It is truly fascinating to me how many of the operas we have watched in this class that were either movies, reminded me of movies, or I would love to see made into a movie. I think if done in the right way, and who knows what that way is, almost any opera can be made into a film version, but there seems to be something special about the operas we’ve studied that have been written since 1950. Especially the more recent ones we’ve watched and listened to; Willie Stark, The Aspern Papers, The Death of Klinghoffer and now William Bolcom’s A view from the Bridge.
Is it opera influencing film or film influencing opera? Opera has been criticized for being too dramatic and over the top, but the same thing can be said about movies of today. A great deal of the music from operas sounds very film-esque, or is it the other way around? Before Hollywood was popping out all of these big budget block busters, opera was really the only art form with over the top drama, plot driven music, text, costumes, sets, etc… I mean there are musicals, but where did musicals come from…Opera!
I think we have reached a point where opera and film are really beginning to intermingle. Many of the operas from class have a certain 1950’s classic film appeal to them which I absolutely adore and cherish. Then there are operas that would make fantastic big budget movies like Satyagraha and Cleopatra. Many of the operas that are performed on stage have a certain film quality to them in terms of the effects used, projection, and the way the action is being staged more realistically. It’s becoming increasingly easier to see the thumbprint of film on opera today and I think it’s great.
I don’t know that I would want to see the opera, A view from the Bridge made into a movie, I just think that there is something very special about the fact that as an opera, it has a very classic Hollywood feel, at least in my opinion. Although the subject matter is controversial, there is something extremely charming in the way the music was composed and the text was set. I feel like I have seen these characters a hundred times, but they’re the characters you don’t get sick of, you genuinely care about them or despise them, or cry with them. There is just something so different and so special about this era in American opera history.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Seriously?
Today in class we had a pretty lively discussion on the portrayal of women and stereotypes in opera. I feel like operas written during the 1700 and 1800’s have portrayed individuals based off of the ideals of the time. In my opinion it makes sense then, for modern operas which take place during the 18th and 19th centuries, to also up hold those same ideals, as unfortunate and narrow minded as they may be, because they were the norm at the time.
Modern operas dealing with issues of today, or even over the last fifty years however, which still show women as these fragile, irrational and out of control people, really annoy me. I take no issue with women or men being portrayed as emotional, what bothers me is that women time and again are shown as going beyond being upset and right into crazy town. Men and women are different and show their emotions in very different ways, but I think it is safe to say that when most women are upset, they don’t become unstable and lose their grips on reality. The music of the female leads during heightened emotional states reflects a loss of control. We discussed in class today that the music often becomes erratic, the intervals grow wider and are all over the place, there’s no feeling of being grounded, and this is used to portray a women going mad.
The same goes for men and their stereotypes. I think that most male characters are allowed to show anger and passion, but God forbid they shed a tear, or show any sign of an emotion that could be taken as weakness. During emotional scenes involving men, their music changes, but differently then women’s music, you never get the sense that they are going crazy, in fact to me, the music sounds stronger and more powerful, which I tend to see and hear happening during moments of rage or anger. It’s not that men don’t lose control; they just lose it in a way that is more “acceptable”. Men go mad with anger, women go mad from sadness, (and it’s usually because of the men in their lives.) It is definitely a hope of mine to see an increase in the number of operas written that reflect more realistic displays of emotion by both men and women in regard to both plot and music.
Modern operas dealing with issues of today, or even over the last fifty years however, which still show women as these fragile, irrational and out of control people, really annoy me. I take no issue with women or men being portrayed as emotional, what bothers me is that women time and again are shown as going beyond being upset and right into crazy town. Men and women are different and show their emotions in very different ways, but I think it is safe to say that when most women are upset, they don’t become unstable and lose their grips on reality. The music of the female leads during heightened emotional states reflects a loss of control. We discussed in class today that the music often becomes erratic, the intervals grow wider and are all over the place, there’s no feeling of being grounded, and this is used to portray a women going mad.
The same goes for men and their stereotypes. I think that most male characters are allowed to show anger and passion, but God forbid they shed a tear, or show any sign of an emotion that could be taken as weakness. During emotional scenes involving men, their music changes, but differently then women’s music, you never get the sense that they are going crazy, in fact to me, the music sounds stronger and more powerful, which I tend to see and hear happening during moments of rage or anger. It’s not that men don’t lose control; they just lose it in a way that is more “acceptable”. Men go mad with anger, women go mad from sadness, (and it’s usually because of the men in their lives.) It is definitely a hope of mine to see an increase in the number of operas written that reflect more realistic displays of emotion by both men and women in regard to both plot and music.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Hollywood Operas
If the 2003 film production of the opera “The Death of Klinghoffer,” by John Adams, is any indication of where opera is headed, I’m all for it. In watching this version, which did not take place on a stage but rather on a film set, I found it to be incredibly believable and effective. It made the opera extremely accessible in my opinion, and all though I truly do believe that part of what makes opera special is its authenticity, in other words, a live performance in which all of the drama and music unfolds right before the audience without any sort of sound editing, I think this sort of a medium for opera would be incredibly successful in attracting more people to opera.
I know that people have mentioned directors in class who have put together movie versions of operas similar to this one, and I think it’s wonderful. Some of the previews I have seen for these opera movies have been amazing, they look like big budget blockbuster operas. If this is what it takes to gain more support for this art form, I’m behind it one hundred percent. I would hope that by making opera more accessible to the masses, that more people would in turn attend live performances of opera.
Over all, I found the acting to be quite good, slightly over done at times, but I’m going to assume that the cast is accustomed to having to make grander gestures to reach the back of a theater. Mrs. Klinghoffer’s aria at the end of the opera was truly one of the most powerful and touching operatic moments I think I have ever seen. I think part of that is because the camera allowed me as an audience member to feel as if I was right there with her, I could see ever facial expression, every thought in her head, and every tear she held back, it was a beautiful moment. I don’t think I would have had that reaction had I been sitting 50 rows away from the stage. Hollywood and opera collaborations are certainly something to think about, who knows what it could lead to.
I know that people have mentioned directors in class who have put together movie versions of operas similar to this one, and I think it’s wonderful. Some of the previews I have seen for these opera movies have been amazing, they look like big budget blockbuster operas. If this is what it takes to gain more support for this art form, I’m behind it one hundred percent. I would hope that by making opera more accessible to the masses, that more people would in turn attend live performances of opera.
Over all, I found the acting to be quite good, slightly over done at times, but I’m going to assume that the cast is accustomed to having to make grander gestures to reach the back of a theater. Mrs. Klinghoffer’s aria at the end of the opera was truly one of the most powerful and touching operatic moments I think I have ever seen. I think part of that is because the camera allowed me as an audience member to feel as if I was right there with her, I could see ever facial expression, every thought in her head, and every tear she held back, it was a beautiful moment. I don’t think I would have had that reaction had I been sitting 50 rows away from the stage. Hollywood and opera collaborations are certainly something to think about, who knows what it could lead to.
Where have all of the Heroes Gone?
“Why do they so adamantly refuse the heroic? Why did they insist that Leon and Marilyn Klinghoffer be portrayed in the opera as they undoubtedly were in life: a nice but relatively ordinary, un-poetic, well-off Jewish couple celebrating their 36th wedding anniversary with a luxury cruise?”
To this question I would ask, why do they need to be heroic, and what is a hero? If a hero is your stereotypical idea of what you see in Hollywood films like James Bond or Zorro, then no, they are not even remotely portrayed as heroic. However, if you consider the ordeal they were facing, how are they not heroes? While watching this opera I felt incredibly on edge, it just hit extremely close to home. Have I ever been the victim of a terrorist attack or hijacking? NO. However, if I try and put myself in a situation similar to that of the Klinghoffers, I don’t know that I would have been half as courageous as they were. When face to face with your own mortality, what options do you have?
At least in the version of the opera I watched, I saw Leon Klinghoffer speak his mind, he respectfully stood up for himself, and I don’t know that I would have had the courage to even phonate around the Palestinian hijackers, forget about defending myself. And furthermore, I never felt for one second that he was shying away from the fate that awaited him, he faced a disgusting and horrific situation with honor and grace.
I feel like sometimes in opera we get caught up in the over the top drama of it all, and why not, it’s fantastic, but what is wrong with an opera trying to portray events in a realistic more intimate way? Perhaps it would have been more entertaining if Leon Klinghoffer rose out of his wheel chair and attempted to fight off the hijackers, but that’s not what happened. I think John Adams was trying to present two sides of a story, not to comment, but to present, and it was up to the audience to decide what they felt. I found Leon Klinghoffer to be very brave, and his wife was a compassionate woman deeply concerned with the well being of her husband, and not afraid to speak her mind. If you’re looking for a hero in this opera, there are a few; it just depends on your idea of what is heroic.
Fink, “Klinghoffer in Brooklyn Heights,” Cambridge Opera Journal, 2005, 17:2, 173-213.
To this question I would ask, why do they need to be heroic, and what is a hero? If a hero is your stereotypical idea of what you see in Hollywood films like James Bond or Zorro, then no, they are not even remotely portrayed as heroic. However, if you consider the ordeal they were facing, how are they not heroes? While watching this opera I felt incredibly on edge, it just hit extremely close to home. Have I ever been the victim of a terrorist attack or hijacking? NO. However, if I try and put myself in a situation similar to that of the Klinghoffers, I don’t know that I would have been half as courageous as they were. When face to face with your own mortality, what options do you have?
At least in the version of the opera I watched, I saw Leon Klinghoffer speak his mind, he respectfully stood up for himself, and I don’t know that I would have had the courage to even phonate around the Palestinian hijackers, forget about defending myself. And furthermore, I never felt for one second that he was shying away from the fate that awaited him, he faced a disgusting and horrific situation with honor and grace.
I feel like sometimes in opera we get caught up in the over the top drama of it all, and why not, it’s fantastic, but what is wrong with an opera trying to portray events in a realistic more intimate way? Perhaps it would have been more entertaining if Leon Klinghoffer rose out of his wheel chair and attempted to fight off the hijackers, but that’s not what happened. I think John Adams was trying to present two sides of a story, not to comment, but to present, and it was up to the audience to decide what they felt. I found Leon Klinghoffer to be very brave, and his wife was a compassionate woman deeply concerned with the well being of her husband, and not afraid to speak her mind. If you’re looking for a hero in this opera, there are a few; it just depends on your idea of what is heroic.
Fink, “Klinghoffer in Brooklyn Heights,” Cambridge Opera Journal, 2005, 17:2, 173-213.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Divas
After our last class I began thinking about how women in the operas we have watched thus far have been portrayed. We have seen women with strength, power, the ability to manipulate, and weakness. I would say that the majority of female characters in opera are portrayed as weak, immoral or lacking any significant intelligence. Someone mentioned in class that even strong female characters are often given at least one flaw so as not to seem too powerful and therefore more acceptable to an audience. I think it ultimately comes down to keeping this stereotypical idea of what is “feminine.”
I would have to say that out of all of the operas we have looked at Cleopatra has been the strongest by far. She is certainly a woman of independent thought, and lives and dies one her own terms. I look forward to the day when it is no longer rare to come across an opera with a truly strong female lead. Cunegonde was relatively strong in my opinion, but not powerful, her strength came in her ability to manipulate and scheme. The role of Anne Stanton was written around weakness and uncertainty. She had great difficulty making up her own mind, and seemed to lack any true convictions. Juliana is the epitome of the opera diva, and Tina seems to just live in her shadow. Neither woman is particularly kind, and in my opinion, they appear to be quite petty and at times nothing less than cruel.
I wonder if the lack of strong positive female characters in opera comes from a lack of female composers writing operas. It boggles my mind why in this day and age it is such a struggle for women composers. I am by no means an expert on opera after 1950, but I can’t think of a single opera written by a woman after 1950 or before. It is still such a male dominated field, but one that I think could be enriched greatly by a new and female perspective.
I would have to say that out of all of the operas we have looked at Cleopatra has been the strongest by far. She is certainly a woman of independent thought, and lives and dies one her own terms. I look forward to the day when it is no longer rare to come across an opera with a truly strong female lead. Cunegonde was relatively strong in my opinion, but not powerful, her strength came in her ability to manipulate and scheme. The role of Anne Stanton was written around weakness and uncertainty. She had great difficulty making up her own mind, and seemed to lack any true convictions. Juliana is the epitome of the opera diva, and Tina seems to just live in her shadow. Neither woman is particularly kind, and in my opinion, they appear to be quite petty and at times nothing less than cruel.
I wonder if the lack of strong positive female characters in opera comes from a lack of female composers writing operas. It boggles my mind why in this day and age it is such a struggle for women composers. I am by no means an expert on opera after 1950, but I can’t think of a single opera written by a woman after 1950 or before. It is still such a male dominated field, but one that I think could be enriched greatly by a new and female perspective.
Beautifully Odd English
I’m always so used to listening to operas in Italian, French or German, that it’s rather strange when hearing an opera performed in English. Not strange in a negative way, but different. It’s wonderful to be able to (for the most part) understand what is being said without the use of supertitles, but it’s odd to hear English, a language I speak every day sound so foreign to me. I attribute this to the use of crisp consonants, pure vowels and flipped [r]s. It’s a side of the English language that I think most people are not used to hearing on a regular basis. However, in the case of The Aspern Papers, by Dominick Argento, I thought the English lent itself beautiful to the musical style of the composer. The music enhanced the language, and in turn, the language enhanced the music.
There were a few moments when I found some of the word choices quite humorous. The text was taken, for the most part, directly from the novella written by Henry James. When spoken aloud I’m sure that the text would be lovely, but when sung, there were occasions when the flowery language sounded almost out of place. The moments I am referring to made me imagine that the libretto had originally been written in French or Italian, and translated into English. In my mind, this created just a few awkward moments as a result, but as I said before, the composer, who was also the librettist, pulled the text almost directly from the novella.
Aside from those couple of instances where I felt the choice of words was peculiar, I thought Argento composed beautifully for the text and truly communicated its meaning to the audience, something that was exceedingly important to him. While watching the clips I felt completely immersed in what was going on onstage; the text, music, costumes, scenery and especially the lighting was so effective in creating, what I felt, was an appropriate mood, that I would definitely like to see and hear more of this work.
There were a few moments when I found some of the word choices quite humorous. The text was taken, for the most part, directly from the novella written by Henry James. When spoken aloud I’m sure that the text would be lovely, but when sung, there were occasions when the flowery language sounded almost out of place. The moments I am referring to made me imagine that the libretto had originally been written in French or Italian, and translated into English. In my mind, this created just a few awkward moments as a result, but as I said before, the composer, who was also the librettist, pulled the text almost directly from the novella.
Aside from those couple of instances where I felt the choice of words was peculiar, I thought Argento composed beautifully for the text and truly communicated its meaning to the audience, something that was exceedingly important to him. While watching the clips I felt completely immersed in what was going on onstage; the text, music, costumes, scenery and especially the lighting was so effective in creating, what I felt, was an appropriate mood, that I would definitely like to see and hear more of this work.
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