I’ve always been a fan of opera even though I’ve zero musical talent: if I were a blues singer I’d be known as Wandering Keys. My mother, a mezzo soprano who was tutored by a pupil of Puccini, would have accepted an offer to join the Carla Rosa Opera Company, if my father - we’re talking about the patriarchal society of the 1930s - hadn’t forbidden her; I auditioned for a role in my school’s production of Bastien und Bastienne but, unsurprisingly, it was offered to a classmate who could actually sing. In brief, SirThomas Beecham had my measure: “The English may not like music, but they absolutely love the noise it makes.
For the first time since the late noughties, when they were on special offer with the Corriere Della Sera, I’ve recently purchased some opera videos: some from Apple Music + others as Blu Ray discs. And they’ve confirmed my long held opinion that the way you’re consuming an opera determines the ingredients it needs to succeed. To start with an audio recording. Here the only thing that matters is the quality of the singing. When we read a novel we each picture the characters and their environment in our own individual way. Hence, when you later see a film of the book you’re always disappointed: that’s not how the protagonists look! The same is true when we listen to a CD of an opera. If we hear that Gilda is incredibly beautiful then that’s how we see Rigoletto’s daughter, and that image will be different for each one of us. Then there’s going to see a performance at the opera house. In this situation a successful production will have performers who are not only gifted singers but competent actors. If you’re not sitting in a front box or using opera glasses it doesn’t really matter how closely they physically resemble the part they’re playing. Approximately will do. But video is a completely different kettle of fish. I bought Zeffirelli’s film of Rigoletto starring Pavarotti and Edita Gruberova. In many ways it was very enjoyable but unfortunately she didn’t fit my personal definition of beauty; I found Victoria Vergara, who played Maddalena much more attractive. And this really spoilt the opera: hearing someone you don’t find physically attractive being endlessly referred to as irresistibly beautiful. What comprises good looks, of course, is completely subjective. The fact that I wasn’t enchanted by Miss Gruberova’s appearance doesn’t mean her looks don’t appeal to others. Kim Karshadian is lusted after by many, but not by me. However, there are opera videos where the problem is not remotely subjective. We’re talking age. I am extremely fond of the Opera Australia 1993 video of La Bohème starring Cheryl Barker and David Hobson. A friend who, unlike me, understands music isn’t very keen on it: there are recordings by better singers. But I’m captured by the fact that they’re both relatively young, and consequently are believable as two youthful bohemians. They look the part. And finally there’s Madama Butterfly, the tragedy of the fifteen year old exploited by the paedophile Pinkerton. I bought the Blu Ray starring Ermonela Jaho. Beautiful singing, great acting - I wept as the opera ended. But the close-ups of the 43 year old singer completely undermined the credibility of her playing a 15 year old. The answer to the problem? Obviously it wouldn’t be having fifteen year olds singing the rôle. The opera was written to be seen in a theatre, not on a television set, and watched from a distance Miss Jaho would be perfectly plausible playing a teenager. The solution, surely, would be to avoid recording close-ups in operas where they would undermine its credibility. In many they don’t. The close ups of Stefania Bonfadelli in La Traviata add to the viewer’s emotional involvement. But in this opera we’re not being continually told that the protagonist is a child or that she’s outstandingly beautiful. Just an attractive young woman who’s destroyed by the twisted morality of her lover’s father.
For the first time since the late noughties, when they were on special offer with the Corriere Della Sera, I’ve recently purchased some opera videos: some from Apple Music + others as Blu Ray discs. And they’ve confirmed my long held opinion that the way you’re consuming an opera determines the ingredients it needs to succeed. To start with an audio recording. Here the only thing that matters is the quality of the singing. When we read a novel we each picture the characters and their environment in our own individual way. Hence, when you later see a film of the book you’re always disappointed: that’s not how the protagonists look! The same is true when we listen to a CD of an opera. If we hear that Gilda is incredibly beautiful then that’s how we see Rigoletto’s daughter, and that image will be different for each one of us. Then there’s going to see a performance at the opera house. In this situation a successful production will have performers who are not only gifted singers but competent actors. If you’re not sitting in a front box or using opera glasses it doesn’t really matter how closely they physically resemble the part they’re playing. Approximately will do. But video is a completely different kettle of fish. I bought Zeffirelli’s film of Rigoletto starring Pavarotti and Edita Gruberova. In many ways it was very enjoyable but unfortunately she didn’t fit my personal definition of beauty; I found Victoria Vergara, who played Maddalena much more attractive. And this really spoilt the opera: hearing someone you don’t find physically attractive being endlessly referred to as irresistibly beautiful. What comprises good looks, of course, is completely subjective. The fact that I wasn’t enchanted by Miss Gruberova’s appearance doesn’t mean her looks don’t appeal to others. Kim Karshadian is lusted after by many, but not by me. However, there are opera videos where the problem is not remotely subjective. We’re talking age. I am extremely fond of the Opera Australia 1993 video of La Bohème starring Cheryl Barker and David Hobson. A friend who, unlike me, understands music isn’t very keen on it: there are recordings by better singers. But I’m captured by the fact that they’re both relatively young, and consequently are believable as two youthful bohemians. They look the part. And finally there’s Madama Butterfly, the tragedy of the fifteen year old exploited by the paedophile Pinkerton. I bought the Blu Ray starring Ermonela Jaho. Beautiful singing, great acting - I wept as the opera ended. But the close-ups of the 43 year old singer completely undermined the credibility of her playing a 15 year old. The answer to the problem? Obviously it wouldn’t be having fifteen year olds singing the rôle. The opera was written to be seen in a theatre, not on a television set, and watched from a distance Miss Jaho would be perfectly plausible playing a teenager. The solution, surely, would be to avoid recording close-ups in operas where they would undermine its credibility. In many they don’t. The close ups of Stefania Bonfadelli in La Traviata add to the viewer’s emotional involvement. But in this opera we’re not being continually told that the protagonist is a child or that she’s outstandingly beautiful. Just an attractive young woman who’s destroyed by the twisted morality of her lover’s father.
