Cui was sort of a big deal; he was a member of the group of five Russian composers known, creatively, as The Five who wanted to create a characteristically Russian style of music. The others were Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Mily Balakirev (who didn't write opera and so is less familiar to me). This is the first time I've had a chance to see a Cui opera, however.
It may shock you to learn that this is based on a Pushkin play. Specifically, it's based on one of his four "little tragedies," the others being The Stone Guest, The Miserly Knight, and Mozart and Salieri. So now I've seen operas based on all four. Boom!
Simple plot: there's a plague. And four friends--a tenor, baritone, soprano, and mezzo-soprano--are having a feast. Talking about the situation. Reminders of the grimness keep impinging on their celebration. A priest appears and chastises them for their frivolousness. They blow him off, but then feel pensive. And that's about it; it's just a one-act, half-hour thing.
It seems obvious why this would have resonated in 2020. And this is even a production from Brazil, where the situation has been even more grim than most places. It's clearly socially distanced; the singers may allegedly be in the same room, but they're clearly apart, in a Zoom-type way. I do admire everyone involved for setting up a production under such circumstances, and the singers, none of whom I know, are all very good. As is the opera itself: low-key profundity, with the libretto apparently verbatim Pushkin and some memorable songs thrown in. Ya might as well watch it; that's what I say!
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