Eurotrash Attack Verdi!!!!

[general disarray]

I've seen it all now:

&feature=email

[Bob]

Um... Just to clarify... The bees weren't in the original right? 

[keypeg]

What must it have been like to be one of the singers, each one having spent years studying music and singing, and finding out what he had to wear and do?  You have to hand it to the performers that they still produced music despite all that.  Just imagine being one of the bees and keeping a straight face - not that your face would be visible. 

[Bob]

(Bob considers getting a bee costume for future performances.)  Imagine doing your own performance like that, in a bee costume, but with no notice of it at all.

[sharon_f]

Found this review online:

From Around the World: BERLIN.(Review)~(opera review)


Prior to the opening of Nabucco at Deutsche Oper on February 26, director Hans Neuenfels had stated he could not possibly stage an opera that deals with Jews without taking the Holocaust into account. Whoever thought this meant Nazi uniforms, yellow Stars of David or the iconography of concentration camps onstage underestimated him. Other directors might have chosen such obvious ways to deal with the issue. Neuenfels came up with a far more complex imagery, at the same time overestimating his audience. Unwilling (or unable) to reflect on what they saw, many uttered their protest with alarming violence.

When, for her cabaletta in Act II, Abigaille was escorted by a swarm of giant bees dancing along with the music, the performance was interrupted for about ten minutes by an outraged audience screaming four-letter-words, insulting the director and making fun of the staging. Apparently, none of them thought of the fact that a community of bees has the tightest, strictest social structure of all living creatures, that all bees blindly obey one leader -- just like the Nazis. Later on, Neuenfels showed the Babylonians as gardeners lovingly tending their potted sunflowers; yet without any emotional involvement, they killed the Jews with their bare hands -- another image for the German public who, during the Third Reich, kept themselves busy cultivating beautiful facades, blocking out the horrible reality, but still were guilty, if only because of their silence or pretense of not knowing.

Neuenfels dedicated his production to "Jewish Life." The evening's crucial question, "What would I do if I were a Jew?," was scribbled in orange handwriting on designer Richard yon der Tannen's yellow-green walls. Tying history to the present, the director invented a Young Man, clad in blue jeans, T-shirt and sneakers, who, with his Girlfriend, got trapped in the plot. Sitting at a plain wooden table at center stage, he commented on what he saw on a laptop computer, his thoughts projected on an oversized screen above the table as he was writing them down. He mused about the fate of the Jews, opera in general, dictators, his love life, etc., frequently interacting with the characters. In the end, Neuenfels did not allow the Jews to be victorious: their corpses were scattered on the floor, with only Zaccaria surviving. Though For most of the audience this presented far too many layers of meaning, critics agreed this was Deutsche Oper's best production in a long time.

Those who hated it, however, did not find much to cling to on the musical side. Only Susan Neves, as Abigaille, gave an outstanding performance. Dressed in a white ballgown and later in a gray business suit, she moved well and showed an unexpected comic side when she danced like a playful little girl. Neves conquered her murderous part with seemingly endless resources: a radiant, healthy, huge top and fragile pianos. Alexandru Agache's Nabucco was easy prey for this Abigaille. Throughout the evening, his worn, shaky baritone faded away: by the middle of Act II, one feared he would not make it to the end. His absence during curtain calls was explained as a nervous-stress condition brought on by the production. Askar Abdrasakov looked wonderful as a towering, unusually young Zaccaria, but his bass lacked depth, richness and volume. As Fenena, Mariana Cioromila displayed a voice in ruins. Tenor Marco Berti, as Ismaele, was the only one who came close to Neves's achievement. In the pit, Marcello Viotti, who was visibly shaken by the audience's response, delivered a solid reading that could not quite live up to Neuenfels's sparkling, excitingly multifaceted view.

[Bob]

(Bob shows up in large bee suit.)

I just thought it was amusing.  I've heard the concert version but I'm familiar with the details of the story. 

What?  No bees?  Aw... (sulks away, dejected, and wearing a gigantic bee suit, stinger dragging on the floor)

[pies]

a

[slobone]

What must it have been like to be one of the singers, each one having spent years studying music and singing, and finding out what he had to wear and do?  You have to hand it to the performers that they still produced music despite all that.  Just imagine being one of the bees and keeping a straight face - not that your face would be visible. 

Not just keeping a straight face -- they had to learn all that choreography too   

This kind of thing has been going on in Europe for quite a while now. Directors usually say, "Oh, people are tired of the traditional productions." But by now I think you'd have to be pretty old to have even seen a traditional production.

I think what's feeding the trend at this point is that budgets have been slashed at all the European opera houses -- they don't get the government subsidies they used to. And a "concept" production is a lot cheaper than one with elaborate sets and costumes. In this one they pretty much just had to pay for the bee suits and that's it.

[general disarray]

Found this review online:

From Around the World: BERLIN.(Review)~(opera review)


Prior to the opening of Nabucco at Deutsche Oper on February 26, director Hans Neuenfels had stated he could not possibly stage an opera that deals with Jews without taking the Holocaust into account. Whoever thought this meant Nazi uniforms, yellow Stars of David or the iconography of concentration camps onstage underestimated him. Other directors might have chosen such obvious ways to deal with the issue. Neuenfels came up with a far more complex imagery, at the same time overestimating his audience. Unwilling (or unable) to reflect on what they saw, many uttered their protest with alarming violence.

When, for her cabaletta in Act II, Abigaille was escorted by a swarm of giant bees dancing along with the music, the performance was interrupted for about ten minutes by an outraged audience screaming four-letter-words, insulting the director and making fun of the staging. Apparently, none of them thought of the fact that a community of bees has the tightest, strictest social structure of all living creatures, that all bees blindly obey one leader -- just like the Nazis. Later on, Neuenfels showed the Babylonians as gardeners lovingly tending their potted sunflowers; yet without any emotional involvement, they killed the Jews with their bare hands -- another image for the German public who, during the Third Reich, kept themselves busy cultivating beautiful facades, blocking out the horrible reality, but still were guilty, if only because of their silence or pretense of not knowing.

Neuenfels dedicated his production to "Jewish Life." The evening's crucial question, "What would I do if I were a Jew?," was scribbled in orange handwriting on designer Richard yon der Tannen's yellow-green walls. Tying history to the present, the director invented a Young Man, clad in blue jeans, T-shirt and sneakers, who, with his Girlfriend, got trapped in the plot. Sitting at a plain wooden table at center stage, he commented on what he saw on a laptop computer, his thoughts projected on an oversized screen above the table as he was writing them down. He mused about the fate of the Jews, opera in general, dictators, his love life, etc., frequently interacting with the characters. In the end, Neuenfels did not allow the Jews to be victorious: their corpses were scattered on the floor, with only Zaccaria surviving. Though For most of the audience this presented far too many layers of meaning, critics agreed this was Deutsche Oper's best production in a long time.

Those who hated it, however, did not find much to cling to on the musical side. Only Susan Neves, as Abigaille, gave an outstanding performance. Dressed in a white ballgown and later in a gray business suit, she moved well and showed an unexpected comic side when she danced like a playful little girl. Neves conquered her murderous part with seemingly endless resources: a radiant, healthy, huge top and fragile pianos. Alexandru Agache's Nabucco was easy prey for this Abigaille. Throughout the evening, his worn, shaky baritone faded away: by the middle of Act II, one feared he would not make it to the end. His absence during curtain calls was explained as a nervous-stress condition brought on by the production. Askar Abdrasakov looked wonderful as a towering, unusually young Zaccaria, but his bass lacked depth, richness and volume. As Fenena, Mariana Cioromila displayed a voice in ruins. Tenor Marco Berti, as Ismaele, was the only one who came close to Neves's achievement. In the pit, Marcello Viotti, who was visibly shaken by the audience's response, delivered a solid reading that could not quite live up to Neuenfels's sparkling, excitingly multifaceted view.

Thanks for this, sharon.  It actually makes sense now . . . but I'm still laughing.

[Bob]

I was wondering how much money they were investing in bee costumes.

[slobone]

Neves conquered her murderous part with seemingly endless resources: a radiant, healthy, huge top and fragile pianos.

Hmm, that sounds like an accident waiting to happen -- especially if she gets too close to the piano lid...  (Sorry my brain is slipping sideways today.)