The husband and I have been debating the pros and cons of attending Opera previews. We went to the Elektra preview together and he felt that it ruined the surprise of the experience. I liked the extra information so I went to the preview for Bluebeard & Erwartung alone. I have to admit that he was right...
I think it might be a generational thing, because the opera guy told us that we should resist the urge to leave Erwartung because the atonal composition was so grating- but Ryan and I both loved it!
The staging for both one act operas was amazing as the stage itself became a character. Bluebeard was first, and there was a band of water and the front of the stage. At first you couldn't even see it, it only became visible as Judith opened the doors to the horrors of Bluebeard's castle. At first I thought, oh, that's neat, it's probably a few inches deep. But at the climatic moment I nearly jumped out of my chair when Bluebeard's previous three wives slowly emerged from the lake! They were going so slowly that I don't know how they held their breath that long.
After the intermission it was Erwartung. Now, the preview guy was correct, this piece is atonal, but it's grabbing. There is only one singer, the woman whose psycocis we're watching. According to the preview guy the opera is set in the woods, but it makes more sense the way we saw it staged in a mental institution. I jumped out of my seat again, when the body of the man she was in love with rolled down the stage, into the lake face down and was ripped off stage.
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