(no subject)
Extrajudicial torture, rape and killing by the top authorities. The main plot engine of Tosca, but it could also be the nightly news.
About a third of the opera productions we’ve seen in Portland have a political subtext. Legitimate authority behaving illegitimately and badly. The glory years of opera coincided with democratic revolutions and nation building throughout Europe. Their plots reflect enlightenment aspirations. The heroes are commoners pitted against elements of the establishment.
The political opera plots are topical but they also are ageless. I fear they are becoming ever more relevant as world democracies reveal themselves misaligned with the common people and more frequently above their own laws.
These operas remind us of what we stand to lose if our democracy shreds. To name a few from recent Portland Opera: Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, Fidelio, Rigoletto, Galileo Galilei, Tosca.
About a third of the opera productions we’ve seen in Portland have a political subtext. Legitimate authority behaving illegitimately and badly. The glory years of opera coincided with democratic revolutions and nation building throughout Europe. Their plots reflect enlightenment aspirations. The heroes are commoners pitted against elements of the establishment.
The political opera plots are topical but they also are ageless. I fear they are becoming ever more relevant as world democracies reveal themselves misaligned with the common people and more frequently above their own laws.
These operas remind us of what we stand to lose if our democracy shreds. To name a few from recent Portland Opera: Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, Fidelio, Rigoletto, Galileo Galilei, Tosca.