Opera Round-Up
This has been another breathless survey, and lots of important people have been haunting me because they were not included. The two earlier articles on Zarzuela and references to de Falla gave some space to Spain, but I omitted Bizet in the French blog, although I had included him in the ‘French Connection 1’ article earlier. Saint Saens’s ‘Samson et Dalila’ ; Massenet’s ‘Manon’ too are important for themselves as well as for their contribution to the development of lyric opera.
And then the Russians were left out altogether, whereas Glinka’s ‘A Life for the Tsar’ in 1836 was perhaps the first nationalistic opera, followed by Mussorgsky’s ‘Boris Godunov’ and the several operas of Rimsky Korsakov. Tchaikovsky’s operas are Russian in spirit if not primarily nationalistic. ‘Eugene Onegin’ is a wonderful work and I saw a superbe production in Amsterdam’s Musik Theatre some time ago. The first act ‘Letter Song’ is one of the finest soprano arias in all music. In Bohemia, Smetana produced the still very popular ‘The Bartered Bride’ which I have seen in a delightful performance. A new recording on the Chandos label under the veteran conductor Sir Charles Mackerras has just been released and received a warm welcome. Mackerras has been a powerful advocate of the operas of Janacek, another man-alone amongst composers, and I have seen two of his extraordinary operas notable for their jagged rhythms vying with heart rending melody, performed by Opera North and the English National Opera.
Opera has become enormously expensive, but for most composers it remains – and I quote from the Oxford Dictionary of Music – their ‘greatest and most attractive challenge. With the development of mechanical and electrical techniques and the advance of the stage producer to an importance comparable with that of the conductor, the staging of opera has become more exciting and controversial’. One thing however remains the same – the behaviour of performers and management which can be as operatic off the stage as on. So as I write there is a major crisis at English National Opera and since Ricardo Mutti’s departure, also at La Scala, Milan. Both opera houses have been recently refurbished or rebuilt, but their domestic dramas remain.
B.R.
Looking ahead, it has been suggested that I add one or two concert-going experiences, so I’ll do that.
And then the Russians were left out altogether, whereas Glinka’s ‘A Life for the Tsar’ in 1836 was perhaps the first nationalistic opera, followed by Mussorgsky’s ‘Boris Godunov’ and the several operas of Rimsky Korsakov. Tchaikovsky’s operas are Russian in spirit if not primarily nationalistic. ‘Eugene Onegin’ is a wonderful work and I saw a superbe production in Amsterdam’s Musik Theatre some time ago. The first act ‘Letter Song’ is one of the finest soprano arias in all music. In Bohemia, Smetana produced the still very popular ‘The Bartered Bride’ which I have seen in a delightful performance. A new recording on the Chandos label under the veteran conductor Sir Charles Mackerras has just been released and received a warm welcome. Mackerras has been a powerful advocate of the operas of Janacek, another man-alone amongst composers, and I have seen two of his extraordinary operas notable for their jagged rhythms vying with heart rending melody, performed by Opera North and the English National Opera.
Opera has become enormously expensive, but for most composers it remains – and I quote from the Oxford Dictionary of Music – their ‘greatest and most attractive challenge. With the development of mechanical and electrical techniques and the advance of the stage producer to an importance comparable with that of the conductor, the staging of opera has become more exciting and controversial’. One thing however remains the same – the behaviour of performers and management which can be as operatic off the stage as on. So as I write there is a major crisis at English National Opera and since Ricardo Mutti’s departure, also at La Scala, Milan. Both opera houses have been recently refurbished or rebuilt, but their domestic dramas remain.
B.R.
Looking ahead, it has been suggested that I add one or two concert-going experiences, so I’ll do that.
posted by Euroresidentes at 4:52 PM
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