L'incoronazione di Poppea @ LA Opera
I just sat through four of the strangest hours in opera I have ever seen. Monteverdi's L'incoronazione_di_Poppea is an amazing example of early baroque opera. Los Angeles Opera's new production of it is simply bizarre. The set design is very minimalist, which is not in itself unusual or unwelcome. However, the costumes are ridiculous, with Poppea's nurse in something like a triangular prism and a hat like a cluster of grapes to Mercury coming from the ceiling suspended by a thick silver stick that looked for all the world like it was coming from his rear end to Poppea's second act costume that made her look like the swamp thing.
The direction was similarly bizarre. Nero spent most of the first act groping Poppea's tits, then had a love duet with his friend Lucano in act II that featured more groping and a passionate man-on-man kiss. Poppea's nurses looked like the reincarnation of C-3PO dressed in inverted ice cream cones.
That being said, the voices were incredible. Countertenor David Daniels as Ottone soared, though being a countertenor after a couple hours I'd had enough. Nothing against countertenors, but the timbre of their voices can sometimes get a little grating. The standout voice for me was Reinhard Hagen as Seneca the Younger. His powerful bass was immense: deep and rumbling, yet beautiful at the same time. Also impressive was Susan Graham's Poppea. She played the role with a sensuality and a sexuality that were breathtaking, and her voice? Wow. Simply wow.
All in all I thoroughly enjoyed it, even if it was bizarre. The one problem I had wasn't with the performance, but with a couple guys sitting in front of us. I wasn't expecting the passionate two-man love duet between Nero and Lucano and thus was shocked into barely controlled giggles. This apparently offend the two men who I could only assume were a couple sitting in front of us. They asked us if we could "shut up for act II" because we were "completely out of control." Besides that it was a lovely evening at the opera. Saturday is Hansel and Gretel at the LA Opera.
Someday I will see singersoul onstage there. :-D
The direction was similarly bizarre. Nero spent most of the first act groping Poppea's tits, then had a love duet with his friend Lucano in act II that featured more groping and a passionate man-on-man kiss. Poppea's nurses looked like the reincarnation of C-3PO dressed in inverted ice cream cones.
That being said, the voices were incredible. Countertenor David Daniels as Ottone soared, though being a countertenor after a couple hours I'd had enough. Nothing against countertenors, but the timbre of their voices can sometimes get a little grating. The standout voice for me was Reinhard Hagen as Seneca the Younger. His powerful bass was immense: deep and rumbling, yet beautiful at the same time. Also impressive was Susan Graham's Poppea. She played the role with a sensuality and a sexuality that were breathtaking, and her voice? Wow. Simply wow.
All in all I thoroughly enjoyed it, even if it was bizarre. The one problem I had wasn't with the performance, but with a couple guys sitting in front of us. I wasn't expecting the passionate two-man love duet between Nero and Lucano and thus was shocked into barely controlled giggles. This apparently offend the two men who I could only assume were a couple sitting in front of us. They asked us if we could "shut up for act II" because we were "completely out of control." Besides that it was a lovely evening at the opera. Saturday is Hansel and Gretel at the LA Opera.
Someday I will see singersoul onstage there. :-D