‘This opera contains very explicit scenes of sex and violence’
UncategorizedThat’s the sales pitch for Antwerp’s new Calixto Bieito production of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.
It’s not a parental warning. It’s the opera company’s promotional pitch, the one that’s supposed to sell seats.
Personally, if I wanted sex and violence, I would go to a specialist supplier.
This opera house seems to have lost the plot.
See the promotion here.
And for fans of mud wrestling, there seems to be some of that too. Viz scenes from rehearsals on the company’s site.
https://vlaamseopera.be/nl/#!/producties/lady-macbeth-uit-het-district-mtsensk?mode=overlay
Isn’t the erotic element one of the things that set off Stalin, aside from the music? Interestingly, on the worldwide cinema transmission of Massenet’s Werther Saturday, the final scene was described as having sex and violence!
You know… there is a difference between erotic and porno.
Yes, sure, there is sex in the score, it is written by Shostakovitsch and you can hear it in the music. But: do you need to _see_ it? It makes the music much weaker.
A Calixto Beito joint that did NOT have explicit sex, nudity, and violence would be news.
This time there is more!
It’s not enough to close your eyes, you have to close your eras as well. Literally
http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/cultuur%2Ben%2Bmedia/kunsten/140317LadyMacBethOordopjes
I’m intrigued by the spelling of Shostakovich on the poster? Is this a Dutch transliteration of the Russian? I don’t recall coming across this version of his name before.
I wonder if anyone has ever been brave enough to whisper to Mr Bieito the magic words: “Less is more”?
Less is only sometimes more. But good is good, and shit is shit.
Each language must use the combinations of letters that match the sounds of the original language, in the present case Russian. Here are a few examples of how the Russian composer’s name looks in other languages (I hope that the diacriticals in the Czech and Turkish versions will display correctly): Chostakovitch (French) , Schostakowitsch (German), Shostakovich (English), Sjostakovitj (Danish, Swedish), Sjostakovitsj (Finnish, Dutch), Šostakovič (Czech), Şostakoviç (Turkish) , Sostakovics (Hungarian), Szostakowicz (Polish).
Thank you Marc-André Roberge, that’s very interesting and helpful to know.
Shouldn’t the Hungarian be Sosztakovics?
Indeed, the Hungarian form is Sosztakovics. Sorry about that.
Want the Hebrew? שׁוסטקביץ
And the Italians, rather than spelling it Sciostacovich, sometimes opt for the English spelling and sometimes opt for the spelling of their Croatian neighbors: Šostakovič. (For some reason, the Croatians apparently end the composer’s name with č rather than the standard Croatian ć.)
Forgive me for pointing out that entire plot cycles around an explicitly illicit affair, which is well and truly consummated as part of the plot. Why wouldn’t you include a bit of rumpy pumpy in a production?
Shostakovich certainly attempted to musicalize a bit of rumpy pumpy, which got Stalin all hot and bothered. CB isn’t inventing the wheel here. . .
More to the point: How could you avoid it?
Somehow we did so far and it wasn’t that difficult. Apparently, Mr Bieito doesn’t know what “metaphor” means.
Sex in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk is fine. Strippers in Moses & Aaron helped the Golden Calf scene. Isn’t this realism in opera?
It is certainly more than implied in the opera. And that did upset Stalin, mass-murderer and prude. But isn’t this in people’s mind-set still, much less likely to censor extreme violence in film and TV than sexual scenes.
But… this production is worth seeing for Ausrine Stundyte alone. Wonderful singer.
It is a parental warning AND a promotional pitch.
Surely you are aware that Vlaamse did a quite successful run of Weill’s Mahagonny when Calixto Bieto directed previously for them. That production was purchased and performed also by Opernhaus Graz in Austria last season.
In short, this is not Vlaamse opera’s first rodeo. Perhaps your question should shift from why explicit content is included in their season to why people want to come and see it.
He also did the worst production of anything I have ever seen, Don Giovanni at the ENO. Who have had a few recent turkeys too, of course.