The opera world is split in two: European regietheater productions reinvent works in ways composers never imagined, while traditional stagings favored in the U.S. and parts of Italy are condemned by some cognoscenti as passé. Martin Kušej’s vision of Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” at the Salzburg Festival includes cocaine-fueled fights, a predator priest, a nearly naked hooker and a basement garage rave. Damiano Michieletto transforms Verdi’s “Aida” at Munich’s Bavarian State Opera into an antiwar jeremiad in which Radamès collapses from PTSD during a Triumphal March of amputees and the High Priest Ramfis attempts to marry the King’s daughter Amneris.
Opera world split as director reinventions dominate Europe while US, Italy more muted mymotherlode.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mymotherlode.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Director and MIT Professor Jay Schieb speaks about his widely heralded production of Wagner’s “Parsifal” opera at the Bayreuth Festival, which features an apocalyptic theme and augmented reality headsets for the audience.