Unsettling Opera: Staging Mozart, Verdi, Wagner and Zeminsky (review)

In Unsettling Opera: Staging Mozart, Verdi, Wagner and Zeminsky, David Levin has undertaken the task of explaining and justifying less than traditional approaches to operatic production and direction. Whether the opera goer is enthralled or appalled by what in some circles is referred to as "Eurotrash" and other non-traditional productions, it is a fact of operatic life. This is true more so in Europe than in the United States, but it must be remembered that although the (in)famous Peter Sellars productions of the three great Mozart comedies were video recorded in Europe, the original concept was originated and produced in the United States. Levin's basic premise is that with careful reading of the text and other source material nearly any approach to a work can be justified. To this end he looks at productions of four standard repertory operas and one that is very much on the periphery. Levin does not ignore traditional approaches altogether and does allow that there is a place for a well thought out production which follows the traditional take on an opera and these can be successfully accomplished. His complaint in regards to most traditional productions is that they have not been thought through but rather mirror other productions of the same work. On the other hand, he does not believe that just because a production is new and innovative that it is automatically good, but rather it must be justified in some manner.

Levin also looks at the changing audience and the opportunities that arise because of the use of supertitles. He argues that today's audiences often come prepared for the theatrical experience as much as the musical experience. The use of supertitles allows for greater leeway in the handling of the text and promotes greater opportunity to look in depth for subtexts within the whole of the opera. The other side of this equation is not explored, that is to say by altering the translation to match the production, but not altering the original text which is being performed, the aficionado who knows the original language being performed is hearing one thing but is seeing something else on the stage. It can be as minor as the painting in Tosca already having dark eyes or having a character cry out he has been stabbed but the director has decided that a gun shot would be more effective theatrically. Occa sionally in standard operas the text is altered to match the production; a common example is in Giuseppi Verdi's Un ballo in maschera where the tenor is greeted on his first entrance as either "Il Conte" (the original text) or "Il re" (for productions which move the action back to Sweden, the original concept). However, these are rare examples, and usually the director does as he pleases without obvious justification in the text as performed. Levin brings to the fore the difference between what he calls the "opera text" and the "performance text" (p. 164). The opera text is what the librettist and composer created, the bare bones which the director and conductor must start with in order to produce an opera. The performance text is what the director uses to create the particular production being viewed.

It is instructive to look at which productions of each opera Levin has chosen to explore in detail and which points are the center of his discussion. For Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro he has chosen the moment of forgiveness in the final scene through the final ensemble, concentrating on the utter stillness and at the very end when only Cherubino is left without a partner. I agree completely with Sellars that as filmed this is an incredibly moving moment as each of the characters is shown going through a wide range of emotions. The display of the human emotional range Sellars is able to display is one of the joys of this film. However there...