Monday, March 5, 2012
Uw mening wordt op prijs gesteld, maar discussie niet?
Toch opmerkelijk en niet verrassend: op een krasse column van Thomas von der Dunk in de Volkskrant verschenen 76 reacties waarbij vooral de zich aangesproken, waarschijnlijk pvv stemmers, met verongelijkte trots of ontkenning of erger nog, met omgekeerde beschuldigingen de boventoon voerden. De tijd dat kranten alleen door eigen parochie gelezen werden is allang verleden tijd. Op zich is dat juist toe te juichen. Zo kan je nog eens op andere gedachten komen en, alleen lof en schouderklopjes lezen is ook saai. Maar wat ik wel erg vind is dat je inmiddels op alle forums of reactie rubrieken van alle kranten diezelfde anonieme berichten moet lezen waarbij zelfs de woordkeuze naast het geijkte "linkse kerk" e.d. overal opduikt. Of je de Telegraaf, AD, VK, het Parool bekijkt, overal zie je dezelfde - soms misselijk makende - maar vooral eindeloos herhaalde berichten. In zoverre is er weldegelijk een groot verschil met vroeger. Iedereen heeft nu vooral anoniem toegang tot het net en daarmee zijn de vroegere ingezonden brieven inmiddels anonieme berichten reeksen geworden. Al worden er nettiquette regels opgesteld en kan je iets als ongepast of zo markeren, die anonimiteit schijnt zo drempelverlagend te werken dat iedereen gelijk gaat schrijven wat er gedacht wordt... Ook dat zou eigenlijk toe te juichen moeten zijn. Maar wat moet je met de gedachten als : " dhr V.d.Dunk is al tijden de weg/ zijn kompas kwijt" in 10 varianten? Wel interessant zijn weer gedachten als "dat zulke mensen als TVDD les geven vind ik bedenkelijk." Helaas is er bij de Volkskrant voor gekozen om geen reacties op reacties systeem te gebruiken zoals de meeste Amerkaanse kranten wel doen. Waarschijnlijk om heen en weer gescheld te voorkomen. Maar daarmee is volgens mij toch het kind met het badwater weggegooid. Discussie kan iets opleveren, ook negatief zolas heen en weer gescheld weliswaar. Maar een eindeloze reeks gedachten zonder meer is IMO net zo leerzaam als de gouden gids. En de schrijver die het bedenkelijk vind dat THomas Von der Dunk les geeft kan prakties gezien er niet op aangesproken of bevraagd worden. Jammer. Maar vooral jammer dat ik zoveel tijd verloren heb om tot de conclusie te komen dat het helemaal voor niets was. Want hoe er gedacht wordt is mij wel ongenoegzaam bekent.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
RUSALKA at the De Munt opera Brussels
Dvorak's RUSALKA . At the La Monnaie / De Munt Opera, Brussels. March 3, 2012, Dress - orchestra rehearsal!
A full house with people of all ages, but - remarkable - a lot of teens. Curtain goos up before you realize it and then ?... You will not believe your eyes! The most unbelievable set and a "Jacques Tati " prelude, going on, and on, and on. At the end I almost wet my pants with the blind man at the "M" entrance. Frankly, I would have loved it to see the WHOLE thing twice! Oops... Then I likely would have wet my pants! (BTW, no, its not "connoiseurs" inside talk! But I really don't want want to give away any clue at all! When you have seen the production, you will damn well understand every word and hint I wrote in this opinion!)
And then the music starts. Yes, it is great music anyway, and the orchestra - not as famous as the Amsterdam Concertgebouw but always top quality - was now "Incredibly I Love Dvorak!!!" Mind you, this was the first dress- orchestra rehearsal. It must be rocking on opening nite! (4 insiders: nope, *I* call it Dress - Orch. R.! not O.D.R. like usual)
During the first intermission I was reminded that Opern Welt, the German opera magazine, called De Munt the opera house of the year last year. Well... so far in my operatic-theatrical-dance life of almost ... Oh Jeez no? Shit indeed, 50 years already... I have seen many great productions. But this is one of the most genial theatrical productions ever. It reminds me btw very much of the 1990 (?) Broadway production of "An inspector calls" . One difference, there it was REALLY raining on stage. An unbeliavable amazing effect, and I guess... No for sure, the team wanted it too originally.) If you think you have seen it all after act one, you're wrong!
The NICE MATIN wrote once "C'est la fête à l'Opéra de Nice!" . Well, this is a real feast too. In Nice it was also raining balloons in the house, not here. ;) As a lighting designer I'm very often irritated due to the poor quality so called "something differend" or new, or the newest or actually just eh... Mai bpen rai in Thailandees. This lighting is genuine geniality too. I , yes ME, was really fooled almost until the end of act one. Yes, it's the set, but it's the lighting who does it. Not only the use of colors Lee 115, 113 for effx or 174, but the whole lighting was almost as if it was my design. Don't know who did it but I gues he or she has the same books of Richard Pilbrow, Josef Svoboda, c.s. as basis. Did I mention the brilliant costumes yet? When you like shine and glittering splendor, ask for this designer. The ..... Scene (sorry, no give aways) was just knocking me out. Of course, some Americans will hate the production for all the nudity and explicit sex scenes! LOL! Even the inflated dolls were going wild in the window of the Sex-shop alias Bridal shop aka the Butcher. ;) Oops... Well , not a real given away clue. ;) I always love to quote Harry Kupfer after a boring production : "nah, dem ist ja wirklich gar niks eingefallen. " (yes, that's an inside joke!) This director has not only a stunning amount of humor and fantasy, it also works! Ideas for the stage are fine, but they are often not working, especially in opera. Her you get so well timed acting, you forget that they are opera singers. ;) Of course, opera singers are supposed to sing well. Do I need to say more? After 20 minutes into act three, tears came into my eyes and, without an handkerchief, I got into trouble after the climax of the opera, actually the whole second part of act three. So I wet my shirt and original Looney Tunes Mania tie too.
For those who (don't) know me: due to 2 T.I.A. 's my short turm memory is a disaster. My long turm memory is stil amazing. But guess what? After each act I knew exactly what happened. Actually, except for beeing fooled during act one, every scene is written into my memory as if I was a assistant-director. Is there a Neurologist reading this? Can you explain what happened? It must be some endorfines or so...
So, opera lovers and opera haters, don't mis it! DO NOT read the story in a book or on Internet! You don't need to and actually, you will get something completely different! Yes, I am talking about RUSALKA ! And believe me, no I'm not losing my mind. The only thing I feel sorry for, is that it wasn't opening night, an thus no party I usually try to avoid. I cannot lie and it's not funny to have to tell to, or about, people you like the often sad truth. Now I would rave about it, at the party I mean. ;)
A full house with people of all ages, but - remarkable - a lot of teens. Curtain goos up before you realize it and then ?... You will not believe your eyes! The most unbelievable set and a "Jacques Tati " prelude, going on, and on, and on. At the end I almost wet my pants with the blind man at the "M" entrance. Frankly, I would have loved it to see the WHOLE thing twice! Oops... Then I likely would have wet my pants! (BTW, no, its not "connoiseurs" inside talk! But I really don't want want to give away any clue at all! When you have seen the production, you will damn well understand every word and hint I wrote in this opinion!)
And then the music starts. Yes, it is great music anyway, and the orchestra - not as famous as the Amsterdam Concertgebouw but always top quality - was now "Incredibly I Love Dvorak!!!" Mind you, this was the first dress- orchestra rehearsal. It must be rocking on opening nite! (4 insiders: nope, *I* call it Dress - Orch. R.! not O.D.R. like usual)
During the first intermission I was reminded that Opern Welt, the German opera magazine, called De Munt the opera house of the year last year. Well... so far in my operatic-theatrical-dance life of almost ... Oh Jeez no? Shit indeed, 50 years already... I have seen many great productions. But this is one of the most genial theatrical productions ever. It reminds me btw very much of the 1990 (?) Broadway production of "An inspector calls" . One difference, there it was REALLY raining on stage. An unbeliavable amazing effect, and I guess... No for sure, the team wanted it too originally.) If you think you have seen it all after act one, you're wrong!
The NICE MATIN wrote once "C'est la fête à l'Opéra de Nice!" . Well, this is a real feast too. In Nice it was also raining balloons in the house, not here. ;) As a lighting designer I'm very often irritated due to the poor quality so called "something differend" or new, or the newest or actually just eh... Mai bpen rai in Thailandees. This lighting is genuine geniality too. I , yes ME, was really fooled almost until the end of act one. Yes, it's the set, but it's the lighting who does it. Not only the use of colors Lee 115, 113 for effx or 174, but the whole lighting was almost as if it was my design. Don't know who did it but I gues he or she has the same books of Richard Pilbrow, Josef Svoboda, c.s. as basis. Did I mention the brilliant costumes yet? When you like shine and glittering splendor, ask for this designer. The ..... Scene (sorry, no give aways) was just knocking me out. Of course, some Americans will hate the production for all the nudity and explicit sex scenes! LOL! Even the inflated dolls were going wild in the window of the Sex-shop alias Bridal shop aka the Butcher. ;) Oops... Well , not a real given away clue. ;) I always love to quote Harry Kupfer after a boring production : "nah, dem ist ja wirklich gar niks eingefallen. " (yes, that's an inside joke!) This director has not only a stunning amount of humor and fantasy, it also works! Ideas for the stage are fine, but they are often not working, especially in opera. Her you get so well timed acting, you forget that they are opera singers. ;) Of course, opera singers are supposed to sing well. Do I need to say more? After 20 minutes into act three, tears came into my eyes and, without an handkerchief, I got into trouble after the climax of the opera, actually the whole second part of act three. So I wet my shirt and original Looney Tunes Mania tie too.
For those who (don't) know me: due to 2 T.I.A. 's my short turm memory is a disaster. My long turm memory is stil amazing. But guess what? After each act I knew exactly what happened. Actually, except for beeing fooled during act one, every scene is written into my memory as if I was a assistant-director. Is there a Neurologist reading this? Can you explain what happened? It must be some endorfines or so...
So, opera lovers and opera haters, don't mis it! DO NOT read the story in a book or on Internet! You don't need to and actually, you will get something completely different! Yes, I am talking about RUSALKA ! And believe me, no I'm not losing my mind. The only thing I feel sorry for, is that it wasn't opening night, an thus no party I usually try to avoid. I cannot lie and it's not funny to have to tell to, or about, people you like the often sad truth. Now I would rave about it, at the party I mean. ;)
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