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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2013 4:57:29 GMT -5
Mr. Dammann's articulate contributions have several times appeared in this forum. To-day he has something to say about Alban Berg and morality. It all arises from Wozzeck, at present being put on at the Coliseum [ sic] by the English National Opera people. (The company has survived several proposals to merge it with The Royal Opera.) "The cultural climate after the World War," Mr. Dammann reminds us, "made Berg's depiction of humanity as utterly devoid of nobility easier to countenance than in previous decades." But I am obliged to warn members that the directress - a Miss Cracknell - seems to have felt the need to make her mark in the modern way by ignoring - literally - all of Berg's stage directions and setting the story in the context of "modern Britain." To do something like that seems to me the act of a parasite; it should be decried. But Mr. Dammann does praise the orchestra ("much improved") and the singing, so it may be worth while to go along; but be sure to take dark glasses so as not to see all the female tricks cutenesses and playthings, such as plastic dinosaurs, drug-smuggling, video games, and the like. Mr. Dammann calls Miss Cracknell's setting "thoroughly rotten." And he complains about "the loss of the religious dimension of Wozzeck's language and imagination, which is crucial to understanding the force of the moral vacuum that consumes him." Do members abhor a moral vacuum and strive always towards nobility in life? |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2013 5:13:57 GMT -5
I should perhaps confess that I do not particularly like ' Wozzeck', although I acknowledge that it is a fascinating opera. If I may nevertheless address your final question directly, Sydney Grew: " ... Do members abhor a moral vacuum and strive always towards nobility in life?" Alas, no. In the words of Niccolò Machiavelli, a prince who desires to maintain his position learns to be good or not as needs must. I do not think that this idea excuses the malevolence of government, Sydney Grew, but it can help explain why the state needs to be amoral on occasion. |
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Post by neilmcgowan on Jun 8, 2013 12:53:08 GMT -5
Miss Cracknell's production sounds utterly loathsome in every way.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2013 0:29:27 GMT -5
It is heartening to see the Member expressing the traditionalist view, at least in the case of this Wozzeck. What I wonder can he say of the production of Ariadne auf Naxos from Glyndebourne, a link to which he kindly provided on the Art Music forum, and which I have downloaded to-day?
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Post by neilmcgowan on Jun 9, 2013 1:11:09 GMT -5
I should mention that I have not seen Cracknell's WOZZECK, nor will I have the opportunity - since it is taking place thousands of miles from where I live. The objection I have is to her intention to stage it 'in modern Britain". Büchner's play - which became the libretto material of Berg's opera - intentionally depicts the universality of its anti-hero's woeful exploitation. Woyzeck (aka Wozzeck) is the victim of all times and all societies. As a soldier reduced to economic depravity, he unwillingly agrees to be poisoned in scientific experiments, in his desperation to feed his family. Yet in the cosy world of 'modern Britain', the national budgets for health and education are being ransacked by a piece of flotsam named Philip Hammond - the Defence Minister. He plans using money stolen from schools and hospitals to further improve the already luxurious conditions enjoyed by Britain's marauding troops in Afghanistan. Removing the universality of Woyzeck's plight is simply the sign of a paucity of imagination and a naivety of intent. I regret I have not yet had time to see ARIADNE AUF NAXOS, as I have been in the middle of an exhausting play run of my own - which finishes on Tuesday. After a day spent supine and looking at the ceiling, I am looking forward to enjoying it next week  Meanwhile the eponymous Mr Jurowski is here in Moscow at the moment for a gruelling concert run this week with the Svetlanov Orchestra, which I hope to catch the end of on Wednesday |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2013 6:43:23 GMT -5
It may be that Miss Cracknell was thinking of the Magic Flute: |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2013 8:40:51 GMT -5
This week Mr. Dammann reviews Ariadne auf Naxos. It too is for some reason directed by a young lady, a Miss Thoma. She introduces a squadron of Messerschmitt fighter-bombers to the first part (the "prologue"), and she sets the whole of the second part (the "opera") in a "hospital room." All very distasteful and off-putting is it not, and presumably nothing to do with either Strauss or von Hofmannsthal. Mr. Dammann agrees and calls this "a rather mad idea." But again, in regard to the music, he tells us that "the London Philharmonic Orchestra were on glorious form, their luminous string tone drawing everything from Strauss's score and contributing to a memorable opening to the Glyndebourne Festival season."
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Post by neilmcgowan on Jun 16, 2013 9:34:12 GMT -5
I have had a chance to see Act 1 in the Guardian streaming relay - I don't like the production greatly, but Jurowsky is in top form with the LPO here. I am sad to note that we will not get Elder and the Academy for FALSTAFF, on period instruments - the Guardian have opted for showing their pre-filmed relay of Jurowsky with the 2009 cast and the LPO. Fine stuff too... but the rave reviews for Elder had me in heightened expectation  An invidious choice between my previous boss, and my current boss  |
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