| Chuck Stevens 2006-06-17, 7:55 am |
| "Alistair" <alistair@ld50macca.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1149594969.480314.324680@y43g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> What spoken prologue? All I can recall is a lot of bits that should
> have been spoken but were sung. I hate speech that is sung; much better
> to have a rousing belter of a song with vocab spoken as links. It was
> on tv and it was sh*te.
There's an introductory prologue -- maybe about as long as the Gettysburg
address -- delivered (preferably in Hungarian) by an old man (I don't
remember if it's onstage or off), before the music starts. Sets the mood
even better than the music. Many recordings and performances omit it, to
the opera's detriment in my opinion. The vinyl recording I have, from the
early 1950's, includes it.
Given that the set throughout the work is supposed to be a big hall with
seven doors, and all of the "effects" are supposed to be done with different
colored lights from behind the doors as they open (and two people walking
around and opening doors and singing for an hour is pretty much all there is
to the action!), it's a tough piece to stage and keep interesting, I'd say.
Familiarity with the plot helps; I couldn't disagree with the argument e
that it works best as an audio-only experience, letting your imagination
provide the scenery.
-Chuck Stevens
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