Florence opens a Franco Zeffirelli museum

Florence opens a Franco Zeffirelli museum

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norman lebrecht

September 05, 2017

The venerable director, 94 and undimmed, is to be celebrated in the Centro Internazionale per le Arti dello Spettacolo Franco Zeffirelli, just behind the Palazzo Vecchio.

Full story here.

 

Comments

  • Olassus says:

    A house now of the wrong kind of worship.

  • Ungeheuer says:

    Gaudy and gross. Will Trump be attending per chance? Surely he approves of FZ’s elephantine extravaganzas.

  • Petros Linardos says:

    I take Zeffirelli and Otto Schenk any day. So glad a lot of their work has been captured for posterity.
    How can anyone resist this Boheme?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76o5q4zhjRk

    • Don Ciccio says:

      Say what you want about Zeffirelli, but he really knew and loved opera.

      • Bogda says:

        He knew (knows) Italian opera of the 19th – early 20th Century the way Italians traditionally enjoyed it. Outside of that (large) niche, he’s very questionable. Opera also includes 20th Century and contemporary works, baroque, German, Slavic repertoire, etc. Not to mention the modern theatrical language and theatrical performance practice that he had no clue about.

        • Yes Addison says:

          Even in the slice of the repertory he kept producing over and over, he declined into a kitschy decorator, abandoning meaningful direction to fuss over the fabrics, animals, and supernumeraries of budget-busting extravaganzas. Let the cast flail about on their own; these operas were not about characters, after all, they were about his hunger for scenery applause.

          His ultimate placement will be as the Cecil B. DeMille of opera production. Remembered, maybe even “significant,” but far down any reasonable list of his medium’s great directors.

    • Sue says:

      Oh Kleiber!!! Yes, it’s a wonderful production.

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