May 19 2007
Too many notes
My friend the Speechwriter told me the other day that Mozart’s The Abduction From the Seraglio was five lines of dialog repeated over and over and over. This is a bit of an exaggeration, but not much. Still, Mozart gave it such wonderful music it doesn’t really matter.
I saw the Michigan Opera Theater’s production of Abduction last night. Leah Partridge as Konstanze had no problem navigating the vocal fireworks Mozart gave that role. Doug Jones (sounds like a relief pitcher) was a funny Pedrillo, and Ryan McPherson a good Belmonte. But Peter Lobert stole the show as Osmin. This character, who foreshadows The Lord High Executioner with his gleeful listing of horrible tortures, is the comic hinge on which Abduction turns, and Lobert was fully up to the challenge. Lobert is a resonant bass liked who teasing the audience about whether he will hit the really low notes - which he did.
The opera began and ended at the same time as the Tigers game against the Cardinals, whom they clobbered 14 - 4 (why didn’t they do that last year???). Traffic was a total nightmare, but we did get to see the post-game fireworks over Comerica Park.
The New York Times reports that the Metropolitan Opera is expanding its high-definition live broadcasts of their productions next season. These have been wildly successful, with the Met selling over 324,000 tickets this year and more overseas. The Met expects to sell around 800,000 next season and earn a profit on the program.
I wondered if these simulcasts would help or hurt regional opera theater. Regional company managers quoted in the article say there is no evidence one way or the other, but the jury is still out. In any case, other companies, like the Royal Opera House in London and the Opéra de Paris, are so excited by the Met’s success that they are looking into doing their own broadcasts.