tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9458752.post7537049879162618391..comments2023-10-26T08:19:23.900-04:00Comments on an unamplified voice: Wag the dogJSUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02477558636942883735noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9458752.post-32975706708353665572007-04-18T23:51:00.000-04:002007-04-18T23:51:00.000-04:00As I didn't watch the original performance (or, as...As I didn't watch the original performance (or, as I recall, listen to it), it was new to me. And the rest of the audience too. It doesn't matter, anyway: as excited as we get among ourselves, there's still no connection to the performers.<BR/><BR/>As I say, there is some odd shadow of dramatic effect in the transmission arrangement -- and it's best in an ad hoc setting, like Times Square, than in a space with its own indelible identity -- but it pales to the real effect of "theatricality". No one stands up, starts yelling, and throws confetti at a screen -- and for good reason.<BR/><BR/><I>"Eventually, if the singing (or the entire production for that matter) isn't up to snuff, the audiences won't come."</I><BR/><BR/>Yes, that's the problem. But "eventually" is a very long time. In the short run, audience numbers are more dependent on habit and perception than quality. No non-fan saw Jenufa, but enough people wanted to see The First Emperor that it's displaced an actual opera for next season.<BR/><BR/>At any rate, with the broadcasts both new and <A HREF="http://www.therestisnoise.com/2007/04/rossini_kos_mar.html" REL="nofollow">a box office hit</A>, they cannot but loom large in the mind.<BR/><BR/><I>"Again, I think this comes down to camerawork."</I><BR/><BR/>What's more plausible: Brian Large gets fired and the Met switches to continuous long shots with relatively few close-ups, or Gelb and the Met keep doing what actual viewers want to see?<BR/><BR/>Mind you, I don't automatically assume things will go to hell; if administrations continue to remember that opera is a niche product requiring, as Gelb says, theatricality, the dog may indeed wag its own tail. But it is naive to think that the reverse temptation is not there, quite strongly, by default.JSUhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02477558636942883735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9458752.post-61127405329761772402007-04-18T17:22:00.000-04:002007-04-18T17:22:00.000-04:00You've still missed one important element in your ...You've still missed one important element in your experience, though: <B>the simulcast</B>. What you saw was the equivalent of watching a football repeat on ESPN (only on the big screen). Or watching a PBS telecast (albeit in public). You know how it's going to turn out. The only real question is, is whether it's as good as you remember.<BR/><BR/>Also, the telecast is 1 performance out of an entire run. I don't think you can run a "full-season" opera house where only the telecast matters. You might be able to subsidize/finance the Met radio broadcasts, but to fill the theatre night after night is going to require more, especially when most of the audience cannot really see close up except for binoculars. And if there's no audience in the theatre, then all the rest is meaningless.<BR/><BR/>Eventually, if the singing (or the entire production for that matter) isn't up to snuff, the audiences won't come. This is probably especially true after the novelty wears off. (AN is sort of an outlier/anomaly here, b/c like it or not, she brings other attributes to a performance, but even so I think the same might go for her too--she seems to be relying on the same shtick in a lot of her roles). You might get a spike in interest b/c of (insert xyz singer), but the new converts will eventually become more demanding or lose interest. Think "Three Tenors."<BR/><BR/>The choices they've made for next year's simulcasts are what's interesting. How many of the "new converts" will appreciate Peter Grimes?<BR/><BR/><I>Theater is not, as cinema, about the appearance of reality but the appearance of the real. There is no substitute for actual, sensed human proximity.</I><BR/><BR/>Again, I think this comes down to camerawork. You see what only what the camera people can show you (and the camera people have to know how to film opera--check out the Barber repeat; there were some miscues in that one); and that affects your experience. For example, in this simulcast, they shot Lenski's aria as closeup (using the slidey cam I think). I think it might have been more in tune with the novel, opera, and production had they used the camera from the Grand Tier, just to capture the loneliness of the moment and its insignificance in the grand scheme of the "Onegin universe." But that's just me. Perhaps they need more true cinematography, with potential camera work rehearsed in advance; not less.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com