After "The Daughter of the Regiment" (which I wrote about) I saw another Donizetti opera, "Lucia di Lammermoor", on Saturday evening. That was excellent and very dramatic. The famous "mad scene" in which Lucia comes out in her blood-stained wedding dress after murdering the man she was forced to marry was really gripping. I had never seen any works of Donizetti before, but after seeing his most famous comedy and his most famous tragedy, I must say that I like him.
The next night I watched "Eugene Onegin" by Tchaikovsky. I had seen a simulcast of that opera some years ago in a movie theater. Tchaikovsky is one of my favorite orchestral composers, and this opera has a rather interesting story line. (Naive Tatiana, a girl from the sticks, falls for a worldly nobleman, Eugene Onegin. Onegin rejects her love. Years later, Tatiana has married well, and is a glamorous princess. When Onegin sees her, he is smitten, but virtuous Tatiana, even though she still has feelings for him, rebuffs his advances.) This production was different from the one I had seen before. The designer used very stark, minimalist sets which I did not care for. Nevertheless, the story and the fine singing held my interest.
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Monday night's opera was Richard Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde". I like the instrumental music from Wagner's operas, but listening to his complete operas is another thing. I once started to watch on PBS one of his works from the "Ring Cycle", but I didn't get very far. In spite of that, I decided to give Wagner another try last night. Jeez, the opera is four hours long! I slogged my way through Acts I and II, and I forced myself to finish with Act III today. It was a rather painful experience.
First of all, I hated the modern stage settings and costumes. I realize that it is trendy to update classic operas and plays into present-day settings. For some productions it works. But this story centers around a magical love potion in a mythical medieval world. A modern update just seems ludicrous. The stage settings were all very dark and industrial. The ship in which Tristan and Isolde are sailing across the sea looks like the hold of some grim cargo ship carrying toxic waste. The costumes are equally dark. You would think that an Irish princess on her way to marry the King of Cornwall would not be dressed so frumpily.
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In the first act Isolde's singing is the stereotypical shrieking that you associate with Wagnerian female vocalists. In the second act the music is sweeter and more melodic, but the two of them go on and on and on about how it is "only in the long night of death that they can be eternally united." I guess that's why the settings and costumes are all so dark. This is morbidly depressing, and nobody has even died yet! The final act contains the famous "Liebestod" (Love Death) which as an orchestral work is gorgeous... but it's less gorgeous with Isolde's wailing. After four hours I just wanted it to be over.
Guess what? This whole week is going to be devoted to Wagner. Good grief! The next four nights are going to be the four operas that make up his "Ring Cycle". The whole thing lasts about 15 hours in total. I am going to pass. I might try watching the last two nights of "Wagner Week"... "Die Meistersinger" (the only comic opera that he wrote) and "Tannhäuser". Looking at the pictures on the website at least these two have traditional stage settings and costumes.
The good news is that next week's schedule includes some more appealing works by Verdi and Rossini. (I look forward to "The Barber of Seville".)
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