| Chuck Stevens 2006-06-05, 6:55 pm |
| "Alistair" <alistair@ld50macca.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1149339258.504380.274350@c74g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> You've probably listened to the wrong Mahler. For a real tedious
> evening you should listen to the full Ring Cycle (Wagner, one good tune
> and that is it).
Naah. Only Opera I've ever walked out of was Il Trovatore; stuck around for
the Anvil Chorus and packed it in.
Now, if you want tedious Wagner ... try Rienzi. The San Antonio Symphony
did the *first* fully-staged production of Rienzi in English in the United
States a few decades ago (I sang in the chorus), cut it to ribbons (a
virtually impossible task), and it was *still* interminable. I think we
reduced it from six-plus hours to something under five. As written,
*during* the big festival celebrating Rienzi's return to Rome there's
something like a *forty-minute* pantomine for his entertainment, with no
lyrics *at all*. I think it's generally regarded as Wagner's worst work.
Our English translation of the lyrics was pretty laughable, too ... A couple
of gems from the chorus parts: "Burn down the capitol at once! Burn it
down!" and if I recall correctly, in response, "Make way, you fools, or feel
our swords!". Worst chorus lyrics I've seen with the possible exception of
those in the original French for Bizet's Carmen (also embarrassingly bad).
Rienzi's got a few nice tunes, but man, oh man, oh MAN, oh man-oh-man, is it
a long, long, LONG song. Even with the elephants and camels onstage in the
triumphal scene it's laughably tedious. Some wag once said it was the best
opera Meyerbeer ever wrote. It almost looks *purposefully* bad -- the
stereotype of the overblown, bad "numbers" Opera (as in act/scene numbers,
in this case five acts of five, three, three, two and four scenes
respectively. Act II scene 2 is the big elephants-and-camels procession;
the final scene has Rienzi and Irene perishing in each others' arms as the
Roman Capitol burns. It is rumored that Wagner forbade in perpetuity the
production of Rienzi at Bayreuth.
Ring cycle? Like it or not, a masterpiece of drama and craftsmanship
compared to Rienzi. It's bad. It's really, really, REALLY bad.
-Chuck Stevens
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