Britten the composer's "Forgotten" Why bother Il Velino March 7 The Velino presents, exclusively for subscribers, the news as they are entered.
CLT - Opera, Britten, the composer "forgotten" Why bother
Milan, 7 March (Il Velino) - The bell'allestimento of "Death in Venice", a real farewell to life, the last work of Benjamin Britten is on stage Scala until March 19. It is a co-production with the National Opera Inglese (Eno), which debuted in 2009, and the Theatre La Monnaie in Brussels. It is a show that deserves a trip to Milan, because it is without doubt the best that we have seen so far this season in the Italian opera houses. However, it should ask why, despite some interest for the composer in 2006 (thirty years after the death), "Death in Venice" and other major works by Britten, one of the top three great composers of musical theater of the "twentieth-century historian," we had limited circulation in Italy. In terms of personnel, Britten was very close to Italy, but little has been done in our country for years. The only exception is Rome, largely thanks to the programs of contemporary music orchestra of RAI before it was abolished. In the past two decades, there has been a revival of interest and theaters and, most importantly, the public. "The Turn of the Screw" was set up in Turin, Rome, Cagliari and Parma, "Peter Grimes" in Florence, Milan, Reggio Emilia and Ferrara, "Billy Budd" in Venice, Turin and Genoa, "Death in Venice" and "The Rape of Lucretia" in Genoa, Florence and Venice, "A Mid-Summer Night's Dream" in Rome, Naples, Milan and in the Tuscan circuit of City Opera, "Albert Herring" in an Emilian and Cosenza's fables sacred are been staged in Spoleto, the "Saint Nicholas" in Bari and Montepulciano, "The Little Sweep" in Palermo, Rovigo and Modena. Yes sono anche avute varie esecuzioni del “War requiem”.
Il bell’allestimento di “Death in Venice”, un vero e proprio addio alla vita, ultima opera di Benjamin Britten è in scena alla Scala sino al 19 marzo. Si tratta di una coproduzione con la l’English national opera (Eno), dove ha debuttato nel 2009, e con il Teatro La Monnaie di Bruxelles. È uno spettacolo che merita un viaggio a Milano, perché rappresenta senza dubbio il meglio che si è visto finora in questa stagione nei teatri d’opera italiani. Occorre tuttavia chiedersi perché, nonostante un certo interesse per il compositore nel 2006 (trentennale dalla morte), “Death in Venice” e altri fondamentali lavori Britten, one of the top three great composers of musical theater of the "twentieth-century historian," we had a limited circulation in Italy. In terms of personnel, Britten was very close to Italy, but little has been done in our country for years. The only exception is Rome, largely thanks to the programs of contemporary music orchestra of RAI before it was abolished. In the past two decades, there has been a revival of interest and theater and, most importantly, the public. "The Turn of the Screw" was set up in Turin, Rome, Cagliari and Parma, "Peter Grimes" in Florence, Milan, Reggio Emilia and Ferrara, "Billy Budd" Venice, Turin and Genoa, "Death in Venice" and "The Rape of Lucretia" in Genoa, Florence and Venice, "A Mid-Summer Night's Dream" in Rome, Naples, Milan and in the Tuscan circuit of City Opera, "Albert Herring "in the circuit and Emilia Cosenza, the sacred fables have been staged in Spoleto, the" Saint Nicholas "in Bari and Montepulciano," The Little Sweep "in Palermo, Rovigo and Modena. They also had different versions of "War Requiem".
The list is not exhaustive but indicative of the success, albeit late in the theater music of Britten. The public has never been absent and "exhausted" are the most concrete evidence of appreciation. On the other hand, just think that his latest work, "Death in Venice", had in 1973 alone as many as 15 different outfits (including Aldborough, where Britten lived in Venice, Edinburgh, Brussels and London) and the following year was landed with great success at the Metropolitan in New York. Her eclectic musical style never refuses tonal writing is captivating and even for those not familiar with the conventions of twentieth century music, while continuing in the great British tradition that began with Purcell, is adopting the technique of Berg to take the form of a theme on which to build each scene by including multiple variations and inserting the varie scene con intermezzi indipendenti che servano da elementi di unificazione musicale e drammatica. Altro aspetto fondante è la capacità di ottenere il massimo colore e calore orchestrale con il minimo di organico (unicamente 13 elementi ad esempio in “The turn of the screw” e una versione a organico ridotto per “Billy Budd” pur concepito, inizialmente, come un grand opéra). Anche in “Death in Venice” l’organico è stringato, con un’eccezione: le percussioni che caratterizzano il mondo di Tadzio, il giovano polacco la cui avvenenza turba il protagonista, l’anziano scrittore Aschenbach.
Inglese creates the work group, a touring company with few resources that could bring the opera in even minor cities of Great Britain and also had great success in Switzerland and Holland. For the same reason, although considered "court composer, he moved with his life partner, tenor Peter Pears, and his favorite librettist, Eric Crozier, the poet, in the small Aldeburgh, in Suffolck, where almost all its works are designed for the Jubilee Hall: 300 seats and without a real orchestra pit, until it was enlarged at the premiere of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in 1960. Faced with a certain avant-garde atonal twelve-tone and which had found its stronghold in Darmstadt, which expanded beyond the organic than expected and that composed by Mahler on texts of Marxist, Britten was "inconvenient" for several reasons: showed that we could innovate, to build up new experiences voiced, and be successful while working with reduced resources and writing scores that had the benefit of the public, drew inspiration from a wide range of sources (the Bible uses the popular legends, the Nô theater Japanese, English literature, Roman history, the narrative of Maupassant and Mann), none of which Marxist but a lot of religious origin or re-read in if not openly a Christian Catholic.
was also "uncomfortable" because, although recognized as a composer of the Court (including the opera "Gloriana", written for the Covent Garden for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II is perhaps one of his less successful), he kept away from the market of public subsidies: he boasted of being able to go ahead with the Aldeburgh Festival in large part with the ticket and the copyright for his work, which had great success not only in Anglo-Saxon world but also in the Far East, where he drew inspiration for "Curlew River", "The Prince of Pagodas" and "Songs from the Chinese." It was, finally, uncomfortable because, in a Britain where homosexuality was practiced much more heavy that existed against those who put in work, was a "gay" discreet: the age of 23 years at death divided his life with Peter Pears, without ever giving rise to scandal and, perhaps, having a chaste relationship. It's enough to be, for certain intelligentsia, "uncomfortable" even now. And it is inconvenient "Death in Venice" because, in the effective direction of Deborah Warner, the beautiful scenes of Tom Pye, in accurate costumes Clohe Obolenski, lighting by Jean Kalman, dilated and poignant musical direction by Edward Gardner and the excellent interpreters (su tutti spicca John Graham-Hall che la sera della “prima” ha avuto vere e proprie ovazioni) non pone l’accento sull’attrazione omoerotica. Come faceva invece il film di Luchino Visconti, tratto dalla medesima novella di Thomas Mann. Con una fedeltà rigorosa allo spirito dello scrittore tedesco, il tema centrale del lavoro è il rimorso per ciò che non si è fatto durante l’esistenza terrena, il rimpianto della giovinezza e della bellezza perduta, l’angoscia per cosa si troverà dopo la traghettata con Caronte. In una Venezia il cui centro città è sciroccoso e maleodorante, nuvoloso e afoso, mentre al Lido risplende un sole abbagliante.
L’elenco non è esaustivo ma indicative of success, albeit late, of Britten's musical theater. The public has never been absent and "exhausted" is the most concrete evidence of appreciation. On the other hand, just think that his latest work, "Death in Venice", had in 1973 alone as many as 15 different outfits (including Aldborough, where Britten lived in Venice, Edinburgh, Brussels and London) and the following year was landed with great success at the Metropolitan in New York. Her eclectic musical style never refuses tonal writing is captivating and even for those not familiar with the conventions of twentieth century music, while continuing in the great British tradition that began with Purcell, adopts the technique of Berg to take the form of a theme on which to build each scene by including multiple variations and interludes interspersing the various independent scenes that serve as unifying elements of musical and dramatic. Another fundamental aspect is the ability to get the most orchestral color and warmth with minimal staff (only 13 elements, for example in "The Turn of the Screw" and a version with smaller staff for "Billy Budd" although designed initially as a grand opera). Even in "Death in Venice" the staff is concise, with one exception: the percussion that characterize the world of Tadzio, the young Polish mob whose attractiveness the protagonist, Elder writer Aschenbach.
Great attention, then, to items. Whilst respecting the conventions, rediscovers the countertenor and the accompanying (in "A Midsummer Night's Dream") in rapturous duets with a soprano coloratura. Or, in "Billy Budd", using 17 male voices (five levels, eight baritones, a bass baritone and three low) and no female voice, the voice clear in assigning a quartet of teenagers and ten children who do not sing but the background chatter . In "The Turn of the Screw," however, the voices are almost exclusively women (three sopranos and two voices) in contrast with a bari-tenor can, however, to go down to the eighth sino a giungere a una vocalità da basso. Naturalmente, il metodo di organizzazione cambia quando si tratta di musica concepita per essere eseguita in chiesa (Britten era cattolico praticante), in cui il pubblico viene considerato non in veste di spettatore ma di compartecipe all’azione liturgica; quindi, alcune parti erano pensate perché fossero eseguite dall’intera congregazione. Britten si poneva infatti incessantemente il problema di come far vivere il teatro in musica e dare a esso un pubblico, in un’epoca densa di tante altre sollecitazioni (dal cinema, alla tv, alla riduzione dei tempi e dei costi dei trasporti e, quindi, all’aumento del turismo). Per questa ragione, già nel 1946 riapre il Festival di Glyndebourne in Sussex, now become the most exclusive music festivals, so that does not accept government subsidies and waiting list for membership is 20 years. In 1947 Britten
Inglese creates the work group, a touring company with few resources that could bring the opera in even minor cities of Great Britain and also had great success in Switzerland and Holland. For the same reason, although considered "court composer, he moved with his life partner, tenor Peter Pears, and his favorite librettist, Eric Crozier, the poet, in the small Aldeburgh, in Suffolck, where almost all its works are designed for the Jubilee Hall: 300 seats and without a real orchestra pit, until it was enlarged at the premiere of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in 1960. Faced with a certain avant-garde atonal twelve-tone and which had found its stronghold in Darmstadt, which expanded beyond the organic than expected and that composed by Mahler on texts of Marxist, Britten was "inconvenient" for several reasons: showed that we could innovate, to build up new experiences voiced, and be successful while working with reduced resources and writing scores that had the benefit of the public, drew inspiration from a wide range of sources (the Bible uses the popular legends, the Nô theater Japanese, English literature, Roman history, narrative Maupassant and Mann), none of which Marxist but a lot of religious origin or reinterpreted in Christian if not openly Catholic.
was also "uncomfortable" because, although recognized as a composer of the Court (including the opera "Gloriana", written for the Covent Garden for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II is perhaps one of his less successful), he kept away from the market of public subsidies: he boasted of being able to go ahead with the Aldeburgh Festival in large part with the ticket and the copyright for his work, which had great success not only in Anglo-Saxon world but also in the Far East, where he drew inspiration "Curlew River", "The Prince of Pagodas" and "Songs from the Chinese." It was, finally, uncomfortable because, in a Britain where homosexuality was practiced much more heavy that existed against those who put in work, was a "gay" discreet: the age of 23 years at death divided his life with Peter Pears, without ever giving rise to scandal and, perhaps, having a chaste relationship. It's enough to be, for certain intelligentsia, "uncomfortable" even now. And it is inconvenient "Death in Venice" because, in the effective direction of Deborah Warner, the beautiful scenes of Tom Pye, in accurate costumes Clohe Obolenski, in the light of Jean Kalman, dilated and poignant musical direction by Edward Gardner and the great interpreters (on all outstanding John Graham-Hall on the evening of the "first" was real applause) does not place the emphasis on attracting homoerotic . How did the film instead of Luchino Visconti, taken from the same novel by Thomas Mann. With a strict fidelity to the spirit of the German writer, the work is the central theme of remorse for what was not done during the earthly existence, the longing for lost youth and beauty, the anxiety for what will be found after ferried with Charon. In Venice, a city whose center and south and foul-smelling, cloudy and sultry, while the Lido shines a glaring sun.
March 7, 2011 13:29
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