(no subject)
Just got back from the L.A. Opera production of Luisa Fernanda. And... Hey! Guys! Guess what??
ZARZUELA. Is very very very intriguing. That's what.
... Wait. No. No more interests. Not now. Woahhhh, girl.
Ahem. Anyway.
I can't believe Placido Domingo is still able to sing so beautifully at his age -- the man is bloody indefatigable. No one else in the cast was very impressive... Oh wait, Susanna Guzman. But she's always been the best actress of any opera stage I've seen her on.
Besides the singers... Boy. Set and costume design and stage direction did NOT help along what was already kind of a difficult libretto to work with. ATTN, LA OPERA STAFF: Enough already with the spare, monochromatic, geometric production designs. You can't just automatically use it for every opera. It was reasonable for Orfeo ed Euridice, and even worked okay for Madama Butterfly. But it failed here. And ... wow, I've never seen such a polite, orderly, gutless little revolution, with such immaculately dressed revolutionaries. Come on now, people, Takarazuka has more believeably rebellious peasantry. No believeable social/economic tension at all, which more or less collapsed half the plot...
I enjoyed myself a lot though. And... hey! ZARZUELA. Must research.
ZARZUELA. Is very very very intriguing. That's what.
... Wait. No. No more interests. Not now. Woahhhh, girl.
Ahem. Anyway.
I can't believe Placido Domingo is still able to sing so beautifully at his age -- the man is bloody indefatigable. No one else in the cast was very impressive... Oh wait, Susanna Guzman. But she's always been the best actress of any opera stage I've seen her on.
Besides the singers... Boy. Set and costume design and stage direction did NOT help along what was already kind of a difficult libretto to work with. ATTN, LA OPERA STAFF: Enough already with the spare, monochromatic, geometric production designs. You can't just automatically use it for every opera. It was reasonable for Orfeo ed Euridice, and even worked okay for Madama Butterfly. But it failed here. And ... wow, I've never seen such a polite, orderly, gutless little revolution, with such immaculately dressed revolutionaries. Come on now, people, Takarazuka has more believeably rebellious peasantry. No believeable social/economic tension at all, which more or less collapsed half the plot...
I enjoyed myself a lot though. And... hey! ZARZUELA. Must research.