Worldwide reviews for a worldwide audience
Commentary, June 2007
Peter Sellars' big ego trip
Peter Sellars is fast becoming the American version of Europe’s notoriously self-absorbed Calixto Bieitro, of whom it can be said, he is a director who never fails to bring out the worst in humanity, degradation and abstraction on stage. And he often does this to the utter humiliation and sufferance of the singers who are called upon to perform in his productions. “As Londoners know all too well,” wrote Eduardo Benarroch, “ in Musical Opinion last year, “his name alone brings out the worst from the national press and his two ENO productions, Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera" and "Don Giovanni," apparently served to bring down their capable General Director, Nicholas Payne.” Too bad Payne hadn’t reined in Bieitro earlier or replaced him altogether, thus saving both the productions and his own job.
Peter Sellars’ new work on DVD from DECCA, Handel’s “Giulio Cesare,” reviewed elsewhere in this month’s edition of OperaOnline.us is the kind of work alluded to above. Yes, it may be visually intriguing and colorful, and the performances are top-notch, but why Mr. Sellars feels it necessary to add his own immature and juvenile “vision” to the story of Cesare is beyond us.
Sure, change the setting and update the production if you must. But outfitting singers in costumes that degrade them is, in our judgment, crossing over the line and Mr. Sellars ought to be told so and held accountable for such abuse.
In Sellars’ world setting the story in a beach resort and asking Jeffrey Gall to parade around stage and do a silly dance, while in very brief, briefs, and demanding that Susan Larson put a large balloon on her head and then masturbate with the tail of a rubber snake is, well, embarrassing. This is not artistic genius at work here; rather it is juvenile taunting of adult singers to show superiority over them, no doubt.
What is sad is that major labels like DECCA don’t have any supervision around the set to halt this nuttiness early and say: “not with our money, you don’t.” As we have noted in previous editions of OperaOnline.us artistic expression and free speech are not just the property of directors and composers, but are also the property of the company footing the bill – even more so. The director is using anothers' forum, not his own. It is DECCA that pays the freight here, not Sellars.
We suppose it would be unrealistic to suggest to DECCA that it pull this DVD from store shelves and film those scenes over again. This DVD will, however, not prove a money-maker. Word of mouth will kill it as viewers cringe at its offensive silliness and wonder why they every purchased it. Singers could boycott Sellars; AGMA could demand a “respectability clause” in all contracts that prohibits the gratuitous or humiliating use of singers in roles they are called upon to sing. We suppose a lot could happen. The truth is, however, nothing will happen so long as self-absorbed elite rule and major companies yield any responsibility to the public in the process.
If you can’t put respect for your singers and the audience at the forefront, Mr. Sellars, perhaps a reminder would be helpful. Here it is: you would be nothing without them, just an out of work director, perhaps, whose best visions are scribbled on men’s bathroom walls. In our view opera deserves better than this. This latest "Giulio Cesare" is just down right humiliating. It is this kind of directorial excess that producers need to get under control or risk losing the audience opera has, let alone attracting a new one.
The new opera venue: HD movies. . .
The Met’s, or more specifically, GM Peter Gelb’s, idea of bringing opera to audiences outside the conventional theater and into movie theaters and on HDTV must now be counted an unqualified technological and artistic success. Ticket sales outside the Lincoln Center have been impressive: 324,000 worldwide; and the promise of more ticket sales next year is looming realistic.
We read, too, that Washington National Opera is planning on broadcasting “La Boheme” to 16 colleges, universities and high schools this September. And San Francisco Opera has announced plans for getting into the HDTV and movie business as well. At the Royal Opera of London, Sony has invested heavily, placing 12 cameras inside the theater with capabilities of shooting from over 30 locations.
It’s all very exciting, and when added to the growing inventory of new digital DVD’s making their way to store shelves, and longstanding opera productions on TV anyway, the potential of reaching a new audience is terrific. But there are serious drawbacks as we noted in previous Commentary. Production costs, we read are phenomenal. The New York Times reported that each simulcast costs the Met between $850,000 to $1 million to produce. And that’s over and above the costs of the production. When the WNO broadcasts into those colleges, universities and high schools – all 16 of them -- the cost of production will be $15,000 per venue, for a total cost of $240,000. The cost will be fully carried by the WNO. The lesser cost is due to the fact that WNO will be simulcasting to the Washington Monument ($250,000), Added together, the full boat for WNO will be about $500,000.
Somebody has to pay for all this – and therein lies the rub. The Met has been charging theater-goers about $18.00 per ticket. When you deduct expenses, this worthwhile experiment, while it is a technological and artistic success, has thus far proven to be a net loss for the Met and others, with costs picked up by either endowment or donations. In the WNO case, there’s no income from tickets because the simulcasts will be free.
Mr. Gelb believes that this imbalance will be corrected next year when the shows are also available on DVD and other rights can be sold. Maybe so; we certainly hope this is the case. If the object is to attract a new audience to opera by making it more readily available in affordable forums, the idea is certainly a valid one, especially since this means new DVDs will be produced from new productions with younger, fitter casts. Much of the DVD opera repertoire is in need of updating, digitalizing and wide screening. The fact is while it may be instructive to watch older casts from years past, the new opera crowd is going to want to see new faces, new costumes and more exciting visual presentations.
The only question remaining is the question we ask over and again: will the directors, composers and large companies that can afford new commissions provide new shows and music the public can enjoy? Or, as we have seen more and more (see above), will the opera elite seize control and convert this art form into a private gallery of the truly absurd? It’s an important question, since the future of opera depends on it being addressed correctly.
Hail Cesar? Jeffrey Gall at
the beach, but is it right?
Susan Larson in a baloon cap, draped with a snake which she will be called upon to use in the same absurd and silly scene.
