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A night at the opera
May. 3rd, 2005 11:01 pmI've just returned from the opera house.
Some time yesterday, one of my co-workers suggested going to see Tchaikovsky's "Jewgeni Onegin". Now, I generally like Tchaikovsky, but didn't know this particular opera, so I decided to come along.
When you go to see an opera these days, you always have a good chance to fall victim to some 'modern interpretation'. Not this time. Apart from the colored electric lights, which I think they used very tastefully, all of this could have been done in 1881.
The set was absolutely stunning. Very realistic, very elaborate. For example, in the duel scene, they had a snowy foreground (mostly done with lighting) and in the back, a horse silhouette in the mist. And all the elaborate paintings on the gaze mesh they lowered to seperate the rear area of the stage from the front. Absolutely wonderful.
There also is a lot of good to be said about the choreography. All those little details in the background, like the children dancing with the bear - yes, one of the actors appeared in a bear suit from time to time, although I'm not quite sure what it was meant to symbolize.
The singers weren't world class, but they were definitely good, and the orchestra balanced very well with them, carrying the emotions of Tchaikovsky's music without smashing it by being too forceful.
So beautiful!
Some time yesterday, one of my co-workers suggested going to see Tchaikovsky's "Jewgeni Onegin". Now, I generally like Tchaikovsky, but didn't know this particular opera, so I decided to come along.
When you go to see an opera these days, you always have a good chance to fall victim to some 'modern interpretation'. Not this time. Apart from the colored electric lights, which I think they used very tastefully, all of this could have been done in 1881.
The set was absolutely stunning. Very realistic, very elaborate. For example, in the duel scene, they had a snowy foreground (mostly done with lighting) and in the back, a horse silhouette in the mist. And all the elaborate paintings on the gaze mesh they lowered to seperate the rear area of the stage from the front. Absolutely wonderful.
There also is a lot of good to be said about the choreography. All those little details in the background, like the children dancing with the bear - yes, one of the actors appeared in a bear suit from time to time, although I'm not quite sure what it was meant to symbolize.
The singers weren't world class, but they were definitely good, and the orchestra balanced very well with them, carrying the emotions of Tchaikovsky's music without smashing it by being too forceful.
So beautiful!
