Out of step with Poe and Bizet
Second best misprint of the year in today’s Guardian in the birthdays list: “Blake Morrison, poet and litery editor, 57.” Nearly as good as the assertion, when Sian Phillips joined a “litery” awards panel, that she was “no stranger to boos” instead of books.
Nothing but books (of the thrown variety) for ENO’s new Carmen, nothing but cheers (mostly)– and lots of chairs, far too many — for Masque of the Red Death at BAC. I’m with the minority on both.
Mind you, I only lasted two hours at the Masque. I got fed up with being aggressively hassled for not wearing my ugly white mask properly (you can’t, comfortably, with specs) but I was fed up anyway with traipsing round the same prissily furnished and over-decorated rooms and nothing happening. It’s like being stuck in the Geffrye Museum for a fortnight with a bunch of bad actors as live-in set dressing.
No doubt the masked ball at the end is worth the wait. And I must say that Susannah Clapp’s Observer review is a marvel of atmospheric description.
But the show is really all installation and no knickers (actually, that last bit’s not strictly true: the phoney rape scene is one of the most embarrassing sequences I’ve ever witnessed) and if you bother to get up close and personal to one of Poe’s narrative strands — as I did for the tragically distorted and stupidly staged version of “The tell-tale heart,” — the inadequacies of adaptation and performance are clearly exposed.
The Carmen is one of the best I’ve ever seen, and how the opera critics can’t at least admit that the transposition of a military guard and gypsy community to the world of CCTV surveillance, smuggling and prostitution is not entirely brilliant and successful is beyond me.
Even if you didn’t like the update, there’s no disputing the eloquence and elegance of the staging — especially in the second act bar setting, all bue neon lights and cool, sexually ambiguous strutting – which surprised me given Sally Potter’s theatrical inexperience.
Es Devlin’s design is tremendous, and the singing of Alice Coote as Carmen, Julian Gavin as Jose and fabulous newcomer Katie Van Kooten as Micaela is a blessed relief compared to the technical infantilism in Battersea.
October 8th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Michael- Alice Coote, actually!
October 17th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
While I understand that Masque of the Red Death will divide audiences (I loved it, by the way, and I can attest from personal experience that wearing glasses outside the mask is actually no hassle at all) I cannot believe that Sally Potter’s wretched Carmen could ever give pleasure. The horror of the evening is etched into my eyeballsmore than a fortnight after witnessing it. Car crash opera.
Michael, chat to me about the production, please, and not just the theoretical concept behind it. I challenge you to find the dramatic heart of Michaela’s character in this mess, or to make any sense of the cildren’s chorus. And you, who have seen so many great examples of ensemble staging in musical theatre, please convince me that Escamillo’s entrance was staged with any sense of stagecraft… I oculd go on. This was, honestly, one of the most shambolic and amateurish pieces of opera staging I’ve ever witnessed - and unlike many conservative opera-goers I normally love adventurous stagings.
Job
October 18th, 2007 at 10:06 am
Sorry, Job, but I disagree with you about Micaela — the intensity of what she was singing to Jose was redoubled by cutting the dialogue — the children were given clear social definition in the crowd scenes and I took Escamillo’s entrance to be deliberately down-played, or cool, if you like…I take your points. But I still loved the show. So did the audience the mnight I was there.
October 23rd, 2007 at 6:51 am
Thanks for answering, Michael. You’re the boss, but I’ll agree to disagree with you.
By the way, if you possibly can you should take a look at The Coronation of Poppea. More critical slatings for ENO, but this time I am completely apart from them. I thought it was terrific.
Kind regards
Job