This post is not a continuation of my rant last week about Regie but thoughts on the topic stemming from correspondence over the last few days. You will have seen that my previous post was met with a comment by a correspondent identifying herself only as 'grrlpup'. She made a most astute observation about Regie to which I replied. Shortly after that I received an email from her which really got me thinking. With her permission I quote it here:

"Some people think that Falco only did Rock Me Amadeus, but that is not right!  I think after you see his interpretation of Titanic, you'll agree he could be the man to redeem opera regie.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ToYWrHuNFTE&feature=related

This picture has nothing to do with today's subject. I just thought that an occasional glimpse at a peaceful pastoral scene would help keep my blood pressure within tolerable limits while I write this post. For a while now I have been meaning to talk with you about something I consider a suppurating carbuncle on the body politic in general and opera in particular. I refer to Regieopera. The spur for me to write about this now is the imminent arrival of Gerard Mortier at the helm of New York City Opera. M.Mortier is a fan of Regie. Good luck, New York!

Every now and again when Portland Opera has produced an opera in a style not entirely in the traditional mold I have heard from my seat in the Keller Auditorium and above the jingling sound made by the rattling of expensive jewelry mutterings the essence of which is "Why do they have to mess around with something that was just fine to begin with?" I have heard the expression of similar opinions at the Met simulcasts over the more plebian sound of the crunch of popcorn. Now, I am by and large a traditionalist and not much given to messing with the tried and true though I can take the odd bit of modern dress if I must. But when I hear rumblings among the populace just because everything doesn't look like Zeffirelli designed it I say to myself "Think yourselves lucky that you don't live in Europe where they have Regie!"

The English National Opera has mounted a production of the opera Punch and Judy by Harrison Birtwistle. I was at the world premier of this work which took place in the Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh in 1968. Benjamin Britten had commissioned the piece but together with Peter Pears walked out of the premier mid-performance. Some people have tried to put a gloss on this somewhat unfortunate occurrence by saying BB was ill that day. I was with him that day. He wasn't ill. He just hated the piece. I think it was the unremitting violence which got to him. Well, that and the fact he thought the music was "crap.”

I went to hear the Oregon Symphony Orchestra play Mahler's 9th Symphony last week. I don't know what has got into that crew but they were smokin'!! Time after time in that huge work Mahler hangs the players out to dry making them negotiate fiendishly difficult passages in a most exposed way so there is nowhere for them to hide. Every clam is going to sound with the resonance of a metal triangle being dropped on a concrete floor. This performance was amazing. I left the hall drained but exhilarated.

Notwithstanding a very busy week which included rehearsals for Aida, the Annual dinner for Camerata members and a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Portland Opera, the General Director of the Opera, Christopher Mattaliano, took the time to sit down with Operaman and discuss some issues of vital interest to the continuing health of opera and the security of our country. Okay, I lied about homeland security. Who doesn't? But we did talk opera. When I say he sat down “with” me I use the word in its chronological rather than geographical sense. I was at home with a sheaf of notes and a beer and Mr. M was at a car wash somewhere. We had an interesting chat.

Operaman: let's start with the easy stuff, Chris. Encores - yes or no?
C.M. I think it's something you decide on a case-by-case basis. If a singer has just nailed a particularly wonderful aria and the audience wants to hear him or her sing it again and if the singer is prepared to do it and the conductor is okay with it, why not? There's a very long tradition of encores in opera. I know some houses have a no-encore policy but I don't have such a policy here in Portland. It seems to me it is a part of what can make a night at the opera a very special experience.
Operaman: Juan Diego Flórez got lots of ink last week for taking a bis of “Ah! Mes amis” at the Met. Apparently Peter Gelb contacted him weeks before the performance to arrange how they would deal with an encore and finally it was decided that there would be a telephonic hot line from Gelb's box and a red light on the conductor's podium to give him the go-ahead. Are you okay with that?

I have just learned that last night (Tuesday) Juan Diego Flórez reprised 'Ah! Mes amis' his Act I aria from La Fille du Regiment currently in production at the Met. My informant tells me that his ovation was significantly more enthusiastic than that which greeted his performance of said cabaletta on Saturday. So. That's two bis in three performances - or, as patrons in two other well-known New York venues are won't to say, he's batting .667

Last Friday evening had an early dinner date at Jake’s Grill with Alexis Hamilton, Portland Opera’s Manager of Education and Outreach. She had invited me to attend the Destination Opera discussion at the Art Museum that evening and I thought it might be helpful to me if we could have a chat over a glass of Jake’s finest so that I could get an overview of what the panel and audience would be chatting about. I am so gald we did because, as you will probably have gathered by now, I am not possessed of a well-developed academic mind. My approach is usually more along the lines of “How can I know what I think until I hear what I say?” The delightful combination of sancerre and Alexis primed me perfectly and by the appointed hour I had gathered my wits into something resembling order and was ready to play with the grown-ups.

The discussion was about Exoticism and Orientalism in art. The panel comprised Bob Kingston who knows a thing or two about opera (his talks at the Keller before performances are always informative and insightful) together with an art historian and a dance historian. Alexis was the referee moderator. It was a lively and fun discussion and I plan to make a point of attending more of these. You should too. They are free and make for a very pleasant evening. Thanks Alexis!