patrikpen: Tough Satire in Music and Vision 1 aprile

domenica 12 maggio 2013

Tough Satire in Music and Vision 1 aprile

Tough Satire

Alexander Raskatov's 'A Dog's Heart',
reviewed by GIUSEPPE PENNISI

Just a few weeks ago, in Rome's Opera House, a harsh satire of the communist system was performed -- Dmitry Shostakovich's The Nose in aZurich Opera production [Swift and Corrosive, 3 February 2013]. Now La Scala has an equally tough satire by a modern composer, Alexander Raskatov, based on the now well-known 1925 Mikhail Bulgakov novel Soba 'e serdce ('A Dog's Heart'). The book was forbidden in the USSR until 1987but circulated widely in the Western world. A Dog's Heart is co-produced with the Dutch Opera House in Amsterdam and the British English National Opera. It is already booked by Lyon Opéra National and a United States touris in the offing. It may reach, in the not too distant future, the Moscow stage. Times, customs and habits do change.

In the corrupt Soviet Moscow, the surgeon Professor Filipp Filoppovic enjoys tremendous privileges because he has the reputation of making olderpeople younger and sexually more active by transplanting organs fromanimals. He intends to create his masterpiece: to transplant the organs of a just dead man into a stray dog (Sarik). Thus, Sarikov is created and could be the basis for the 'new man' Communism dreams of. Sarikov turns out to be a combination of the worst features of dogs (eg aggressive with cats) and of men (eg treacherous against his own creators).

Eventually, the professor and his assistants decide to carry out a reverse operation in order to give life to Sarik again. The operation is successful: there is a new stray dog on Moscow's streets. But the professor and his staff are arrested, accused of murdering a comrade and hiding his body.

Whilst the recently reviewed Rape of Lucretia [Truly Powerful, 29 March 2013] is a very parsimonious opera, the two act, sixteen scene A Dog's Heart is a true grand opera with twenty one characters on stage, chorus, mimes and even puppets. The stage direction was entrusted to Simon McBurney, the sets to Michael Levine, the costumes to Christina Cunningham. The staging is so complex that part of the set collapsed during the dress rehearsal and the opening night (originally scheduled for 13 March) had to be postponed. I saw the 21 March 2013 performance.

In addition to standard elements, the orchestra requires a harpsichord, apiano, an organ, traditional Russian instruments and an oversizedpercussion group. There's no doubt that the two and a half hour performance (including intermission) is quite funny, full of slapstick and rather abrasive.

It's interesting how different genres are merged into a rather unique style: Monteverdian quasi-recitative, parody of revolutionary chanting, remembrances of Russian folk songs, and Orthodox Russian choir. It is a blend, I stress, not a 'pastiche'; the various elements are like slates of mosaic tiles -- each tile is a scene and a musical number. Martin Brabbins provided very good musical direction.

There were so many singers that half a telephone directory would be needed to comment on each of them. Paulo Szot was a superb Professor Filippovic. Three voices were required for Sarik -- Andrew Watts when in a good mood, Elena Vassilieva when in a bad mood and Peter Hoare when Sarikov.

The conservative Teatro alla Scala audience applauded warmly.