| angerburg.blogspot.com This clip from a mid-1990s British documentary about the Royal Opera House exemplifies the conflict between traditional, reverential opera productions, and the modernist approach. It begins with a group of opera traditionalists protesting the house's staging of a modern opera, ''Gawain,'' that is marked by its dissonant style. Next we get a glimpse of a postmodern production of ''The Magic Flute'' (which proves to be an artistic and commercial failure). Then, in the highlight of the clip, we see a glorious, traditional production of ''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg,'' conducted by Bernard Haitink, which is a bona fide triumph, and wildly popular. The video concludes with a look at the opera house's plans to stage a ridiculous, revisionist version, bordering on self-parody, of Wagner's ''Ring.'' Note in particular the music director's concluding comment that opera is a ''battlefield between the musical and dramatic elements.'' But must it be so? Or rather, isn't the concept of *harmony* between the musical and dramatic elements (such as we see in the '' Die Meistersinger'' clip) aesthetically preferable, and more artistically fulfilling? |
