Not, that I hadn’t seen any performances, but because the staging was often so miserable that it’s accidentally funny and sometimes even withholds the audience from understanding the story. A “Nabucco” who stands on the stage in a business suit singing “I am a man in cloak and sword” is not very convincing but we all got used to it.
But some weeks ago I saw „Alcina“. An opera composed by Haendel. The music is gorgeous, the orchestra played it perfectly and the singers’ voices were brilliant. How different the staging was! According to the libretto Alcina is a sorceress, sitting on an enchanted island, transfiguring visitors into animals. What is your idea of an island? Certainly very different form the people in charge for the production. They put a wooden cage – the island – on the stage. People – possibly the local gym club – relentlessly performed some strange movements in and on it. They made it impossible to enjoy the music, let alone to understand the story. What a mess!
The vocalists frantically carried on singing, the orchestra still played for dear life but it was all in vain. We left before the first break. Despite Haendel’s wonderful music, the gorgeous orchestra and the brilliant singers the performance was unbearable. Why? The coordinators let them down.
You see, even the best resources can fail if there is no suitable project management.
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