Last week's Samson at the Barbican seems to have been well received by the critics in the broadsheets (Hilary Finch's review in the Times is here). What is interesting is that no-one seems to have mentioned that the work was heavily cut. I'm sure they noticed, after all you don't review a work like Samson without doing your homework. So we must assume that in a succinct review in print, it wasn't deemed worthy of notice. This is interesting in itself because the cuts meant that we lost 3 small solo parts (Israelite Man, Philistine Man and Virgin). Perhaps Handel oratorios are regarded as being so long that cuts are taken as read.
But this seems to be a very Handelian phenomenon. It is not so long ago that Covent Garden could mount a new production of Alcina for Yvonne Kenny and miss out an entire character (Oberto). Granted, this DID cause comment in critical circles. Imagine if someone put on, say, The Marriage of Figaro with one of the smaller characters cut entirely, perhaps Don Basilio or Dr. Bartolo, this would certainly cause a storm. Wouldn't?
There are, in fact, operas which I feel would be improved if certain characters were removed, but that's an entirely different article.
Thursday, 19 February 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular Posts this month
-
Britten: Peter Grimes ; Mark Le Brocq, Emma Bell, Mark Stone, Eugene Dillon-Hooper, Matthew Bawden, Rhian Davies, Oliver Heuzenroeder, Justi...
-
Lehár : The Merry Widow - Alex Otterburn, Henry Waddington - Scottish Opera (Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic) Lehár: The Merry Widow ; Paula Sides,...
-
Gilbert & Sullivan: Trial by Jury - Jamie MacDougall - Scottish Opera (Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic) Gilbert & Sullivan: Trial by Jury ,...
-
What about blowing the box to pieces: composer Eímear Noone on writing for video games, films and TVEímear Noone (Photo: Andy Paradise) Dublin and LA-based composer Eímear Noone is known for her scores for video games, films and TV. She re...
-
Rameau: Les Indes Galantes - Andreas Wolf, Cappella Mediterranea, Chœur de chambre de Namur, Structure Rualité, Leonardo García-Alarcón - T...
-
Edward Gardner & Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra - Aldeburgh Festival (Photo: Britten Pears Arts) Daniel Kidane: Sirens , Mark...
-
Johann Strauss: Die Fledermaus - The Grange Festival (Photo: © Richard Hubert Smith) Johann Strauss: Die Fledermaus ; Sylvia Schwartz, And...
-
Gimnazija Kranj Symphony Orchestra I get all sorts of mail, people sending my information on concerts and recordings. Everything gets gl...
-
Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore - Martins Smaukstelis & chorus - St Paul's Opera (Photo: Julian Guidera) Donizetti: L'Elis...
-
Handel: Saul - Soraya Mafi - Glyndebourne Opera (Photo: Glyndebourne/ASH) Soprano Soraya Mafi is currently singing the role of Michal in H...
No comments:
Post a Comment