Theater Review
Un Ballo in Maschera by Giuseppe Verdi
Landestheater Detmold, 29.01.06
Pamela and I both wanted to see this piece, so with the Sunday, we went down to Detmold to take a look. It's the third production of it that I've seen, so I'm going to start with some brief words about the others. First, was in Victoria, back in... (Oh goodness, I'm old!) 1999, or perhaps earlier. My brother was in the Extra choir for it. (Or is it also Extra "chor" in English?) It was marvelous to me, and I fell in love with the character of Oscar. (What Charisma! What Charm! What lovely arias!)
The second performance I saw was in Tartu, Estonia, in 2003, (When I was working in that theater.) I was also pleased with the casting of it, and adored Oscar once more. (Although... I felt the singer could have been more teasing in her last aria "I know something you don't know!" -It was perfect singing technique, but I felt she could have Played it more.) I watched it then, in Tartu a number of times, and also simply dropped in to some performances for only an hour or so.
Now, in Detmold. I was interested when I found out they would play it this season. And very, very pleased that it would all be sung in Italian. This was a bit of a big deal, because it's been more than a decade since the choir has sung anything other than German. There was doubt that the audience would appreciate it, or if they'd feel put out by not being able to understand it. But, they went on, and got it ready, in Italian. -And had very good reviews, and feedback when it was premiered.
I also agree; that they did a good job of it. And I too, was ever so pleased that it was in the original language. I like the way it sounds like that. Now, I've said that it was overall good... so it's time for me to pick it to pieces.
The worst, Worst, WORST thing about it was the "Translation." -Like the other two productions I've seen, they had a screen for text, mounted at the top of the Proscenium Arch. This is so that a translation of the text can be read there, while the action is taking place. It's exactly like undertitles in a film, except that the words are at the top, and not the bottom. Detmold, however, didn't give a line-by-line translation, as the other theaters have. When I asked, later, I was told that it was meant to be a brief synopsis, simply to explain the things which were not apparent from the action it's self.
What this meant, was that there would be a name on the screen, when a character came on stage for the first time. And -Sometimes, the idea of a song is shown, when that song begins. There were also a couple of important bits of information which we needed to understand anything: like when Ulrike sings "Go to the graveyard at midnight, and pick the special plant" -which we need to know, to understand why Amelia's out in the middle of the night, later on.
So, the idea was to have the audience not distracted with reading the whole time. (I disagree with this personally, and ask if undertitles in a movie are distracting. I find that one quickly gets used to them. But then... Germans NEVER have undertitles anyhow; It's always dubbed here. So, perhaps they Would find undertitles a distracting, terrible idea.) But that's just my personal feeling. I can appreciate the idea of having just enough text to make it clear what's going on. BUT... The text in Detmold was less than HALF of what it should have been! It was TERRIBLE! The WORST failure of it was at the end; The choir sings "This is such fun! Life is like a game." -And that text appears. Then the prince comes in, and meets with his true love -and the text doesn't change. He tells her that they have to part forever; He's sending her and her husband away as ambassadors to a different country, so that the burning, passionate love between her and himself can't tempt them any longer. -and the text doesn't change. They are both feeling afraid of being separated, and sadly say their last goodbyes, -and the text doesn't change. The jealous husband comes in, and stabs the prince, and the whole court is shocked that the prince has been killed by his best friend! -and the text doesn't change. The Prince is dying with slow agony, but explains to his friend, that his wife was always innocent. He tells him that they always resisted their passion for each other, and that he was about to send them both away. He insists that his friend be set free, and suffer no consequences for his regicide. He forgives his friend, and then dies. -And the text remains the same. The Choir sings the closing "Life is a terrible, dangerous thing. Beware of bad luck! What a horrible end to come to him!" -but STILL the text remains the same!!! It makes me SICK to think about it!
So... (pant pant pant,) I didn't like that aspect of it. The other thing I want to complain about is the... sloppiness. I found out that it was because the piece is simply part of the repertoire, and they never rehearse it any more. I can't agree with that mentality though. They SHOULD have had a rehearsal before that performance. There were three, (or perhaps four) places where a soloist would come in early, (and I mean a whole two bars early,) -because they didn't have a rehearsal just before, to recall exactly how it went. There were also a small number of times when a soloist, or the choir, were not singing at the same tempo as the orchestra. -Again, something that would have been corrected with one rehearsal. There are reasons, I'm sure, (Or one could call them excuses,) why parts of it were the way they were. I'm aware of that. One time, when the soloist was singing faster than the orchestra, it was surely because it's a beastly difficult aria. He must sing So quickly, and move his mouth around the words so fast... that he's rehearsed it on his own again, and again until he can do it perfectly. -At that one speed. And in the performance, he was focussing on his singing, and doing it well, -except for the fact that he was going faster than the orchestra. So... I would have liked these small things to be cleaner.
And I think... that that's all the criticism that I have. Now, my compliments.
As always, I felt that the character of Oscar was the best. And I was pleased to a great degree, when it was played by Kirsten, -who I thought was the best soprano they had for the part. And I approved of the way she teased Renaldo, in the last act. Her costume though... (Oh dear, there ARE more things for me to complain about!) It was not Entirely bad. But I felt it could have been rather better. The worst part of it for me, was the stuffing they put in her trousers, to give her a wide bum. I know it is just a style, from history, but it's not a Nice style! To understand what I mean, think of the Thigh padding for Canadian Mounted Police. Now think of that thigh padding only Starting at mid-thigh, and the widest part being at the hip joint. That's the impression that I had.
At Least though... At LEAST, they decided to change her hair. (I was back-stage for part of a dress-rehearsal for it, and was horrified by the hair Oscar had. It looked... just awful.) They had something much better though, for the premiere.
Hmmm... so, the best song, which showed this Oscar's virtuosity, was when she came to the house of Renaldo, to announce the ball. THAT was a pleasure to hear. However, it wasn't my Favorite musical highlight of the piece. I actually like it better, when Brigitta Baumer sang Amelia's aria, expecting her death. This was a heart-stopping moment. It was perfect. It was dramatic. It squeezed a tear from each of my eyes. (If only the rest of the audience could have known what she was singing about! They could have enjoyed it as much as I did!)
I also liked the statisteri. (Extras. Supers. What ever you personally would call the people who's job it is to stand there with a spear for the whole act.) They were dressed... as Mozart's father was in the film Amadeus. (But with a mask only on one side of their heads.) And most of the time, they just sat there, or stood there, or were somehow in the background. -But they added SUCH a sense of foreboding, of ominous fate, and of doom. (And of course, they were always handy to move chairs away, and change scenes in other ways.)
In contrast, one other thing I didn't like so much, was the way they had the Prince's and Amelia's last meeting, -in the Ball. In the other productions, the ball was going on, (with court dances,) in the back ground, and these two were saying goodbye on the apron, (meaning at the very front of the stage.) It looked -Right to me; It's the feeling of being at a huge party, and getting a private interview off in one corner, or behind the potted plants, but still having to remain discreet, and not attract the attention of the others, who are just a short way off. But this production had the feeling of them going into another room entirely; There was no one else on stage. It's not a Big difference, and it's possible for people to like it better, when they get right away from the party, But I didn't prefer it.
So... mostly a good performance. (And, as always, such Wonderful music!) I'd like to go back and see it again. -even though I'd get aggravated all over again by the text in German.