dirac

Thank you for the heads up, volcanohunter. I look forward to seeing this.

I guess I tend to interpret " turning into must see" as people flocking to the theater for reasons directly attributable to the movie house broadcasts. It could, of course, be happening. As you note, statistics are incomplete. I didn't know that, abatt. I suppose he's acting as a businessman but it does seem a bit of sharp practice.

Still happens to our flailing Raiders, but infrequently. The NFL relaxed the blackout rules because they eventually figured out that lack of television exposure was hurting sales for struggling teams and not helping, in fact creating a sort of vicious circle. But certainly in the case of the NFL television broadcasts historically have helped ticket sales - it's easier to follow the game on television than live, creating a better experience when fans hit the stadium. (There's been some talk that the new mammoth TV screens may change that, but I digress.) Opera, of course, has been broadcast on television for decades (and radio, of course), but the experience was remote enough from the real thing not to constitute a threat to live performance. Plainly they haven't turned it into "must see." No question, though, that Gelb has done the right thing in trying, and so far it seems to be working out. It's possible that even if the broadcasts could be shown conclusively to harm ticket sales in a significant way, they might still need to push forward with them for the reasons sidwich outlines.....

A review of the world premiere.

I don't see any major contradiction between the new NYT piece and the quotes from Gelb in the NYT piece abatt linked to at the beginning of the thread. Overall things are good and the broadcasts appear to be a net plus, it's just a question of analyzing who's going to the cinema instead of the theater and why. So far the answers don't seem very threatening.

Much obliged for the heads-up, California. I hope anyone who sees the play tells us about it here!

A most interesting discussion, but we're wandering far from the topic, kids. A perfect description of Ferrier's tone, thank you.....

The latter part of the paragraph is referring to Cliburn's public persona, not his music. I didn't have the feeling that Tommasini was saying it was anyone's problem - times change and in certain periods performers can seem, rightly or wrongly, old hat. Sometimes they come back, sometimes not. Very nicely put, thank you.

I’m hardly expert enough to comment, but I gather that “early promise largely unfulfilled” as described in Anthony Tommasini’s obit for the NYT seems fair enough. Too much, too soon, perhaps (and possibly the temptation of easy money by sticking with the tried and true). 　

Thank you for putting this up for discussion, abatt. I thought this was interesting: This would suggest that as an effort to reach new audiences, the HD broadcasts may be having a limited effect - preaching to the choir, as it were. Those living in Manhattan who can afford it will certainly attend live performances, but it's easy to see why others who have to travel farther might opt for the cineplex. Thoughts?

This made me giggle. A few years ago, the Opera News calendar featured Placido Domingo in costume for Samson. My sister and I still refer to him as "Mr. January." I remember that one! Hello, ballet_n00b, nice to hear from you in this forum. It's true, film does seem to contain elements from all the arts. I can enjoy opera as a purely aural experience, but I miss not so much the visual elements of most opera productions as the special aural quality and immediacy of live performance (also the one thing lacking in the cinema).

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, I guess, but it is hard to see this working out successfully. You also have a striking difference in tone between the first and second halves of the play that will have to be resolved in dance, probably mostly dance, given the modern low tolerance for mime.

I've a feeling young singers may be health conscious to the point that some may well be gym bunnies. I've a picture in my mind of Simon Keenleyside swinging above the rigging in Billy Budd a couple of years ago, but then baritones have always tended to be a bit more trim. Nathan Gunn's rigging got a lot of comment when he appeared in the same work. It could be an audience-drawing subtitle for the opera: "Billy Budd, or Shirtless Heaven."

Thanks for starting the topic, Mashinka. It’s hard to say on the basis of what’s in this article – it sounds as if in this instance a combination of bad luck and bad planning led to a rash of cancellations. I would be interested to see some hard numbers. As Christiansen pointed out, singers travel a lot more and modern productions require more work and rehearsal – the days when an assistant could walk the director through Flagstad’s Isolde are long gone. Unreliable stars weren’t exactly unknown in the past (hello, Mme. Caballe). And not all cancellations are equal. Christiansen cites Callas as an offender, but Callas only began backing out of performances and commitments when her voice had entered the unpredictable stage, although she was criticized as a spoiled diva at the time. abatt does have a point about singers chosen more for their pretty faces than a robust sound. Pavarotti wasn’t always so huge, though. In his younger years he was heavy but also tall and handsome, not the tub of lard he later became.

That is the difference between a spokesperson for a particular organization, and a reporter. Still pretty klutzy, I'd say, even considering the source. In general whenever a flack says "No one doubts" or uses similar language in a situation like this one where much is still unknown and unclear, it only serves to highlight the fact that doubters are thick on the ground.

Oh, that's beautiful, bart, thank you.

Thanks. I thought that name rang a bell. Atwood has won three Academy Awards, I see. Not bad going.

It won for best costume design. I tend to agree with cubanmiamiboy that the movie was overdressed, especially the leading lady, but often as not that's what gets recognized at awards time.

Wow, that was fast. Beautiful picture, thank you! It really does look like her. Will look for the video.

Would love to see it if you come across it, rg.

I don't think it hurts for ballet dancers to appear on Dancing with the Stars, but given that DWTS' demographic is mainly women of a certain age, a group that likely already has some exposure to ballet, the show isn't likely to help much in drawing in younger people.

I don't think anyone was proposing to rewrite Kundry as Sheryl Sandberg. It's a more nuanced question of how to approach works that reflect cultural attitudes that we no longer share - considerations of why the work presents such difficulties for us today, what (if anything) should be changed to make a troubling work palatable to modern sensibilities, and what (if anything) can be changed or interpreted without sanitizing the past in such a way that the essential spirit of the work is violated. These are large questions and like sandik I have no all-encompassing remedy.....

It is possible to examine classic works critically without accepting or employing presentism (using the word in its literary/historical sense) in its cruder forms.

There was a shot where I thought I might have spotted Blankshine but I can't say for certain. I think if he'd been mentioned outright I'd remember it. An unfortunate omission, if so.

It would certainly be pleasant if the the issue were that simple. Such choices matter and people will criticize, praise, or otherwise discuss them, and they may arrive at conclusions with which you disagree. Nice comments, all, thanks.