Opera-Cinderella

Cinderella, the opera, is composed by Rossini.  Rossini composed other operas that we’ve seen: Il Turko in Italia and Barber of Seville, both we enjoyed tremendously. 

Rossini’s opera has a slightly different slant to the traditional fairy tale.  First, there was a stepfather, not a stepmother. There is also no fairy godmother.  Instead, a beggar approaches Cinderella’s home.  The beggar is given food by the good Cinderella, but is driven off by her mean stepsisters.  The beggar is actually the prince’s tutor who tells the prince of a good-hearted woman who would be a good choice for his wife. The prince was introduced to Cinderella when he was posing as a servant while his manservant posed as the prince.  The prince wanted the opportunity to see the real side of a woman who was to be his wife, not the pretenses because he is the prince.  There was no shoe to find his missing wife-to-be, but matching a bracelet.

The costumes were colorful and there were 6 cast members who played the mice.  They were priceless as they not only changed the scenery props in the background, but they provided comic relief.  In one scene, the prince was supposed to be riding in his carriage and it breaks down near Cinderella’s family home.  To illustrate this, the mice maneuvered a miniature carriage around the stage, stopped it and kicked off one of the wheels.  Then to make it correct, they pushed the little carriage to one side so that it slanted as if broken down.  So funny. 

I was disappointed that Cinderella was not transformed into a princess.  All that happened is that her rag dressed sort of poofed up on the sides and she wore a tiara.  Big whoop. To the right is a picture on the program and also on Facebook.  I didn't see anything close to this.  The picture looked so magical, I was looking forward to the transformation.

The arias were sort of interesting though.  It is supposed to be a light-hearted opera and no one dies at the end.  The arias reminded me of Mozart’s operas.  In some arias, they would be singing, then they would break out into a fast talking tune.  It was enjoyable.  Then a few days later, I was listening to a workout song, “This City is My City”.  The song has a tune, the in the midst, it breaks out into rap.  It reminded me of the songs in the Cinderella opera.  So Rossini composed one of the earliest versions of rap.  Funny.

Photo below is taken during the encore applause from our seats.

Tribes

Tribes is about an intellectual family, mother is a writer and father is a professor.  They have 3 grown children who live with them.  Billy was born deaf, but can read lips.  He feels a bit left out when the rest of his family debates issues and he struggles to understand what is being said. His brother Daniel, has a mental difficulty because he hears voices.  He tries to drown them out by turning on the radio to have some background noise instead of the voices. Interesting, as I write this, I see one brother who can’t hear real voices and another who hears imaginary voices.  Their sister Beth is an opera singer who is struggling to get jobs. 

Billy, meets a girl on campus who had a cochlear transplant who can now hear and teaches Billy sign language.  Apparently in the deaf community there is a hierarchy of those who are truly deaf and sign at the highest and if one can hear or doesn’t know sign language, the lower you are in the hierarchy.

I found it interesting that sign language is a language in its own that can translate feelings through the motion of the hands, face and body.

Billy then becomes a “militant” deaf person.  He insists that his family learn sign language or he will no longer talk to them.  His brother Daniel is slowly spiraling out of control as the voices take over his life.  The only salvation was that Billy was always there for him and at the end, he pityingly stutters as he pleads for Billy to come back because of the need he has for him. 

I didn’t really care for the play for a couple of reasons.  First, it was hard to understand.  Not just because of the deaf actor saying words that were a bit difficult to hear. It was because the rest of the family talked with British accents.  What was the purpose for that?  Hello, why not have the play take place in Wisconsin instead of England?  The other problem I had with the play was that the kids who for whatever reason move back in with their parents.  They are grown and yes, okay, maybe life circumstances compelled them to move back.  The part I had a problem with is the extreme disrespect they had for their parents as they call them names such as “prick” or yell at them.  I would have thrown them out on the street with that kind of behavior.  I rant. 

So maybe there is a lesson to be learned here, but the annoyances were more compelling.                           

Opera-The Flying Dutchman

Also known as “Der fliegende Hollander”, this opera is by Wagner.  Okay, another Wagner opera, but I found this one fascinating because of the staging and story. 

The Flying Dutchman is about a cursed sailor who is looking for a faithful woman who can break that curse.  Every seven years he is able to go on land to search for this “hard to find” woman.  Puhleeze, Wagner must have had some bitter relationships to come up with this one.

He meets a captain who has a daughter Senta, who is

mesmerized by this legend.  She wants to be the faithful woman who can break the curse, but is thwarted by a suitor who makes the Dutchman think Senta is unfaithful.  In the end, she follows the Dutchman into the mist, not caring what her fate would be.

The set is austere and stark, supposedly below the decks of a ship, yet gives the illusion of being in a fortress. 

As Max says, it wasn’t Rigoletto.  There are huge fans of Wagner, but we find his operas too heavy, strident and demanding.  Does that make sense?