Opera in Ireland - general discussion thread on all things opera in Ireland

westtip · 23-10-2017 8:41am

McLoughlin wrote: »

I used to love sitting in the first row watching the Orchestra but its jut to expensive anymore especially when you are an unemployed student.

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McL you are not doing bad for an unemployed student and you have the most precious asset on your side - time. Take heart you can get in to the finest houses in the world a lot cheaper than you think. As a student I queued many times in the early hours of the morning for standing tickets at the ROH to hear the likes of Pavorotti and Domingo, paying back in the 1980s about a fiver to stand at the back of the stalls circle, those standing tickets now are never more than £20 when big voices are singing, and can be got for as little as £12 for some performances. I saw the Gotz Friedrich Ring in early 1980s which was an acclaimed production for £8 - £2 an opera! for an entire Ring Cycle, in what are called slightly restricted view tickets on the side of the ampitheatre. A programme at the ROH now is £7! Opportunities do exist. I am not sure of your personal circumstances whether you are mature unemployed student or the younger variety, but do not despair, the ones struggling to get out to the theatre and music now are the working parents with children, mortgages, school runs, sports clubs runs etc etc to do, and child minding to pay for! they are the ones who deserve the discounts on tickets. My advice get to see what you can, turn up at venues you don't have tickets for and see what you can cadge, be positive and say I am going to see this... and I will get in. Over a lifetime of theatre, music and opera going I have found it works!

westtip · 24-10-2017 12:26pm

westtip wrote: »

I only fancied Medea and in truth I am sick of these directors with their re-interpretations Medea in a gym! glad Im not going! -

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/wexford-festival-opera-the-opening-weekend-s-reviews-1.3266039

In truth it doesn't sound that promising....and MBs report seems to support this view! Although Risurrezione sounds like the hit of the Festival ..... Can't go next year as it clashes with the Ring Cycle in London

The Green Pixie · 27-10-2017 8:24am

I saw Medea last week in Wexford.
As Anna Manahan always said: "if you look the part, that's half the work done".
Cherubini's half-Gluck half-Beethoven music embodies the most unfathomable levels of intensity, rage, revenge and hatred. Medea is a sorceress of the devil who is off her head with a frenzy of murderous resentment.
Even with the best singers in the world, that just doesn't happen if she's padding around in her nightie in an apartment that looks like an Ikea showroom.
This was the worst production I've ever seen in Wexford, by a country mile.
The two lead singers, Lise Davidsen as Medea and Sergey Romanovsky as Jason, were excellent, except that Lise Davidsen could have done with a bit more intensity. In better circumstances they could have been outstanding. The rest of the cast were fine, but nothing to write home about. Stephen Barlow's conducting was a bit sleepy.
Even Maria Callas couldn't have saved this production. A fiasco. Fiona Shaw was supposed to have given the Tom Walsh lecture, but did a runner at the last minute. She was (hopefully) too embarrassed to show her face.

marienbad · 27-10-2017 10:48am

The Green Pixie wrote: »

I
This was the worst production I've ever seen in Wexford, by a country mile.
.

How could they have got it so wrong ??

westtip · 27-10-2017 11:47am

marienbad wrote: »

How could they have got it so wrong ??

This is an age old problem in opera, the same of course happened last year with Lucia at the ROH, quite the worst thing I have seen on stage (opera and drama) in 40 years of theatre going. I am so glad I put this months opera budget into a trip to the ROH this week for Sicilian Vespers, a triumph for the ROH, a revival of the 2013 production which was a first for the ROH, in fact this week was only the 12th time it had been seen at the ROH, so in a way it was every bit as much of a discovery as Wexford pertains to be!

As for these disastrous productions, I just hope in Wexford the audience booed heartily, good job I wasn't there they would have been hollered at by yours truly.

marienbad · 27-10-2017 11:56am

westtip wrote: »

This is an age old problem in opera, the same of course happened last year with Lucia at the ROH, quite the worst thing I have seen on stage (opera and drama) in 40 years of theatre going. I am so glad I put this months opera budget into a trip to the ROH this week for Sicilian Vespers, a triumph for the ROH, a revival of the 2013 production which was a first for the ROH, in fact this week was only the 12th time it had been seen at the ROH, so in a way it was every bit as much of a discovery as Wexford pertains to be!

As for these disastrous productions, I just hope in Wexford the audience booed heartily, good job I wasn't there they would have been hollered at by yours truly.

I am afraid no booing westtip ( at least not on first night ) just some polite and muted applause when Fiona Shaw took to the stage at the end .

But I don't just blame Shaw , someone should surely have said call a halt long before it became a disaster , either Agler or Barlow to name but two .

Shaw herself said in the programme notes that she was unsure herself how to approach the work and was hoping for some inspiration from the set designer , who then came up with the notion of this huge rock in the middle of the stage . Wiser heads should have stepped in at that stage .

I am afraid it is something that will follow Shaw for quite some time

The Green Pixie · 27-10-2017 12:05pm

The whole thing was abysmal.
The story takes place in such specific circumstances, with such a specific background, that there really is only one way to "approach" it, i.e. the literal way, with pillars and fire torches in the background, and Medea shrouded in robes and pointing long black fingernails at Jason and Glauce. It's not rocket science.

marienbad · 27-10-2017 2:11pm

The Green Pixie wrote: »

The whole thing was abysmal.
The story takes place in such specific circumstances, with such a specific background, that there really is only one way to "approach" it, i.e. the literal way, with pillars and fire torches in the background, and Medea shrouded in robes and pointing long black fingernails at Jason and Glauce. It's not rocket science.

Exactly , the only justification imho for advancing a new interpretation of an opera is with those well known classics we have seen so many times that a new approach to bring out different elements is warranted . A perfect example would be Jonathan Miller's ENO production of some years back where by he updated Rigoletto to a 1950's Little Italy mafia setting illustrating perfectly that the Duke and his circle were just thugs with a better dress sense and nothing else .

The whole point of Wexford is putting on works we haver seen before , so lets have them first as written before we start laying on new interpretations .

westtip · 27-10-2017 7:13pm

marienbad wrote: »

I am afraid no booing westtip ( at least not on first night ) just some polite and muted applause when Fiona Shaw took to the stage at the end .

I wouldn't have held back, if you pay over a €100 for a ticket and it is ill thought out ill conceived tripe and an offence to an intelligent opera going audience then boo, holler and shout your disapproval. Pity as this was supposed to be the jewel in the crown this year, As said, glad I didn't go, I would not have held back if I was in the audience at the end of the show.

Last year at Lucia I shouted from the Ampitheatre "Turn the bloody tap off" when Edgardo was forced to sing his final act aria over the noise of a flowing tap into a half full bath of water. I have never witnessed anything so annoying on an opera stage. Clearly Fiona Shaw knows little or cares little for what the audience expectations are, Wexford will have to wake up on this one.

The Rape of Lucretia · 27-10-2017 7:32pm

Going to all three over the next week, but not enthused hearing some of the reports. Is there a general trend that Wexford is getting it wrong in recent years : musical raw material that while rare is simply of too low a level to be bothered with (at €100+ a shot each), poor productions 'with notions' (Paris style) that backfire or are of such thin drama that whatever chance they had was as straight stagings, and voices that are just about up to it and no more ?

While the local Irish black tie 'special occasion' opera veterans may keep going, the serious opera visitors will tire of this game pretty quickly, and have plenty of other opera festival options elsewhere in Europe.

marienbad · 27-10-2017 7:40pm

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

Going to all three over the next week, but not enthused hearing some of the reports. Is there general trend that Wexford is getting in wrong in recent years : musical raw material that while rare is simply of too low a level to be bothered with (at €100+ a shot each), poor productions 'with notions' (Paris style) that backfire or are of such thin drama that whatever chance they had was as straight stagings, and voices that are just about up to in and no more ?

While the local Irish black tie 'special occasion' opera veterans may keep going, the serious opera visitors will tire of this game pretty quickly, and have plenty of other opera festival opera options elsewhere in Europe.

It will be interesting to hear your views when you see it . The other two operas were outstandingly produced , and Resurrection well worth the visit .

But Medea was the one I was really looking forward to seeing , and it was still worth the visit . It was the first and probably only opera of Cherubini I will ever see . And as always at night like this we can fall back on the music , and it was glorious .

The Rape of Lucretia · 27-10-2017 7:50pm

marienbad wrote: »

It was the first and probably only opera of Cherubini I will ever see .

I was/am looking forward to that one. Am familiar with some of his orchestral and sacred music and some of it is really very impressive. I would have picked him as someone Wexford should indeed be exploring.

marienbad · 27-10-2017 8:04pm

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

I would have picked him as someone Wexford should indeed be exploring.

Agree with you , love to see more of Cherubini , Lully , Rameau .

It was curious also that this year it was three Italian operas .

The Rape of Lucretia · 01-11-2017 9:47pm

These days we are used to, when considering or reading reviews of operas we see, for them to be reviews of productions rather than operas. That Parsifal, Rigoletto, Cosi, etc and the other 50 or so great operas that comprise the vaste majority of operas we can see live these days, are masterpieces, is no longer a question, so we have no more need to consider or evaluate that aspect.

But opera is first about the music. And Wexford, with it stagings of operas we probably have neither seen nor heard recordings of, puts us back asking that question first. Slightly anachronistic in the opera world, but a position we are still used to when viewing new movies, books, etc.

I was concerned in recent years, that Wex had lost sight of this important point of it all, and was serving up, despite some gems in there, far too much mediocrity, that would have one question whether there really was a point to staging the forgotten and rarities.

But confidence restored! And music was the key (production aspects are the minor player really). I enjoyed all three opera this year excellently. All three are well worth hearing. Top marks Wexford Opera Festival.

The Rape of Lucretia · 01-11-2017 10:25pm

Not that all was top notch in the productions. But that isnt really the point.

Margherita. I regret now not seeing Cristina di Svezia - for Foroni as a man of 23, the work is very assured and impressive. Had I been writing of him in 1848 I might have suggested that the maestro from Busseto could have a serious challenger in the future.
It benefitted from the high standard from the orchestra, who were excellent in all three operas, and his orchestral music was rich. The soloists were only just up to it though - a notch lower in standard and it would have been a problem. That matter mitigated by Margherita being on the better end of the spectrum. The update of the village to 1950ish Italy was basic but looked well.

Expected the Alfano to push my comfort zone musically (Catalani/Giordano feel to it), being a bit too modern for my taste. But I found it very engaging. I didnt care much for the again simple setting, but the music carried one through it all nonetheless. Voices in this were overall the best of the 3.

Medea. Well this was high quality music indeed. Really an underrated composer I think, and it must be just fashion or chance over the centuries that has left him with lower profile in the general rankings of the great composer than he merits. The best music was in the orchestra pit. Very inventive, and of fine variety. Clearly a skilled master at work. If Wexford does not return to this mine again I will be very disappointed.
The Glauce and Media sopranos had strong but unattractive voices. Too strong for Wexford maybe, and a larger venue might have suited them more. It did have the best voice I heard of this years set in Sergei Romanovsky. A very agreeable tone and a man destined for bigger things.
On the set - gotta agree with the comments above. There is some (slight) merit in trying to provide some novelty through staging of operas we know intimately (even then, there is only so much to wring from plots which can be thin at the best of times as in so many operas). But in the Wexford context, of operas that are 'new' anyway - please - minimal tampering. Anyway - if this had only been a concert performance I would have loved it, such was the core of it - the Great music.

The Rape of Lucretia · 01-11-2017 10:42pm

marienbad wrote: »

A perfect example would be Jonathan Miller's ENO production of some years back where by he updated Rigoletto to a 1950's Little Italy mafia setting illustrating perfectly that the Duke and his circle were just thugs with a better dress sense and nothing else.

Yes, close transpositions can work. Humour if done well in buffa can add something also. Or slightly superficial but entertaining nonetheless if there is some genuine novelty - anyone seen the silent movie / cartoon version of Zauberflote that I think started in the Komische Oper in Berlin but has travelled widely at this stage ? Most entertaining, but a one shot thing.

shoegirl · 06-11-2017 7:20pm

Actually I went to all 3 productions liked all but Medea... Just found it unengaging. I'm told Shaw didn't really get on with the lead. That wouldn't help. Musically they were all fine.

shoegirl · 06-11-2017 7:22pm

westtip wrote: »

Last year at Lucia I shouted from the Ampitheatre "Turn the bloody tap off" when Edgardo was forced to sing his final act aria over the noise of a flowing tap into a half full bath of water. I have never witnessed anything so annoying on an opera stage.

You really are some charmer. Glad we were clearly not at the same performance.

The Green Pixie · 11-11-2017 2:29pm

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

Yes, close transpositions can work.

They only work if the story is set in exactly the same situation as the original. Like the Jonathan Miller Rigoletto mentioned here.
In Wexford the operas are unknown so far better not to play around with them. Having said that, the Wexford production of the Polish opera Maria worked brilliantly, even though it was moved to a different period. In the original, set in 1780 or whenever, the son of a feudal lord falls in love with the daughter of a peasant. Cue parental opposition which leads to tragedy.
In the Wexford production, it was moved to the 1980s, the tail end of the Communist era. The son of a senior party apparatchik falls in love with the daughter of a docker. Exactly the same situation, with the added advantage that it enabled them to screen stunning black and white 1980s footage of Communist Poland as a backdrop.

marienbad · 16-11-2017 1:38pm

Not related to opera but I thought I might post it here anyway as we were all classical music lovers .

I went to a concert in University Concert Hall Limerick last night , a great relaxing programme Mendelssohn's Midsummer's Nights Dream Overture and Violin Concerto and a variation of his wedding march by Jorg Widman and to round it all off Schubert's Symphony No.9 'The Great ' , all played brilliantly by the ICO .

As the acoustics are excellent in the hall I just planked myself down in the 2nd last row and had 3 or 4 empty rows in front of me and the rest seems to be full up , all in all an outstanding sized crowd . I had a clear view of the first full row of people just in front of me and it was mostly made up of students . Anyway the performance kicked off with the Mendelssohn overture and immediately 10 or 12 mobile phones were out and held up recording the concert ! A number of questions immediately popped into my head -who record the Mendelssohn Overture ? Are they going to hold their phone at head height for the whole concert ? Will that recording every be watched ?

In fairness the two ushers descended down each aisle and moving smartly along the row had each phone put away . Thereafter we only had the usual skimming through photos and texting as boredom set in .

So Micheal O'Suilleabhain & and the music dept in UL and Mary I if you are reading this , how about in future courses you include a module of the correct etiquette in the concert hall ? Thank you very much .

But don't get me wrong this isn't me getting cranky in my old age , frankly I don't give a **** , , as Lucretia said above just close your eyes and let the music do its magic , but it seems nowadays nothing happened unless it is recorded

The Green Pixie · 16-11-2017 2:07pm

I see the new Irish National Opera have announced they're doing the Marriage of Figaro in April.
Very promising cast. Could be worth seeing. I only hope it's not set on the London Underground.
http://www.irishnationalopera.ie/

The Rape of Lucretia · 17-11-2017 8:09am

marienbad wrote: »

So Micheal O'Suilleabhain & and the music dept in UL and Mary I if you are reading this , how about in future courses you include a module of the correct etiquette in the concert hall ? Thank you very much

That is barbaric behaviour (the phones! Not the proposed course!). The concert hall staff should weed this out harshly.
In Germany or France the hissing and tutting from from the crowd around someone attempting this has them put the phone away sharpish. And as a result they are rarely seen at all, popping out only at the end to record the applause.
We need to be harsher in this country.

The Rape of Lucretia · 17-11-2017 8:13am

The Green Pixie wrote: »

I see the new Irish National Opera have announced they're doing the Marriage of Figaro in April.
Very promising cast. Could be worth seeing. I only hope it's not set on the London Underground.
http://www.irishnationalopera.ie/

Good!

(Doubt some producer will be able to resist their chance to offer something 'new', 'bold', 'imaginative', 'provocative', 'challenging' though. Like the scorpion, its in their nature. Even if 19 out of 20 efforts would have been much better just played with a straight bat).

marienbad · 17-11-2017 2:07pm

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

That is barbaric behaviour (the phones! Not the proposed course!). The concert hall staff should weed this out harshly.
In Germany or France the hissing and tutting from from the crowd around someone attempting this has them put the phone away sharpish. And as a result they are rarely seen at all, popping out only at the end to record the applause.
We need to be harsher in this country.

Absolutely and do something about my other bugbear - starting on time .

westtip · 20-11-2017 2:18pm

shoegirl wrote: »

You really are some charmer. Glad we were clearly not at the same performance.

Customers allowed to express their views! I didn't rush back to see the revival this year!

westtip · 20-11-2017 2:22pm

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

That is barbaric behaviour (the phones! Not the proposed course!). The concert hall staff should weed this out harshly.
In Germany or France the hissing and tutting from from the crowd around someone attempting this has them put the phone away sharpish. And as a result they are rarely seen at all, popping out only at the end to record the applause.
We need to be harsher in this country.

A young Japanese girl in the seat next to me in the Balcony at the ROH (bloody expensive seat believe me) took her mobile out and went onto Facebook during Rigoletto about two years ago. I told her to turn it off, she said but I have got it on silent!. At the first chance the staff were called over and she was told the leave the auditorium. She was not allowed back in for the second act.
That is how to treat these ignorant people.

westtip · 21-11-2017 1:33pm

The Green Pixie wrote: »

I see the new Irish National Opera have announced they're doing the Marriage of Figaro in April.
Very promising cast. Could be worth seeing. I only hope it's not set on the London Underground.
http://www.irishnationalopera.ie/

Is this what has risen out of the ashed of Opera theatre company, looking at ticket prices I reckon a trip to Wexford is a better bet than the Gaiety.

marienbad · 25-11-2017 5:57pm

The great Dmitri has left us , a privilege to have seen him .

westtip · 26-11-2017 10:17pm

Joyce Di Donato a total dream at the ROH last night!

The Rape of Lucretia · 26-11-2017 11:21pm

marienbad wrote: »

The great Dmitri has left us , a privilege to have seen him .

Sad indeed. I only heard him once, and he was quote superb.

Opera in Ireland - general discussion thread on all things opera in Ireland

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