BBC Opera Season
Wed, Jun 2 2010, 3:14PM
Everybody enjoying the BBC's season of opera-related programmes? Good!
Pappano is especially good at enthusing his audience (is he the modern-day Bernstein?) and the programmes on Wagner and Danielle de Nisse have been very enjoyable, not to mention the wonderful "Figaro" the other night.
It might seem churlish to criticise such riches, but my only gripe is with the editing. It seems we're not capable of concentrating on more than 20 seconds of music without somebody commenting on it or illustrating it.
Opera isn't really an art form for people with short attention spans. How are people going to get a sense of the power of "Va pensiero" if they're not allowed to hear the whole thing? I realise that just playing a 5-minute piece of music all the way through breaks every rule of the modern television documentary, but surely somebody at the BBC has some courage to flout convention, and give the viewer some moments of stillness and respite from the frenetic pace of the editing? Two short bursts of Sutherland's Lucia "Mad Scene" don't tell anyone very much apart from the fact that she was a fabulous singer.
I'm not complaining on my own account - I know my opera pretty well, and I'm just enjoying the programmes... but is this the best way to "hook" newcomers?
Thu, Jun 17 2010, 3:06PM
#2
RE: BBC Opera Season
Hi Martin,
it seems to be a sign of the times. I was so irritated by the Sutherland profile that I dug out an old VHS tape from 1990, a 90-minute Omnibus tribute on her retirement. This was much better, lots more archive material and commentary wasn't so intrusive.
It wouldn't be allowed these days.
I did stay with the Aida, which was fun, in a way. The only thing that really annoyed me were the swingeing cuts, although I can understand why you switched to Price and Vickers - the singing is somewhat superior and I always find that with sound-only recordings, in a darkened room the production is always just how you want it!
Rob
Mon, Jun 28 2010, 7:14AM
#3
RE: BBC Opera Season
I found the whole effort by the B.B.C. rather irritating, no sooner were you into one aria then it had a voice over. What was interesting when Tony Pappano visited the composers houses. No mention of Fancuilla del West or did I miss something in the Puccini programme. It was nice to see a few opera houses but what is it all about? Is the B.B.C. feeling guilty because of years of neglect of classical music on television. When did we last see a Bayreuth production live from the Festpielhaus on B.B.C? This happened regularly in Europe but not the U.K. The B.B.C. needed to buck it's ideas up years ago. Now a wish what about a series of programmes in HD (even though I don't have it yet) about the architecture of the world's great opera houses. So many have recently been restored and being restored it is an ideal time to do it. The B.B.C. also needs to get it's act together with sound broadcasting quality. F.M. not compressed digital (but I have mentioned that in another thread). Why are they not broadcasting in 5.1 rather than Pro-logic? I asked their technical department once - no plans to was the reply. Sky apparently do it. The B.B.C. used to be about quality but over the last decade it certainly has not been. I will finish here. Thank you for reading, Robert.
Mon, Jun 28 2010, 3:22PM
#4
RE: BBC Opera Season
I kind of agree with Garbolinski but I think we need to put the lack of and quality of programming for classical music in context.
Let's not forget the coverage that the BBC gives to the Proms, the Cardiff Singer of the World, Leeds International Piano Competition and Young Musician of the Year to name a few. Compared with other forms of music e.g. jazz, world and pop I think that classical does OK to be honest. The BBC also tend to show full operas a few times a year.
I also think that the infantilisation of the subject is common to all areas of broadcasting not specific to classical music. You only have to look at topic specific shows in general - travel, food, books, music - to see this, so I sense that classical music programming is not being specifically targetted.
What may add to the sense of infantilisation is programming on other arts channels (Sky Arts for example) that tends to show older programmes (pre-infantilisation) which serve to point up the differences in TV programme making.
Just some thoughts. - devils advocate if you like. I am not entirely happy with the BBC opera coverage - I laughed at the number of times the Kiri Te Kanawa programme sliced up other singers e.g. Joan Sutherland singing Lucia, but seemed to let Kiri sing substantial chunks of Otello and sensed that she was involved in the editing - but wouldn't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Wed, Jun 30 2010, 5:43PM
#5
RE: BBC Opera Season
Though delighted that the BBC was actually doing something about opera, I have to confess to being a little disappointed with the results. I am not too sure who the programmes were levelled at, but surely, if someone is to be converted to the cause, they are going to need to listen to more than a couple of seconds of a piece of music. Some Puccini arias are very short, but we weren't even vouchsafed the whole of "O mio babbino caro". As a conductor I like Pappano very much, and found him also a most engaging presenter, but the extreme brevity of the programmes meant we were left with a rather skewered take on the various composers he was discussing. A newcomer to opera might think Puccini only wrote 5 operas (La Boheme, Madama Butterfly, Tosca, Gianni Schicchi and Turandot). We weren't even told that Schicchi is a one act opera, and was supposed to be performed alongside Il Tabarro and Suor Angelica. Puccini knew what he was about - the three operas played together make an excellent evening's entertainment. The programmes about specific singers (Pavarotti and Sutherland) also had annoyingly curtailed snippets of music. If indeed these programmes were for newcomers to the genre, then not allowing the music to speak for itself showed very little faith in the genre itself.
Still, better than nothing I suppose.
Mon, Jul 5 2010, 10:24AM
#6
RE: BBC Opera Season
I agree - much of the value of the BBC Opera season has been lost by editing, usually at the expense of the music, which is what the programme is supposed to be about. Last night's, on opera in Cape Town was a key example- we lost the continuation of 'Bess, You is My Woman Now' in the Oslo Opera House for the repeat of the soloist's earlier observation that those who had had jeered him many years ago when he was training now asked him for R10 to get a beer. Music lost merely to get a chuckle out of the viewers. What a shame.
Oh and I thought it was just me. First I have to agree - well done BBC for a great series so far - even the Rick Stein programme was good and conjured up images of Puccini shooting and cooking ducks. And Pappano is infectious and has got quite a good voice too.
But the editing. Even "Ah mes amis" one of the shortest of all opera arias was broken up. Not once. Not twice. But four times by Diego Florez. And not only in the Pappano programme but also in the Pavarotti programme. To be fair I sense that one wasn't a BBC production and I had seen the Joan Sutherland one on Sky Arts before now.
However, well done for showing so much opera. I could have done without the Aida though. I don't want to see an Ethiopian Princess singing about her beloved homeland while stood on some scaffolding looking like she she's just about to do some gardening. And when her dad came out of the Nile looking like Captain Birdseye I had to put my Solti CD with Price and Vickers on!!