…on period instruments no less… but if you don’t want the whole opera, at least give the overture a try… You’ll recognize it but this conductor is paying attention!
4 Likes
and, what a novel and fun production … love the staging!
1 Like
Thank you for posting this. We’ve seen this opera, live, in the local theatre and loved it, and will look forward to viewing this Garsington (entire production) in the near future.
Operas are fantastic antidotes to (as well as illuminators of) the Dark Ages in which we find ourselves, and they are therapeutic when one needs a temporary lift into another kind of (intangible) dimension.
You said something profound in your last vidchat: you mentioned that you didn’t think that focus on elections was going to do any good in terms of deliverance from all the weird stuff going on – that what is needed is to change the culture itself (which has been hijacked and debauched).
When one ponders the point seriously, a daunting question arises to the surface: where do we start? It’s a question that is also personal and something we’ve been exploring for some time. Where do we (meaning our own household) start? Three questions became a launching point for us, and they revolved around friendships, the animal question, and the arts.
Regarding the arts: we became interested in what opera offers in terms of raising a culture’s vibration. We began attending the local operas and have felt astounded (perhaps too weak a word) as to the many intricate layers of depth in that multi-dimensional art form, that emanate beyond the music. Beyond the overture. Beyond what the music is saying (in terms of “Affektenlehre” – thanks to you, we now more fully appreciate this layer of detail in music), but also the imaginative staging and the costumes and the acting and the movements. And then, in the traditional lyrics (in a non-woke production company that has not tampered with them), one can glean all kinds of historical and political messages that were carefully veiled. Putting all of that together as one unified, moving, art form. There is nothing like opera in terms of multi-dimensional art, that stirs one’s emotions and imagination so very deeply.
We’re glad that this production has subtitles, although we do have an opera guide that makes it easy to follow. (The used bookstores seem to be bursting with old opera guides that have librettos and plots of the well known operas).
Now, more than ever, we are committed to attending local performances of the fine arts, as we think that this is part of what raises the vibration of a culture. Also, when attending a local performance, one can direct one’s eyes to wherever they want to go, instead of one’s visual attention being torn away to where the videographer wants one’s eyes.
(Alas, we have been dismayed with how people are dragging their unfortunate grandchildren to sell-out performances of Taylor Swift – this is unimaginable. When I was a girl, Mom took me to operattas, ballets, plays, puppet shows and light musicals, and I can remember experiencing a magical joy. I cannot imagine what kinds of emotions kids would experience under the Affektenlehre of a Taylor Swift concert.)
John and I both appreciate very much when someone posts an entire performance of an opera, and it’s a bonus when English subtitles are available (although the opera guides do help if they are not available). We can well imagine that you appreciate all the different multi-dimensional layers to this unique form of audio-visual-emotion-affekting art form!
1 Like
Really needed this, a break from the craziness in the world. Thank you. 