"Colossal" Aida

Dirigent

JonnyBlackrock wrote: »

Yes, I've just been listening to it in the car. There are indeed a lot of disgruntled people out there. It looks like this is going to be a repeat of the Barbara Streisand debacle.

How could you even imagine a musical link between a screeching banshee like that and Grand Opera!

mambo

Coverage also on Mooney Goes Wild (right at the end of the show). They're interviewing some of the extras who all seem to have thought it went great.

Listen back at http://www.rte.ie/radio/mooneygoeswild/

JonnyBlackrock

westtip wrote: »

Jonny they shoudl have listened to the "opera snobs" first! All of the fears that you and I expressed came true it seems this event has done nothing for the cause of opera.

Indeed they should. When they advertised it in the beginning with no names of singers it was obvious it was going to be a fiasco. Sad. Desperately sad.

Sandwich

Sounds as if it lived down to our worst fears. Shame so many people were scammed into going to such a sham, when honourable efforts at opera productions in Ireland are struggling to sustain themselves.

(Cosi in Covent Garden the next opera outing for me. Dont expect Ill be looking for my money back )

Jennyrose

I was at the show on Friday night. It was my first opera. I also heard the Joe Duffy program today.

A couple of things.

I had no problem hearing the orchestra- if one could not hear the performance, then this is a problem to be taken up with O2.

The screens to each side of the stage were adequate - the text I could read but not necessarily understand. Aida is an old story and if you don't know it, then it's not that important. You can figure it out. And the singing and sets were impressive in their own right.

The dancers were, to my untrained eye, not good.

The slow clapping was rude and embarrassing. As was the predictable departure by some during the show. Very unclassy - we want our opera hard and fast, do we?

On the other hand, the behaviour of the stage management was equally disprespectful. They sauntered across the stage, sometimes not doing ANYTHING at all. The guy in the red shirt rapidly changed his shirt to black once he became aware he was audience-targeted. He shouldn't complain- he was particularly unhurried. We felt we were intruding upon a dress rehearsal.

The promoter on Joe Duffy was arrogant and dismissive. I find this peculiar given Dublin's small town loyalties. I suggest he re-examine his no-refund policy as there is nothing so deadly as a punitive grapevine.

And may I say that 80-100 euro tickets are promising nothing short of the messiah himself appearing on stage.


ps. Anyone who can hold a note and is remotely good looking would do well to try out a bit of opera - our poor Aida resembled her grandmother.

mambo

Letter from today's Irish Times

Breaking the illusion of 'Aïda'

Madam, – Clutching my ticket costing €101, I made my way to the O2 to see Aïda. For this princely sum I had a view of the stage sideways on and backstage right. I have no idea what the backdrop was like as I could not see it. I’ve been told it was impressive. The screens were hard to see and the subtitles impossible to read. The opera began.

I enjoyed the singing and the ballet pieces were excellent.

After a while the conductor left the podium and the stage crew arrived to change sets. In my innocence I thought that sets had to be changed in a way to maintain the illusion of a different time and place. This crew was dressed in black tops and paler coloured jeans except for one stage hand who was resplendent in a bright orange top. They proceeded to construct the new set, in bright lights, to the accompaniment of loud hammering. This took the best part of 10 minutes. Illusions of a different place and time were truly shattered. Many in the audience protested. Later on this set- changing fiasco was repeated.

My experience of set changing in both professional and amateur theatre and musical theatre has been of dark clad shapes in utter silence and almost total darkness swiftly changing the scene. Thirty minutes into the second half, when I saw the conductor leave once more, I decided that I had had enough. No more DIY for me that night! Is this the way opera is supposed to be presented to the public? Perhaps some kind reader could enlighten me. It’s far from Grand Opera I was reared! – Yours, etc,

PATRICIA DOLAN,
Limetree Avenue,
Portmarnock,
Co Dublin.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/letters/2009/1208/1224260292848.html

Demonique

I was an extra in the opera, there was a problem with extras who failed to turn up on the night of the performance, including four African girls which led to the blacking up other other performers to take their place.

Backstage for the actors was hit and miss. Our 'dressing room' consisted of black sheets to section us off in a a large concrete room. It was freezing there.

The performance in the Odyssey Belfast was a lot better put together

westtip

Sandwich wrote: »

(Cosi in Covent Garden the next opera outing for me. Dont expect Ill be looking for my money back )

Enjoy it! green with envy!:D

westtip

catchup wrote: »

Leaving aside the possibility that the show won't go on..........

I have to laugh reading your postings. You really do confirm the stereotypical image of opera snobs. Is it any wonder opera is unable to attract mass audience appeal? Opera is supposed to be fun..Aida was written as a spectacle to be performed with massed choir and orchestra. I'd prefer to see a "tacky" spectacular perfomance of this opera than one crammed onto the stage of the Gaiety. It was written as entertainment not as high art!!

Grow up!

Sandwich wrote: »

Instinct tells me dont touch with a barge pole.

JonnyBlackrock wrote: »

I've seen Aida enough times not to care about it anyway, and I already have a couple of recorded versions. So at least I'll be saving some money on this one.

westtip wrote: »

I am sure the whole thing will be one of these ghastly amplified events. Makes me shudder at the thought of it. deffo not opera as I know it....

So catchup, how do you feel now about the opera snobs now - it seems those who had deep suspicsious minds were proven right.

westtip

Jennyrose wrote: »

I was at the show on Friday night. It was my first opera. I also heard the Joe Duffy program today.


And may I say that 80-100 euro tickets are promising nothing short of the messiah himself appearing on stage.


ps. Anyone who can hold a note and is remotely good looking would do well to try out a bit of opera - our poor Aida resembled her grandmother.

Jenny I read your post above (which I have cut here for the sake of not needing to really repeat.

I do hope this event did not put you off the opera going experience, it really is a great art form and you don't need to have specialist knowledge to enjoy it, a few of us try to keep the general opera in ireland thread open so keep an eye on it and see if you can find yourself something that will be more inspiring and better informed than what you saw last week in the O2.

Jennyrose

westtip

Thanks for the note. I should have ended on the fact that I found each scene absolutely magical. So it was strange that as the singers exited the stage, this magical quality was rudely dissipated by the bright bright lights - (seriously, did they have to be SO bright? Is this health and safety nonsense?) - and lots of unconstructed stage activity.

Once I established that this was not true opera behaviour, I realised it was stage managment. But we all know that now.

I was a guest that night, thankfully!

So roll on the next one for me.:):)

Jennyrose

1068 posts!!

westtip

Jennyrose wrote: »

1068 posts!!

Jenny most of my posts are ranting and raving on the commuting and transport forum--- but that is a long story.

Jenny as a new opera goer I can assure there is a lot more to enjoy of real quality out there that will deliver a lot better experience of the genre than what you saw last weekend - you might enjoy some of the cinematic opera experiences that are now been shown around the country until there is some more live opera in the spring next year.

Don't give up on it! At least you took some of the good bits out of last Friday.

whosedaddy?

We went to see it too. and I can only echo the dissapointment expressed by some.

First and foremost - the O2 is NOT an opera venue. Whether they can / want turn it into one remains to be seen.

I think the problems began before the production had even started.
People that are not at the seats when the performance starts have to wait outside until a scene change or the interval! This constant coming terribly interrupting and going is disrespectful to the performers and everyone that bothers to turn up in time.

Its not a rugby match - where you can come and go whenever you like. Opera doesn't work like that.

This is an O2 venue management problem. There are no physical doors to the seating area - so you can expect the ushers to block the entrances. hence that is not going to happen.

I understand its a travelling performance, so stage sets need to be highly portable. but surely they could have devised some roll-on contraptions that doesn't require 10 min of hammering.
But even that - dimm the lights or pull an improvised curtain.

The breaks that killed the entire performance. And its the bit that will stick in your mind the longest.

I agree that a number of xtras just didn't seem to bother... And you can't blame poor backstage management or other extras not showing up only to some extend. As an extra you can walk straight, pretend the statue you are pulling is heavy - basically some basic acting - even without being told! There were plenty on stage that couldn't be arsed.

But I don't agree that the slow clapping was embarrising, stage management was so bad, that paying punters rightly so expressed their opinion about it. The whistling was a bit much tho.

The orange stagehand and the couch cushion scene during the interval - lets not even go there :-) And I agree with Michael Dervan that it would be great if that made it onto Youtube.

We did ring up and voiced our dissapointment - 600 quid for 6 ppl - we did expect a little bit more than what we got.
And when asked, they admitted that alot of ppl have been phoning to complain and also agreed that the O2 is not an opera venue and as this was the first performance. Lets see whether it was the last.

/WD

westtip

whosedaddy? wrote: »

First and foremost - the O2 is NOT an opera venue. Whether they can / want turn it into one remains to be seen.

/WD

I doubt the O2 will ever be used again for opera after this calamity, the venue is simply not suited to the medium. For 600 Euro you could have seen Macbeth recently by OI (which personally I had mixed feelings about), a wonderful concert performance of Rheingold, and Opera theatre Company Alcina - all performed recently in Dublin and if you had picked your tickets 6 people woudl have seen all three for less than a 100 euro each and got a couple of pints and a bag of crisps out the change. This would have given you Verdi, Wagner and Handel to choose from - three completely contrasting styles of opera, sung live and enjoyed in far greater intimacy in smaller theatres than the O2 barn. Not to mention the recent performances in Belfast of Massenets Werther and Mozart Cosi - both of which got decent reviews and you could have got to Belfast and seen and paid for your petrol and tolls for less than 100 euro for the two, plus the Grand Opera House in Belfast is a very intimate theatre in which the voices carry well.

Really if you want to go to opera don't be sucked in by the events advertising such as we saw with this Aida. It was total bull**** - for updates on opera in ireland i try to keep a general thread going on the subject.

mambo

The new Grand Canal Theatre should be much more suited to hosting large travelling shows such as opera, musicals, etc. That's what they were planning anyway, given it's 2000+ seats (which is apparently the number necessary for making hosting such shows econonically feasible).

westtip

Agreed and thanks for those shots on the grand can theatre thread