The program schedule consists mainly of sections of the massive Wagnerian Ring Cycle - which is scheduled to be run in complete form as the mainstay of the season next year, 2020.
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| Paris Opera |
As usual Wikipedia gives us what appear like full factual details but which are scant elements of the whole matter - for one glaring example, the account leaps from 1669 to 1875 from the moment when the actual patent letters were signed by Louis, to the time 200 years later when the Opera Garnier (theater auditorium) was built, with not a single word on where or how or when if any, actual operas were held in the location or under the name of the Paris Opera.
Common sense, sorely missing in many places these days, would grant that either the Sun King was about to take an unusual zillion-dollar flyer on the theoretical future creation both of an opera company of players, as well as some suitable building to house the productions and seat thousands... ...or such a place and people had been being trialed for some time already.
Anyhew...
Enough with the whinging already. We have the Wiki. And we're stuck with it. Tomorrow's people will possess the foundations upon which they no doubt will attempt to go to Mars.
Beautiful as it indeed is, it is in danger of being burned to the ground as Pierre Boulez once offered sarcastically, to do. Since after all, we simply must have some space in Paris city for another monument to um, Macron as Jupiter and maybe a smaller one to Baal.
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| Verona |
Burn the Opera to the ground, I say.
Of course the Palais Garnier and the entirety of the Paris Opera complex are stunningly beautiful buildings and artworks.
But the best large opera facility in Europe is undoubtedly the Verona Amphitheater, and this is where the best opera singers headline the schedules.
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| Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov... Muslim name, as you will note, both of them just from a successful season in Dubai. |
Wagner, ye say? Surely Wagner is too politically incorrect for this age. How can they get away with performing Wagner?
ReplyDeleteI am so personally gratified that there is someone who reads here with the intelligence and education to say what you just said. I detest just carrying on and constantly bleating negatively but the reason I 'counterpointed' the article with the end bit about 'the best performers' being elsewhere is that yes, I DO think the recent whole repertoire is stilted and mediocre - and the timing of programs is weird (Tchaikovsky Christmas stuff in the middle of the year...?!). Wagner, okay fine, but why so much of it all the time now, without ANY of the balancing other high-brow and difficult concerts - say, Max Bruch, Dvorak, Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin... Big thanks for the comment.
DeleteAnd you know what else - it would NOT surprise me if they start messing around with the traditional production style for Wagner cycle. A cross-dressing Valkyrie, for example. Why not??
DeleteYes. Call the Valkyrie "Brun-hermann."
ReplyDeleteAnd to your first point - these are not the best circumstances in which to put on Wagner! In Paris, no less.
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