Operatic Updating: Rossini vs. Verdi

[whipped guy]

I do not generally approve of updating when it comes to operatic productions, but a performance of Rossini’s Mose in Egitto (Moses in Egypt) from Pesaro’s Rossini Opera Festival was released on DVD in the USA this past week and the message it sends is so powerful that I was transfixed from beginning to end when viewing it. Rossini’s operatic treatment of the Jewish captivity in Egypt is updated to the present day and depicts the Jews having to resort to terrorist activities to win their freedom from their Egyptian captives and as such Moses is portrayed as a clone of Osama Bin Laden. At the very conclusion of the piece the roles of the two opposing groups are movingly reversed, and as such one acquires an enhanced awareness of the perplexing predicament that continues to agitate the Middle East to this very day. It is interesting to note that it is probably due to the impersonal and detached nature of Rossini's style that the sweep and grandeur of Rossini’s conception (from the opening section which is reminiscent of Bach’s A Minor Two-Part Invention, through the plagues, the powerful prayer, and the catastrophic denouement) is able to not only withstand, but at times be enhanced by such an approach. I respect the fact that some may be troubled by such a concept, and indeed there was much controversy when the staging was initially unveiled at Pesaro in 2011.

Along similar lines (if not quite as topical or portentous) is the new MET Rigoletto that was updated to the Las Vegas of the 1960s with its Rat Pack personalities. This production opened a week ago. It will be interesting to see if Verdi’s more subject-specific style of musical depictions and characterization survives the modernizing process.

Any thoughts on either... or updating in general...

[+ Charlie]

About 15 years ago, I saw a production of Rigoletto by Opera Australia in Melbourne, that was set in 1950s New York (Duke, of course, was a mobster). I thought it was fascinating. Rigoletto and Gilda arrived at Sparafucile's at night, driving onstage in a little Fiat with the headlights on in the dark.

[+ WilliamM]

The Rossini DVD seems very interesting. I appreciate your comments and recommendations. Frankly, you have on your own turned me into a lover of Rossini operas. So I shall almost certainly get it.

 

On Rigoletto, I am waiting until Vittorio Grigolo joins the cast near the end of the season.

[whipped guy]

Well for another Rossini recommendation try the DVD of Zelmira.... another updated production from Pesaro and quite bizarre... It is supposed to be some sort of dream sequence. In fact, there is even action that takes place under the stage! In any event, the singing is of such a high order that one easily overlooks the silly staging.

 

Interestingly, much of the piece does not sound like Rossini. In fact during the cast interview one of the singers categorically states, "Non e' Rossini questo! ". Rossini is not this... and that was my exact reaction as well. However, in the final analysis only Rossini could have written such a long, complicated, and brilliant score.

 

Incidentally, Juan Diego Florez is in the cast, but he is upstaged not only by Gregory Kundera who as the villain has the meatier of the two tenor roles, but also by Kate Aldrich in the title role.

 

For lovers of great Bel Canto singing...

[+ WilliamM]

Well for another Rossini recommendation try the DVD of Zelmira.... another updated production from Pesaro and quite bizarre... It is supposed to be some sort of dream sequence. In fact, there is even action that takes place under the stage! In any event, the singing is of such a high order that one easily overlooks the silly staging.

 

 

 

I bought the DVD of Zelmira several weeks ago. I have listened to the opera three/four times in the background, and have enjoyed it. So far, I have only watched small parts of the video mostly because of the length of the opera...enough to know that Florez is not necessarily the main attraction.

 

Excellent recommendation.