B. and I went to see/hear the U Opera's performance of Britten's "Turn of the Screw" this afernoon. It was puzzling: slavish adherence to James's text in quotidian language on the one hand, but then insertion of whole new scenes for the "ghosts" in which their motivations are outlined in ways probably never contemplated by James on the other. We thought, also, that if you were unfamiliar with James's text, you might have trouble just following the opera's narrative.
I don't want to make it into a "loved the book, hated the movie" thing, but I just have to say that the wonderful ambiguity of the novella is lost in the opera, and not replaced with anything equally wonderful. B said he thought opera required "big" emotions - and they just don't come through in this opera; good versus evil doesn't constitute an emotion unless you make the characters FEEL it.
I wasn't loving the music either - my primary exposure to Britten was in "Ode to St. Cecilia," which I learned for a concert, and eventually appreciated. I don't find the melodies tuneful - until you've sung them and internalized them - and the casual opera listener hasn't. (If there is such a thing as the casual opera listener.)
Otherwise today, I've been working on a fellowship app that has to be mailed tomorrow and trying to get my reading list squared away for next Monday's exam, which may or may not happen.
Posted by otto0114 at November 13, 2005 10:05 PM