PS Un “blogger” non è un oracolo e commette inevitabilmente errori (il minimo possibile..). Ricevo spesso “correzioni” non sempre fondamentali e non sempre precise. Così come io mi sottopongo al giudizio altrui con nome e cognome così chi vorrà avere la bontà di segnalarmi eventuali errori o imprecisioni dovrà farlo unicamente mandando un commento: a ognuno la propria responsabilità. In base alla nuova normativa chi si fosse iscritto e desidera de-iscriversi è sufficiente che mi invii un messaggio e-mail..

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This musical gem can be the compositional peak of Johann Strauss if represented with amazing direction and voices. It is the traditional New Year’s Eve show at the Vienna Oper. An “operetta“, in short, that requires a staging of the highest quality in every respect, otherwise it falls into an “operina” and, in the worst case, a vaudeville.  In the version presented in Bologna, an unacceptable element immediately emerges: the use of the Italian language instead of the original German language with surtitles in Italian… and in English. German is banned and some surtitles have “typos”  errors. Nothing could be more absurd. For many years now, the use of surtitles has made it possible to avoid bad translations, when not coarse, as in the case in question, in the knowledge that the composer harmonizes his music with the text. No longer can be seen translated productions of the singspieles, starting with Mozart’s famous Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Die Zauberflöte. And even the Komische Oper in Berlin, which for many years had translated the operas performed, has long since opted for the original version. Not in Bologna: a translated version of very poor quality, where the nuances (and tasty double meanings) of the original language are inevitably lost. An unfortunate choice in line with the decay of a theater that has a glorious past (think that even Lohengrin had its Italian premiere here) and that among its directors counted Toscanini (slapped by the fascist Leo Longanesi for refusing to perform Giovinezza and Inno reale).  What about the staging and the musical aspects? Tout se tient, that is, a dramatically modest show with even an ostrich that noody understands what it represents (an ornithological error by the director who mistook the bat for an ostrich?) and flamboyant stage costumes. Singers not accustomed to the Italian language with a less than shaky pronunciation. A veil of pity over the direction.  In the end, the best on stage was the comedian Vito with his cabaret approach. The result was in fact yet another poor performance with little applause from a rarefied and not at all amused audience (as it should be). Few applauses and coming mainly from an obvious clacque. That a theatre like the comunale theatre should lapse into a suburban theatre in the silence of the municipal administration is scandalous. It is one of the symbols of the city, as are all opera houses, and the municipality’s lack of interest in this institution is unacceptable. And it is certainly not the complacent reviews of “experts” greedy for free tickets (only one of them is saved) that can revive the glories of the theater that also relies on an audience often more interested in the social event than in the quality of what is represented. The comparison with other Italian theatres (leaving aside La Scala – of course, which is another planet – we are talking about Florence, Turin, Rome, Naples, etc.. even La Fenice) is however bleak. The Fledermaus as it was performed was only the icing on the cake of an unfortunate season in a completely structurally and acoustically inadequate hall and the next one certainly does not allow us to hope well, starting with the proposed miserable performance of Wagner’s opera in the form of an oratorio. Only a drastic change of management would allow us to hope for a resurrection of the theatre, but unfortunately it does not seem to be in sight.

PS I would kindly ask the readers of this blog to  register  (which implies nothing) which can be easily made  by “clicking” the black square above each post. By so doing they will receive an e-mail message whenever a new post is published.

PS A “blogger” is not an oracle and inevitably makes errors (the minimum possible..). I often receive “corrections” not always fundamental and not always accurate. Just as I submit myself to the judgement of others with the name and surname so those who want to have the goodness to report errors or inaccuracies will have to do so only by sending a comment: everyone has his own responsibility.

Per un elenco aggiornato di tutti i precedenti  posts di questo blog con i corrispondenti links

PS  Vorrei ringraziare tutti coloro che inseriscono commenti  ai posts utilizzando l’opzione “Lascia un commento”  (o “commenti” se ne sono già stati inseriti) prevista nella sezione sinistra (o prima del testo per schermi ridotti come i tablets) dei posts stessi affinchè tutti possano leggerli.  Il dibattito è sempre interessante per tutti…..grazie (è indispensabile lasciare nome e cognome – i commenti anonimi non saranno pubblicati)!!