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The dentist will see you now
This production is currently being given an airing in the Sky Arts series "Twenty operas to see before you die". However, while watching it I felt I had already died and was being subjected to some particularly painful torment to atone for my past sins. I first tried to listen to this opera about five years ago but I only managed a few minutes before I had to turn it off. Since then my masochism threshold has increased considerably and so, when the chance came again recently, I was able to sit through the entire opera. Admittedly, it was like three hours of root canal work. And this is Stravinsky in friendly neoclassical mode. The opera has an English libretto but it might as well have been in Russian because Stravinsky's music renders the lyrics unintelligible.
The opera is based on Hogarth's paintings and consists of a series of fairly static tableaux, so it is anyone's guess what it is about because you can't see anything happening and you can't hear what anyone is singing about. David Hockney's hideous sets are based on Hogarth cartoons so they have lots of crosshatching in them, which is quite painful to look at for any length of time.
Samuel Ramey and Felicity Lott perform valiantly as Nick Shadow and Anne Trulove, as does Rosalind Elias as the bearded lady. Next time, though, I shall ask for a general anaesthetic.
The opera is based on Hogarth's paintings and consists of a series of fairly static tableaux, so it is anyone's guess what it is about because you can't see anything happening and you can't hear what anyone is singing about. David Hockney's hideous sets are based on Hogarth cartoons so they have lots of crosshatching in them, which is quite painful to look at for any length of time.
Samuel Ramey and Felicity Lott perform valiantly as Nick Shadow and Anne Trulove, as does Rosalind Elias as the bearded lady. Next time, though, I shall ask for a general anaesthetic.
helpful•06
- Gyran
- May 28, 2008
Details
- Runtime2 hours 22 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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