By James Jorden Instead of beating my brains out trying to make sense of the comings and goings in the final act of Simon Boccanegra at the Met (or am I just deluded to find it unlikely that convicted rebels should be marched to their execution through the Doge’s unguarded council chamber?), I thought this […]
Read the rest of this article »By James Jorden Garson Kanin wrote this novel a clef called Smash, a tale of a ruggedly handsome director’s trials in getting ready for Broadway a musical based on the life of a legendary vaudeville star, featuring a difficult young diva in the leading role—well, as you can see, the clef is pretty much a […]
Read the rest of this article »By James Jorden New Year’s Eve may have marked a significant turning point for the Gelb administration at the Metropolitan Opera. The replacement of the “beloved” Franco Zeffirelli Traviata extravaganza with a lean, mean non-literal staging has garnered rapturous reviews and strongly positive audience reactions. The single reported boo for director Willy Decker’s production team […]
Read the rest of this article »By James Jorden The opening of a new production of La Traviata at the Met tonight offers an ideal opportunity to address a fact of modern operatic life, the booing, apparently reflexive, of the director and production team at the first night’s curtain call. Now, booing and other expressions of disapproval have a long history […]
Read the rest of this article »By James Jorden What makes a dedicated opera queen (well, anyway this dedicated opera queen) sad? Well, it goes like this: the General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera hosts a panel discussion to introduce the company’s upcoming new production of La traviata, the first non-Franco Zeffirelli take on Verdi’s tragedy to be seen there in […]
Read the rest of this article »By James Jorden Of course it’s insanity in the current financial climate to suggest that the Met should have done a new production of La fanciulla del West this year, even though it’s a very special case: the centennial of the work’s world premiere, which was also the Met’s first world premiere. In fact, to […]
Read the rest of this article »By James Jorden The staging of the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Don Carlo is a triumph of conservatism. Ironic, when you come to think about it, because that’s the tragic action of the opera too: attempts at reform or even basic human compassion among the court of King Philip II are crushed like so many bugs […]
Read the rest of this article »By James Jorden Revival. Strange word, and creepy, when you think about it. Something used to be alive, then it wasn’t and now (presumably) it is, again. But it’s that last step, the actual reviving that seems so often to elude the revival of an opera production.
Read the rest of this article »By James Jorden When stage directors decide to intervene (as opposed to merely curating) there are a number of approaches they can take: deconstruction, gloss on the text, invention of an entirely new narrative. Or they can take the somewhat safer route of changing the epoch of the action, setting La bohème during World War […]
Read the rest of this article »By James Jorden The New York City Opera’s production of the Bernstein/Wadsworth A Quiet Place won what are called “mixed” reviews. A few critics hosannaed “Thanks be to Great God Lenny for smooching us once more with his plump, moist genius,” but the majority echoed Cecil B. DeMille’s tactful reaction to Norma Desmond’s bizarre comeback […]
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