AA.VV.
Il meglio - il peggio

To be honest, I wanted to write a ranking. But - maybe I'm just not good enough - it seemed I couldn't do it the way I wanted.

So here's a nice little article. What's it about? The best and the worst I've ever seen in the representation of opera performances.

Eh???

What do you mean, don't you know that the visitors of this site don't like opera?

They don't understand the words. It's terrible.

In any case, I'm not talking to you about opera (but I will, it's a threat...). I'm talking about how it is staged.

Which - if all opera singers are crazy, and conductors are worse - the directors of operas are such that - if Hannibal Lecter met them on the street he would change direction. He would.

The worst:

1. La Scala opening night, 2013. Traviata. Violetta has just finished singing 'Amami Alfredo, Addio'. Leaving Alfredo. Who - like throughout the entire opera - doesn’t understand a damn thing about what's happening around him. Patience, he's a tenor. The tenor classically has the role of the handsome and dumb one. And Alfredo is one of the prime examples. His father, Alfredo's father, after spending an entire act convincing Violetta (by the way, that entire act is something more than a masterpiece) and incredibly succeeding (how he does it, I won't say) now has to explain to his idiot son that it would be better to stop hanging out with bad girls and go back home. But he - Alfredo - totally ignores him. A thousand snakes are devouring his chest. And the father keeps telling him 'come on, come home, it's nice, it's Provence, there's the sea, the sun' these kinds of things. He doesn't listen. A thousand snakes devour his chest. Well, end of description. Can you imagine this scene? La Scala opening night 2013. Alfredo sings it while slicing zucchinis. You think I'm joking.
2. La Scala opening night, 2012. Don Giovanni. Zerlina's seduction aria. Masetto is on the ground. Don Giovanni has beaten him up. But Zerlina, who despite complaining actually cares for him, sings an aria to him which is putting it mildly to call explicit. The aria (gorgeous) basically says I have a medicine, which the pharmacist can't give you. It won't disgust you, you'll like it, etc., you get the idea. And the aria, at the peak of erotic tension, ends with Zerlina saying I have a heart that beats only for you. And further: 'Feel it beating, feel it beating, touch me here'. Understand? La Scala opening night, 2012. Masetto, on the ground, with Zerlina straddling him, lifts his head and puts his hands... on her ass! I swear!
3. Otello set on a cruise ship. Why?
4. Boheme set in a supermarket. WHY?

Two things I'm not sure whether to put in the best, the worst or the I don't know.

1. Otello, conducted by Abbado, Fuoco di gioia. Three girls take a young black boy and seduce him to say the least. Almost a pornographic movie scene. The three girls are truly remarkable. The doubt is: but what the hell does all this have to do with the opera, with the aria in question? Well, in any case quite a sight.
2. Rigoletto directed by Dario Argento, at the Sferisterio of Macerata. 1977. I don't know whether to put it on one side or the other. Because I've never seen it. I think no one has ever seen it. It seems that after the first rehearsal they kicked him out. A pity.

The best:

1. Traviata, Salzburg Festival, I think 2005. Netrebko Villazon. But a very simple and intelligent staging. Something that reconciles you with the world. Netrebko finally believable as the most desired girl in Paris. Villazon good in the role of the poor fool. And everything white around. With only a clock on stage. Time. An absolute masterpiece. If you don't like opera, if that's what you think, get it. You'll thank me, oh, you will thank me.
2. It's not an opera, it's a movie. Beautiful. The Shawshank Redemption. A scene. The protagonist, a prisoner, is getting some privileges because being a good accountant he is helping the warden make money. One of these privileges is that records arrive for the prison library. And he - in the warden's office, alone - finds himself with Le Nozze in his hands. And he gets the crazy idea. He broadcasts it at full volume, through the microphones, the prison speakers. And everyone stops. To listen. And the voice over says: 'I never knew what those two women were saying to each other. But it didn't matter, I always thought that what they were saying was too beautiful to be put into words.' Oscar. At least.
3. Third but absolutely first place. MARIO DEL MONACO and TITO GOBBI. Tokyo, '54 I think. Otello, of course. Kneeling side by side, they sing 'Sì pel ciel marmoreo giuro'. I said I would talk about the scenographies. Here the scenography is zero. Still first in the ranking. It's not like if Shawn Stone happens to be in front of you - say - you say oh, but she has an ugly watch... Get it?

Ps: I know you won't like this review, but you will learn...