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[F_MINOR] OT: Puppet blood is not pretty! Puppeblut ist nicht schoene!
Hi Jost (and admirers of Puppet Opera
everywhere),
Boyoboy, you are right! Two years ago
we bought our tickets late and "Zauberflote" was sold out, so we saw
"Don Giovanni" instead. We thought we were just getting Second Prize.
It was FABULOUS!
I have never seen DG performed by
humans, only puppets. And it was so very strange ... it emphasized the deeply
schizophrenic nature of this story -- is it comedy? Or is it the darkest, most
perverse tragedy?
No amount of Leporello's clowning, and
no beautiful "love" duets, can disguise the fact that Don is one Very
Sick Individual -- a nasty, murderous old rapist pervert using naive young
maidens so he can pretend that he is still young and handsome. He has no
conscience -- and Leporello must do the best he can to protect the innocent from
his master's vile perversions.
Puppets or not, I was actually deeply
frightened and disturbed by the final scene -- by what finally happens to DG.
(Sorry, I cannot reveal the Surprise Ending to my friends.) It's very
terrifying. The color of this opera is funny, but this is not a funny
story.
You bet kids would enjoy DG -- it's as
violent as anything on TV and the movies. But I wonder what kinds of questions
they ask their parents after the show. "Why does he act like that?"
"What's wrong with that guy?" And I wonder how mothers and fathers
answer these questions. It is a strange introduction to the strange, confusing
world of adult love.
Of the Salzburg marionette version,
there is a moment, when Leporello shows a maiden DG's foul diary of his
conquests, that is SO FUNNY, just about the funniest thing I have ever seen in
theater. What a rich, remarkable evening. And when the curtain falls, the
puppetmasters/puppetmistresses come to take their bow, all dressed in black like
ten ninjas. What a wonderful job that must be! Who could possibly complain about
being a Salzburg Marionetter? It's like dying and going to heaven, I
think.
Puppet blood is not a pretty sight.
Dead puppets and sawdust all over the stage, tangled strings
everywhere!
Elmer
PS. Did I mention that guy Mozart's
tunes? They were pretty spiffy, too!
-----Original Message-----
From: Jost Ammon
<jammon@gmx.net>
To: Elmer Elevator
<bobmer.javanet@RCN.COM>
Date:
Wednesday, March 10, 2004 3:12 PM
Subject: Re: [F_MINOR] OT: Salzburg
Marionettes on the march!
>On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 04:48:25
-0500
>Elmer Elevator <bobmer.javanet@RCN.COM>
wrote:
>
>> Okay, the Salzburg Marionettes just put on the
dandiest "Magic Flute"
>
>> The kids, the kids, I
think all of us should feel obligated to lure kids into the opera and classical
music cult.
>
>We did. They were not interested in Magic
Flute.
>
>
>They were interested in Don
Giovanni!
>
>Jost
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