Ian (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lovingboth) wrote2020-04-10 10:34 pm
lovingboth) wrote2020-04-10 10:34 pm
More more more opera!
Over the weekend, Deutsche Oper (Berlin) is bucking the trend and not having Parsifal like most others.* It's been doing a series of recordings from the 80s or earlier, and this weekend it's got the opening performance in its then new building, which was a Don Giovanni.
Yes, it's historic, but the b/w picture doesn't look good, the sound's not great, and the production isn't going to be particularly good either (and, from a comment, is in German rather than Italian!)
But it's worth looking at just for the opening seconds - right behind the conductor as he starts the overture of the first opera in a brand new (and very good) opera house is a young girl, looking very like she's picking her nose...
Update: No, it's not really worth watching past then. If I could be bothered, I'd see if they were using the translation that's in the 1974 Dover Publications full orchestral score - the basis of that's a 1941 German score! The one-sided nature of American copyright laws meant the source material was in the public domain there, but not in Europe, so it was only when Amazon started letting US sellers ship to the UK that I got a copy.
* Part of it is set on Good Friday, and Wagner later claimed - probably wrongly - that he thought of writing it on a Good Friday.
Yes, it's historic, but the b/w picture doesn't look good, the sound's not great, and the production isn't going to be particularly good either (and, from a comment, is in German rather than Italian!)
But it's worth looking at just for the opening seconds - right behind the conductor as he starts the overture of the first opera in a brand new (and very good) opera house is a young girl, looking very like she's picking her nose...
Update: No, it's not really worth watching past then. If I could be bothered, I'd see if they were using the translation that's in the 1974 Dover Publications full orchestral score - the basis of that's a 1941 German score! The one-sided nature of American copyright laws meant the source material was in the public domain there, but not in Europe, so it was only when Amazon started letting US sellers ship to the UK that I got a copy.
* Part of it is set on Good Friday, and Wagner later claimed - probably wrongly - that he thought of writing it on a Good Friday.
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Right now I am marking Good Friday by watching the 2012 Jesus Christ Superstar (the one with Tim Minchin as Judas). In spite for some theological issues with how it portrays Mary Magdalene (you never see a fiction Magdalene who is (or is even in a position to) financially supports Jesus and the disciples rather than being all downtrodden and needing rescuing) I really love JCS and wished I’d been able to see this version (so far Judas is unsuprisingky excellent, Jesus is both weirdly bland and too aggressive and Caiaphas has an amazing voice). I was hoping the 90’s Radio version would get repeated too but it’s not scheduled over the Easter weekend...
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I did really enjoy Julian Clary as Herod in the 90’s Radio version.
Now I’ve seen it all I’d say this one is definitely worth: watching Judas’ breakdown is horrifying and mesmerising, this Jesus works better in the waiting and suffering portions than in the preaching, Annas and Caiaphas have a weirdly endearing “those two guy’s” vibe, Pilate is literally frothing at the mouth during the flogging but also nails the wistful sadness of “I dreamt I saw a Galilean” and they make the arena setting really work for the cruxifiction.
Chris Moyles is a rubbish Herod but the reality show concept works. Mary Magdalene rather bizarrely has a cross tattoo (but she makes “I don’t know how to love him” strong as well as soppy) and obviously I don’t like the idea of the Temple being a sex club with extra drag queens being an example of decadence that needs clearing out rather than a legitimate form of religious expression/spiritual devotion...
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The ones you see in the browser don't worth with youtube-dl, but if you take the digits at the end, and add them to..
https://players.brightcove.net/102076671001/ShNTDWXQ_default/index.html?videoId=
.. it does.
So to get today's Romeo and Juliet with the English subtitles, it's
youtube-dl --write-sub --sub-lang en "https://players.brightcove.net/102076671001/ShNTDWXQ_default/index.html?videoId=6146557389001"