Jonas Kaufmann jumps in for blackface Aida
NewsThe Arena di Verona has landed the German-Austrian tenor for his first full opera in the venue.
Unfortunately it is Radames in an elderly production of Aida where the title singer blacks upĀ (pictured) contrary to current opera norms. In this Verona cast, the Ukrainian Liudmyla Monastyrska will be applying the boot polish.
Kaufmann will debut on August 28. It seems to be one night only.
He says: ‘I remember attending performances here with my family when on vacation in Italy, which makes singing in this arena extra special.’
This may cause a rumpus: how could you, Jonas? etc
I doubt he has any say about the insensitivity of the production and should he have any such qualms the fee should lessen them for his 1 night stand.
Shouldn’t it be another Netrebko – Eyvazov evening? what happened? Arena di Verona announcement goes like this: “After the success of the 2021 gala event and in anticipation of the show that will feature him in 2023, the celebrated tenor will make his debut in a full opera at the Arena”. So, probably they needed a big name and as he clearly has something cooking for the next season… here he goes. Of course, because people love to hate him, Kaufmann will hurt himself with this (but for quite a long time he has been doing everything to destroy his reputation, why is that I don’t know, he’s not a stupid man). Anyway, we shouldn’t be concerned with the singers but with the people who manage Arena di Verona. How did little Ceci, a second-rate soprano, become director of the festival, why Anna and Yusif are the “pillars” of the said festival (says little Ceci), and why does their Aida HAS to be black? if you look closer everything explains itself.
Blablablabla. It should read fortunately for Jonas. Gasdia was first rate abd is a top manager of the arena. All praise to her for getting top casts and standing up to the Woke hysteria
It is common knoledge that ethiopians and egyptians are blond as swedish.
Not the ones I know in Lobdon, or I saw in Ethiopia.
If you mean political connections, well – that’s Italy. That’s what they have: right-wing, far-right, far-far-right and what else? far-far-far-right I guess (but of course nothing to do with fascism or putinists, you must not say that because they will be offended)
But I looked at the festival website.
Direzione
Sovrintendente: Cecilia Gasdia
Direttore Artistico: Cecilia Gasdia
Responsabile Prevenzione alla Corruzione: Cecilia Gasdia
Aren’t they just sweeeeeet?
He’s obviously vastly superior to Mr. Netrebko – and would be even if he were 20 years older.
“Little Ceci”?
She has a name: Cecilia Gasdia.
E Lei ĆØ un gran maleducato cafone.
āBlacked upā LOL
Versatile isn’t he? š
contrary to current opera norms
No, these are the wishes of ill-educated, tunnel-vision Americans who think their country’s history should provide a template for the world’s behaviour.
Yes, Philadelphia Orchestra just cancelled Beethoven Ninth with the Edinburgh Festival Chorus as Scotland’s Covid rules don’t fitnin with their so-called superior ones.
ItĀ“s his decision whether he behaves as a racist (by blacing up) or not. HeĀ“s not a the sheep of a herd, but a singer with his own minds. ItĀ“s an elderly production? Then, Mr. Jonas Kaufmann, make it new and show them that you have guts!!
Oh dear, oh dear.
Cecilia Gasdia is not a second rate soprano. She was a great Rossinian. Her job in Verona is to sell seats. Jonas sells seats.
There is an article about this online from the Washington Post in 1995, containing interviews with two black American opera singers. One of them remarked that putting dark makeup on a tenor singing Otello is a very different matter from blackface as historically understood, where the purpose was to make fun of blacks. What is to be done when the character’s colour is crucial to the plot? Black singers also applied white make up. The first CD issue of Karajan’s 1962 Tosca shows Leontyne Price on the cover, looking very pale. And surely making no attempt to have Butterfly look at least a bit Japanese would undermine the plot, which is in no way disparaging towards Japanese people (it is so towards some Americans). Elina Garanca wore a black wig over her blonde hair in Carmen, opposite Alagna (I have the DVD). Was she showing disrespect for Gypsies? Some have advocated getting black singers for roles such as Aida and Otello. Even the culture which produced those works can no longer offer voices which can sing them. Few can now do justice to them, or in the case of Otello could ever do so. I have various recordings of those operas featuring singers who darkened their appearance to fit the role. Should I now dump Otello with Del Monaco, Vickers or Domingo? I saw Aida in Verona about 7 years ago with Oxana Dyka in the title role. She was moderately made up but there wasn’t the faintest bit of parody or mockery about it. All of this is going much too far.
Mrs Gasdia has a rather funny way of negotiating with singers, Anita Rachvelishvili could say something about it. Kaufmann has a gala programmed in 2023, so probably it was that. So he’s got his cadeau empoisonnĆ©.
By the way – You don’t have to be American (or black) to think that painting white singers black is offensive (not to say unnecessary). Having some common sense (and empathy) is enough. And to insist on it after black singers make it clear how they feel – THAT shows racism and disrespect for black singers. But well, opera audiences approve because they are a lot of white old-timers, nostalgic for the time bygone when the Blacks knew their place and a woman didn’t get offended when her boss fondled her boobs.
As for authenticity – what kind of authenticity are we talking about? Historical?
The name Ethiopia is misleading because it was about Nubia, the region directly adjacent to Egypt. Culturally, there was no difference between Egypt and the Nubian kingdoms. Ethnically the Nubians had more negroid features and darker skin, but this was not a major difference because the Egyptians were not Scots either (thank you Zvi!) and mixed marriages were common. Some Egyptian rulers were of Nubian descent and the 25th dynasty was entirely Nubian.
Ghislanzoni worked with egyptologists.
Conflicts in Aida have NOTHING to do with the color of the protagonists’ skin (the difference was small), the plot’s background is that of war between two neighboring states. That’s all.
And if you really want to be historically accurate, Aida would have to have negroid features and not dark skin color.
We also know how the inhabitants of both Egypt and Kush (the times of the Old Kingdom) dressed – and that has nothing to do with the long, gaudy shmatte of this staging. So, dear Italians, how authentic this orgy of kitch really is?
Do people who give me thumbs down think that the Egyptians were white and the Ethiopians (Nubians) were black – and the intrigue in Aida is based on that, so Aida consequently must be black? do they think that painting a white singer black makes her a negroid type woman? do they think that the Egyptians dressed as the costume designer imagined it ( including the Greek meander and Mycenaean golden mask on Radames’ costume – and the opera is set in the Egyptian Old Kingdom)? do they think that Zefferelli’s staging is sacred because it was created 60 years ago and maybe because our italian brothers created this kitsch?
Or maybe opera audiences are mostly young, multi-racial and hip?
Or, maybe, they think I’m American? No, I’m European.
No, it was probably the first part of your second paragraph. There’s nothing offensive about looking the part. It’s called acting.
“Looking” and “acting” are two completely different things.
How clever is that?
What sort of European? Sounds like an American description of what they call ‘Europe!’ as if were the US of Europe. We ade individual cluntries each with a dofferent language spreading from UK and Ireland right over to Cyprus and Ukraine.
Aren’t we all sick of this stupid political correctness in theatrical works. Aida is black. Should we pretend she’s not and prevent world class artists from singing her music and appearing in the role.
Authenticity & accuracy are paramount: Only Africans should sing Aida, only Jews should play Shylock, and if your company lack Chinese, avoid Turandot. Most importantly, when the fat lady pretends to die – she should.