Welllllll-I won't say it is the worse I have ever seen-but it is in the top five!

[bigguyinpasadena]

Went to see Robert Wilsons production of Parsifal at the LA opera tonight.Things started out bad when Placido Domingo was ill and a German tenor had to sub for him.

It was all downhill from there!Imagine a skit on SNL where the Sprokets Guys do Wagner.And then slow the tempo waaaayyyyy down.

Left after the first(2 hour)act.

Before the curtain went up this chick comes onstage in front of the curtain to take a nap-smart lady!

[seattlebottom]

I've never been a fan of German music (although I do crave those delectable Viennes waltzes) and even less of a fan of Wagner's works. He was a wonderful symphonist who took to opera and not in a good way. Tchaikovsky was the same way but he took a more conservative approach to his operas which was of great benefit to his stage works especially in Eugene Onegin.

 

Overall, even if Domingo had shown up, I would've joined that woman for a nap. :-)

[+ Charlie]

I saw the opera on Sunday, when they announced that Domingo had a cold but would sing anyway. For a nearly 65 year old man with a headcold, he sounded great--almost as good as the first time I saw him sing it at the Met years ago--but he looked gaunt. The Robert Wilson staging is minimalist, to say the least--most of the effort went into the lighting, which is exquisite--but at least it doesn't do anything that seriously distracts one from the music (except that shirtless acolyte). I thought most of the singers were excellent, especially Matti Salminen, who sent chills down my spine in the third act. It wasn't the best "Parsifal" I've ever seen--that was in Amsterdam about a quarter century ago--but I was very satisfied; I never contemplated leaving early, as I did from "Hello, Dolly!" in Palm Springs last week.

[bigguyinpasadena]

I am pretty upset at the LA opera right now.The next production will be Madame Butterfly-and it is the same G-D AWFULL Robert Wilson production that the did just LAST SEASON !!!!!

What idiot would book the same opera,let alone the same production by the same director two seasons in a row!

There is such a large number of productions that have never made it to Los Angeles!

Someone needs to be fired-quick!

[seattlebottom]

>I am pretty upset at the LA opera right now.The next

>production will be Madame Butterfly-and it is the same G-D

>AWFULL Robert Wilson production that the did just LAST SEASON

>!!!!!

>What idiot would book the same opera,let alone the same

>production by the same director two seasons in a row!

>There is such a large number of productions that have never

>made it to Los Angeles!

>Someone needs to be fired-quick!

 

If you think that's bad, Seattle Opera will be staging Die Fledermaus with Wagnerian singers (Jane Eaglen, Alan Woodrow, Richard Berkeley-Steele and Nancy Maultsby). There's no question that each is an accomplished singer, but I'm very doubtful of those voices conveying the lightness, fluidity and lyricism of Strauss' lighter than air masterpiece.

[+ Charlie]

Although I find an abstract, modernist Wagnerian production perfectly acceptable (well, maybe not of "Die Meistersinger", and the last "Flying Dutchman" production I saw in Berlin was incomprehensible), I agree that "Butterfly" should be naturalistic.

[pierrot]

I haven't seen the LA Parsifal, but Wilson's Lohengrin at the Met was beautiful, I thought. His Butterfly was a big hit in Paris too. But his style is definitely one that you either like or hate.