Word: operas
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...first things you will notice in Budapest is that the famous Blue Danube is actually a murky gray. But this will likely be your only disappointment in the Hungarian capital, a vibrant city that is alive with art, culture, history and architecture. With scores of museums, three opera houses and more than a dozen thermal baths, there is much more to Budapest than goulash...
...purpose of adapting a work of art is to allow for its universal themes to emerge in a context readily identifiable and relevant for audiences. In transporting the action of George Bizet’s opera Carmen from 19th-century Seville to the tumultuous backdrop of the free trade protests in Quebec and post-September 11 Wall Street, Lowell House Opera’s (LHO) new adaptation fails to shed light on the complex, weighty issues of free trade and globalization, while confusing and compromising the dramatic appeal of the opera itself...
Carmen, though sung in French (with English “supertitles” projected overhead in this production), is in many ways a quintessentially Spanish opera. The tale of the seductive, gypsy-girl Carmen, her hapless lover Jose, the bullfighter Escamillo and their love triangle is imbued with a richly Castilian flavor. But the Spanish component does not overwhelm the plot and only heightens, even justifies, the melodramatic exchanges between Carmen and her lovers...
...opera now opens with the chorus girls behind the police perimeters: they are free-trade protesters in Quebec, though their bright, expensive-looking costumes seem out of sync with their political message. The entire scene, including the cramped arm-waving protests of the chorus girls, feels artificial, with the haphazardness reading not as purposeful disruption but awkward staging...
Despite strong performances, the evening remains neither moving nor memorable. The production leaves the audience with a sore lack of emotional impact. At the end, it remains unclear where the focus of the opera lies on Carmen and her loves or on the broader politics of the adaptation’s premise...