The Opera and a Close Friend .:. grubbykid.com

The Opera and a Close Friend

Last night I went to the Cincinnati Opera's presentation of Elektra, based on the tragedy by Sophocles. I went with a few close friends who needed to go for their Introduction to Opera class. We had to take two cars down, because no one knew how many student tickets were on sale, and if there was a limited supply those who were in the class had first crack at them.

Here is a short synopsis of the opera:

Richard Strauss's Elektra traces the emotional struggles of its title character, a young woman whose father has been killed by her mother and her mother's paramour. Elektra obsessively plots to avenge her father's death, but upon its achievement is herself destroyed.

This was my first opera, even though I have been to many different plays, musicals and the like. My first reaction to the production was that the actors and actresses did not have the vocal depth and volume to overcome the wonderful orchestra conducted by Sebastian Weigle. Elektra, the daughter of Agamemnon was played by Deborah Polaski who I believe is a CCM graduate - who is making her hometown debut in this production, was stiff in her blocking and movement. Her overall vocals were average - her performance overall seemed forced and over-dramatic. Chrysothemis [Elektra's sister] played by Inga Nielsen performance was moderately improved than her fellow lead actress, but extraneous blocking and an unfortunate case of non-harmonizing with Elektra made a less than stellar performance.

Overall the opera was produced fairly well. The set contained a central tower, which the actors entered in and out of via a drawbridge. Downstage of this was two sets of angular fissured, "rocks" that was converted at various scenes for different themes. At the end of the opera, Aegisth [played by Kenneth Garrison] is led through the "forest" by Elektra the angled spires symbolized the decent into madness. At the beginning of the opera, the rocks are together - a jagged landscape for murders. As the opera progresses a fissure opens up for Elektra's decent into despair.

In many productions the details are the important issue that get wither overlooked or forgotten. Case in point was the drawbridge on the tower. When the bridge came down gracefully, a handrail would shoot out and destroy the fantasy any suspension of disbelief. Another point of contention was the overall blocking of the production. Many of the secondary characters would appear in the background [upstage] and move slightly or interact with other character. This blocking, albeit small and upstage, distracted from the foreground action and was annoying enough that I started not to watch the upstage action in fear of just seeing useless blocking.

Overall I thought it was a good performance for Cincinnati. The real depressing part involved the patrons who came to last night's performance. Don't people know what evening-wear is? It means no short sleeves, no sweaters, and by god, no cargo pants.

Let me say this right now, and for the men only - because the women got it last night and they usually have better fashion sense then men anyway: Eveningwear to the opera, theatre or arts even requires the correct attire. On opening nights the men must wear tuxedoes and all other times a shirt, tie and nice slacks must be worn. If it is too warm for a sport coat or similar, you can leave that at home. Yeesh, the fashion police were out in force last night.

The Opera and a Close Friend

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mikey3times says:

Posted by: mikey3times at July 22, 2002 1:00 PM #

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