I love opera, always have, always will do. While one of my least favourite Entfuhrungs, I did enjoy while acknowledging that this production is not for all tastes. For one thing, it is thoroughly untraditional, not just in the post-modern setting, but also the idea of having two singers for each role excepting Pasha Selim and the use of new dialogue so the characters are often interacting with themselves, each other's doubles or even with the orchestra.
However I didn't mind this. I found the post-modern setting nicely re-created and atmospheric and helped by some great lighting and camera work personally, and the dialogue and interaction entertaining. Mozart it isn't, but entertaining it is, at least to me. I don't mind updated operas, so long as they're fun and well performed. Some updated productions work, some don't. 2005's Don Carlos is an example one that doesn't, this is one that just about does.
If there is a gripe in regards to the production itself, it is Matthias Klink's Belmonte. He has the ideal voice, it's just that it does sound rather tight and he didn't seem very assured in his acting. Catherine Naglestad fares much better as Konstanze, definitive it isn't, but she does take a noble stab at perhaps Mozart's most fiendishly difficult soprano/colouratura role, and Roland Bracht is a suitably intimidating Osmin. Pedrillo and Blonde are performed well.
The costumes are decent enough, the staging is interesting and the orchestra and conducting are top notch. And one mustn't forget the sublimity of Mozart's music too. Overall, not for all, but I for one found it enjoyable. 8/10 Bethany Cox
However I didn't mind this. I found the post-modern setting nicely re-created and atmospheric and helped by some great lighting and camera work personally, and the dialogue and interaction entertaining. Mozart it isn't, but entertaining it is, at least to me. I don't mind updated operas, so long as they're fun and well performed. Some updated productions work, some don't. 2005's Don Carlos is an example one that doesn't, this is one that just about does.
If there is a gripe in regards to the production itself, it is Matthias Klink's Belmonte. He has the ideal voice, it's just that it does sound rather tight and he didn't seem very assured in his acting. Catherine Naglestad fares much better as Konstanze, definitive it isn't, but she does take a noble stab at perhaps Mozart's most fiendishly difficult soprano/colouratura role, and Roland Bracht is a suitably intimidating Osmin. Pedrillo and Blonde are performed well.
The costumes are decent enough, the staging is interesting and the orchestra and conducting are top notch. And one mustn't forget the sublimity of Mozart's music too. Overall, not for all, but I for one found it enjoyable. 8/10 Bethany Cox
