Opera of the Year (4): The one that will last the test of time
mainSome kind soul has put on Youtube the complete film of South Pole, the Srnka opera that sold out its entire first run at Bavarian State Opera in February.
We thought, on first sight, that it was pretty good. Now we think it is built to last.
So much to admire in the plot and the score. And a terrific opportunity to watch Kirill Petrenko master a new work.
Top-class weekend watching. Sung in Euro-English.
Hmmmm…. it depends upon the sort of time which will do the testing. It is the quality of the music which ensures survival of an operatic work. The music of this work is the regular, average Middle-European expressionism, which does not lend itself easily to universal appreciation when the historical context has disappeared – German postwar misery.