Jims of Wyzdom for March 23, 2018
Yes! I have a new title for this column, trying to do a little tribute to my PapaJack, the world’s wurst (in terms of good taste) punster.
Opera: Next Saturday, March 31, will bring us the Met Live in HD presentation of “Cosi fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti” – or – “Thus do They All, or The School for Lovers,” Music by Mozart, libretto by Da Ponte. This is a new production featuring Tony Award winner Kelli O’Hara. I feel this production requires some explanation about its design concept, so prepare yourself for a mini-lecture…
In opera, as well as dramatic theater, it is the director that conceives the world of the play/opera. I tell classes that if you the a production, you should blame the director, not the performers. Then you can hang the designers. This new production of “Cosi” is what I would call a “high-concept” approach. If you look at Da Ponte’s libretto, he calls for two acts, in seven scenes, set in a coffee house, rooms in the sisters’ house, and a garden. Opera has generally set these scenes in realistic style. This production, however, has been conceived to take place at Coney Island amusement park! There will be real Coney Island snake charmers, sword swallowers and fire breathers in the show. I must tell you that both directors and designers love to do something “off the wall,” perhaps in the hope that it will appeal to a modern audience. All well and good IF these folks have really worked out what, exactly their world of the play is and what it means. If you fail, then you have committed Jim’s Cardinal Rule No. 1 of theater: “DON’T CONFUSE THE AUDIENCE!”
Having a nodding acquaintance with “Cosi,” I am ready to be convinced…it sounds like an interesting idea…the characters as denizen’s of the carnival life…and why not? We’ll see.
The man who works and is never bored is never old. Work and interest in worthwhile things are the best remedy for age. Each day I am reborn. Each day I must begin again. [Musician Pablo Casals]
Spring has sprung! Wasn’t Monday of this week, the final day of winter, spectacular? And then look what Mother Nature did on Tuesday! The 4th nor’easter in a month. She’s just gotta keep us humble by reversing the clear skies and sunshine into gloom and sleet and snow! At least our power didn’t go out and the huge, scary trees around our house are still standing.
If you get HBO, make sure to watch the lovely documentary made by Arthur Miller’s daughter. It is filled with fascinating interviews with all sorts of people, many filmed by his daughter over a 20 year time-span.
It’s time for you to sign up for classes that will begin by April 9 (a few earlier). It’s easy to sign up on the OLLI website, or send your requests to the office…soon!
When Goya was eighty he drew an ancient man propped on two sticks, with a great mass of white hair and beard all over his face, and the inscription “I am still learning.” [Writer Simone de Beavoir]
Have a lovely day!
Jim Held