioli, but the fact is that this review is the best I've read there. It's much more competent than others. I wonder who wrote it.

    kind regards,
    l-e

    P.S.: I like the original voice of Leonardo Dicaprio much better. In German version he sounds like castrato(^_^)

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  16. Do they give Leonardo the same voice-over actor for everything? I'd love to hear him in castrato overdub for J Edgar, but maybe that's just my politics talking.

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