Animal rights: No cock allowed in German Golden Cockerel
mainThe veterinary authorities in Dusseldorf have prohibited the Deutsche Oper am Rhein from presenting large rooster on stage in Rimsky-Korsakov’s little-seen opera.
The bird had been shuttled for weeks from its farm to and fro in a limo to get him used to the stage atmosphere, but animal activists raised a protest and a ban was issued before the Friday premiere.
Have they no soul, these vets? Don’t they know that Cockerel without a cock is like Tosca without… a soprano?
The ‘stuffed’ cockerel is beautifully golden – but I don’t see how a real one could have been used as Renee Morloc eats it in Act 3!! You actually see her pulling the bird apart.. This could be just a story for the benefit of the press. Whatever the reason, it is a SUPERB production in almost every respect: Boris Statsenko acts/sings Dodon like a Putin with hair(actually he looks more like Bill Clinton) and his voice is rich and powerful throughout; Anna Grechishkina looks beautiful, and sings equally well as Schemacha and the DOaR’s very strong ensemble ensures that vocally this production is top drawer. The afore-mentioned Renee Morloc has great fun’ she is padded out and given a wonderful wig as Amelfa, and the orchestra and chorus are, as ever, wonderfully Russian – as is the production.
SO, a first rate production from an underrated company. If you’re anywhere near Dusseldorf, or even if you’re not, GO AND SEE IT!!! Cheapest seats are about 17 Euros – Rang 3, where you can see and hear well and it’s comfortable!!!!
I play in the orchestra, the bird was onstage, and making no fuss through our dress rehearsals, but was not there for the premiere. Not a story for the press at all, there was simply no cage or Cockrell on stage for the first premiere last Friday, as they had no time to find a replacement. Thankfully, for the second premiere on Sunday, they had set up a stuffed gold Cockrell as a replacement. A fabulous production, and we’ll worth seeing.
….and the orchestra was, as usual, superb! German orchestras have a richness and depth that one never hears from British ones. It also sounded appropriately Russian on Sunday! Thanks to all concerned, Christian – I really enjoyed Sunday’s performance.
Tottenham gets along just fine without a live cockerel at their matches.