Posted on 02/25/2014 11:24:21 AM PST by EveningStar
Review: A shipshape 'Billy Budd' caps Britten 100/LA
Mark Swed
Los Angeles Times
February 24, 2014
Billy Budds return to L.A. is musically powerful, but it is not about sex
Jim Farber
Los Angeles Daily News
February 24, 2014
(subscription required) 'Billy Budd' sails at L.A. Opera
Timothy Mangan
Orange County Register
February 23, 2014
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LA Times says, “Although Zambello has brought a feminist point of view to some of her other productions, here she mainly let the opera speak for itself. Compared with the directorial license common and expected these days, her “Billy Budd” is in fact straightforward.”
I celebrate that and stand amazed. Too bad for LA Opera, though. Their ‘feminist point of view’ and ‘directorial license’ made me run screaming about a decade ago. I suspect they are hurting financially and trying to get their audience back.
When I discussed the revolting productions with the LAO spokesman then, however, he said that audiences LOVED them. My friend who sang in the chorus told me otherwise - “There is booing a’plenty from the audience.’
Schadenfreude.
bttt
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I recently saw a broadcast of “The Nose”, which was Shostakovich’s first opera.
I was transfixed, and mesmerized by it’s sheer awfulness. I ended up reading a bunch of reviews of the Met’s production online, as well as the history of the opera itself.
It would seem that the entire rest of the world thinks “The Nose” is a BRILLIANT, MAGNIFICENT, DARING, COURAGEOUS, INNOVATIVE, AVANT-GARDE, AND TRULY SUBLIME.
The only other person on the planet who hated the opera as much as I did was Stalin.
I am very upset that I would agree with Stalin on anything, but there you go.
(I am not unfamiliar with the music of Shostakovitch, and, as a matter of fact, I am quite fond of “The Execution of Stenka Razin”. As for “The Nose”, Plyuytye!
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