tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186118329509553435.post686620492801598905..comments2024-03-09T15:11:29.350-08:00Comments on Exotic and irrational entertainment: Lucia di LammermoorPessimisissimohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04223566131580795337noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186118329509553435.post-6201277317386357152008-07-18T08:00:00.000-07:002008-07-18T08:00:00.000-07:00Yes, I like this whole production, even better tha...Yes, I like this whole production, even better than Bartoli's. Everything about it is just sublime :-) Let me know what you think when you see it!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186118329509553435.post-29119211829197536252008-07-17T21:13:00.000-07:002008-07-17T21:13:00.000-07:00Memsaab, since opera is considered by lowbrows to ...Memsaab, since opera is considered by lowbrows to be highbrow, and by highbrows to be at least middlebrow, is it even possible to have lowbrow taste in opera? <BR/><BR/>Thanks for the La Cenerentola YouTube clip, which indeed sounds and looks great (even with Romanian subtitles). I'll definitely be seeking it out. Frederica von Stade is pretty much brilliant in everything she does; her Cherubino is one of the best things about the 1972 Glyndebourne <I>Le Nozze di Figaro</I> as well. <BR/><BR/>Shweta, many thanks for the kind words. I'm happy to return the blogroll favor for your highly entertaining <A HREF="http://apnieastindiacompany.blogspot.com/" REL="nofollow">Apni East India Company</A>.Pessimisissimohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04223566131580795337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186118329509553435.post-50338628498782488982008-07-17T08:52:00.000-07:002008-07-17T08:52:00.000-07:00I really like your writing, and have a lot of fun ...I really like your writing, and have a lot of fun reading your posts- adding you to my blog roll.Shweta Mehrotra Gahlawathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13543438271055378809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186118329509553435.post-32091310937916248522008-07-15T08:49:00.000-07:002008-07-15T08:49:00.000-07:00Here's a YouTube video from the film:http://www.yo...Here's a YouTube video from the film:<BR/><BR/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awzsisx64eQAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186118329509553435.post-90315080697320854402008-07-15T08:48:00.000-07:002008-07-15T08:48:00.000-07:00I love Mozart too, natch!!!! but my favorite opera...I love Mozart too, natch!!!! but my favorite opera of all time (I think I've left you a comment about it before?) is the video made at La Scala of La Cenerentola with Frederica Von Stade (the Jean-Pierre Ponnelle production)...it is just brilliantly staged and sung. I love the music beyond words :-)<BR/><BR/>I am quite lowbrow in my tastes, even in opera, I admit!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186118329509553435.post-76848344472340253192008-07-14T19:24:00.000-07:002008-07-14T19:24:00.000-07:00Right, Memsaab--you're not smart enough. You only ...Right, Memsaab--you're not smart enough. You only fill <A HREF="http://memsaabstory.wordpress.com/" REL="nofollow">MemsaabStory</A> with highly articulate, closely observed analyses of Bollywood movies on a near-daily basis. <BR/><BR/>I had always been skeptical of Rossini. Compared to Mozart, say, he seemed less profound, and he seemed to rely on a handful of tried-and-true techniques to achieve his effects. That impression may or may not be true, but I've come to realize that Rossini is brilliant at what he does.<BR/><BR/>We recently saw a really clever production of <I>L'Italiana in Algeri</I> (The Italian Girl in Algiers) at SF Opera, and I think it turned out to be our favorite production of that season. In particular, the build-up to the end of the first act was incredibly effective, and (contrary to my expectation) hilariously funny. If the second act would have been more effective if it were trimmed by 15 minutes, that's true of a lot of comedies (the setup is often better than the payoff, and not just in the theater). It didn't hurt that the title role was sung by the winsome Vivica Genaux, who managed the Rossinian patter and coloratura brilliantly.<BR/><BR/>If I still prefer <I>Le Nozze di Figaro</I> (The Marriage of Figaro) to <I>Il Barbiere di Siviglia</I> (The Barber of Seville), it's because I think Mozart encompasses a greater range of feeling. But we recently saw a video of a production of Rossini's first opera, written when he was 18: <I>La cambiale di matrimonio</I> (The Marriage Contract). It had us laughing out loud, which is no small recommendation.Pessimisissimohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04223566131580795337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186118329509553435.post-75112654900267843032008-07-14T08:39:00.000-07:002008-07-14T08:39:00.000-07:00Actually, I think I had mixed up Donizetti and Ros...Actually, I think I had mixed up Donizetti and Rossini---Rossini is the composer whose work I really love.<BR/><BR/>I did like L'Elisir D'Amore and La Fille Du Regiment too, though. I couldn't say why, I'm not smart enough ;-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186118329509553435.post-84458103031178426332008-07-13T08:19:00.000-07:002008-07-13T08:19:00.000-07:00Memsaab, I think a better production (such as the ...Memsaab, I think a better production (such as the NYCO's) would have made a stronger case for the opera as a whole, but I'm not sure I'll ever appreciate it as much as you do. For me, Donizetti's melodies just don't flow in the ways that Mozart's, Handel's, or Richard Strauss's do, and I was bothered by the frequent gap between the mood being expressed by the words and that of the music. That said, <I>Lucia</I> does deliver at the big moments, particularly the mad scene and the tomb scene.<BR/><BR/>One thing that was emphasized in this production is that Lucia is a pawn in the struggle between Enrico and Edgardo; in the marriage contract scene she is almost rendered catatonic (she is portrayed as an abuse victim, and the domineering Enrico as her (emotional) batterer). Arturo is yet another man using her for his own ends; it almost justifies her murderous rage against him (I say "almost" because in this production Arturo seemed mainly guilty of smugness, which in my view nearly deserves the death penalty, but not quite). <BR/><BR/>Some questions remain for me, though: why doesn't Edgardo send a message to Lucia via Raimondo's envoy? How, when Enrico commands legions of armed men, is Edgardo able to burst unexpectedly into the wedding celebrations? And why doesn't Enrico accompany his sister's body to her tomb? (Small matters, I realize, given the regular suspensions of disbelief opera requires.)<BR/><BR/>Of Donizetti's many other operas, I've only seen <I>L'Elisir d'Amore</I> (which didn't work for me) and two-thirds of the Tudor trilogy, <I>Maria Stuarda</I> and <I>Anna Bolena</I>. (I saw <I>La Fille du Regiment</I> so long ago I barely remember it.) I have to say that I don't find what I know of Donizetti's musical and dramaturgical world to be especially compelling. Can you say what it is about his work that you enjoy so well?Pessimisissimohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04223566131580795337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186118329509553435.post-68666561914529092252008-07-13T07:16:00.000-07:002008-07-13T07:16:00.000-07:00I love this opera, I love all Donizetti as a matte...I love this opera, I love all Donizetti as a matter of fact...My favorite recording is one from the early 1980s with Gianna Rolandi and the New York City Opera. Fabulous production, dark and atmosphere-y, sort of like a Rembrandt painting, and Rolandi's singing was sublime.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com