Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Tosca


It's taken me a while to get around to writing about this, as I kind of feel like this could be long and involved--but hey, I could be wrong. That's what's so great about stream-of-consciousness no editing writing. Who knows what will dribble out--I ahve never been accused of being succint.

That said, a few weeks ago, I went to see Tosca at the LA Opera. I was actually looking forward to it after seeing the truly execrable Parsifal (although I have been told that if you were a true Wagnerite, it was wonderful. I am not.). I went with friends, and went to the pre-lecture, which promised an exciting evening. Alan Chapman, who teaches at UCLA and broadcasts on the radio from USC, was entertaining, and reminded me of what a good teacher does. He explained the different motifs, and especially the hostility that Puccini faced with this now classic opera. He informed us that music critics in London were the worst, followed by Boston, each providing a scathing review of the opera. One critic suggested he write music somewhere else, while another called Tosca something along the lines of bad underscoring for a great drama. I also loved the review from the Italian police gazette that was upset at the negative portrayal of the police and suggested alternate plot and character points. Hysterical. We love bad reviews of great works in hindsight.

So-- a little background and plot summary--Tosca was a popular play written by Sardou for Sarah Bernhardt. It was a very popular play. Puccini became interested when seeing a production in a language he didn't even speak. He was so captivated by Bernhardt he wanted to make an opera of the play. It took him another ten years to do it. The plot is complete melodrama--and here's a short summary:

Acto One-o: Cavaradossi, an artist, is painting a portrait in a cathedral that is a mix of a woman he saw praying and his lover, Floria Tosca, a local singing star. He is interrupted by a man who is fleeing from the police--a political fugitive, whose sister was the woman Cavardossi saw praying. Basically, she left her brother a key to the chapel and Cavardossi hides him. Tosca is horribly jealous, and enters with suspicion that her lover is having an affair as the painting has the look of another woman. She is convinced by him that he's not, and they arrange a romantic rendezvous after her singing engagement. She leaves. Cavardossi tells the man, who comes out of hiding in the chapel, to flee to Cavaradossi's cottage, and he will be safe there. They leave. The police come in, led by the evil Scarpia, who oozes badness. He assumes that Cavaradossi is hiding the man he is searching for, and order the police to look at the cottage. He also tells us that he is in love(lust) with Tosca, and finally can pin her into having to gratify him. He spurns God as well, just in case we missed how bad he was. In a church. Perhaps this was problematic to the Italian police.

Acto Two-o: We are in a police office/suite in a room above the place where Tosca is to sing. Scarpia has Cavarodossi, and is waiting for Tosca. In between the acts, Tosca has met Cavardossi at the rendezvous, and all jealousy is gone. Tosca comes in. Scarpia begins to torture Cavaradossi to make Tosca talk. Even though Cavaradossi tells her not to talk, his screams get to her and she finally tells where the prisoner is. Scarpia promises to let Cavaradossi go if Tosca has sex wtih him, as Cavaradossi is set to be executed the following morning. Tosca agrees, and Scarpia tells his lieutenant that they should shoot him just like another prisoner whose death they had faked. They will pretend to shoot him, and he will pretend to die, but none of it will be real. The lieutenant menacingly agrees, leaving Tosca alone with Scarpia. As Scarpia is about to pounce, she spies a knife on the table and stabs him. He dies.

Acto Three-o: A parapet of the castle where Cavaradossi is to be executed. Tosca comes in and warns him that she killed Scarpia, but they can flee once he, and she says "you'll laugh at this" pretends to die for the firing squad. They come out, shoot him. He falls. She goes to get him, and he, of course, is really dead. She runs off and jumps off the parapet, screaming "Scarpia, Avanti a Dio!" (Scarpia, we'll meet before God!"). End-o

So, the singing was great. Sam Ramey was amazing as Scarpia. Loved Violeta Urmana, though I do prefer a heavier voice, and the tenore playing Cavaradossi sounded like he was standing in front of me. A little light on the nuance, that one, but still, well done.

The first thing I thought was that this could be any drama/crime TV show currently on the air.The plot was completely melodramatic, but gripping, and you can see why people have responded to it for a century.

The second thing I thought, and the main reason I'm writing about this at all, is the nature of torture and truth. Scarpia is an interesting, and completely evil character. He follows his lust. What's fascinating is that in the opening he is actually hitting the nail on the head with his suspicions. We repel from him, though, because we know he has no proof. From the beginning he presumes guilt, and then looks for the evidence to back him up. It's interesting to me that even though he is searching for truth supposedly, and wants to uncover the villain, he becomes the villian by trying to prove what he believes, not seek the truth. In that way, he reminded me of another current leader in power.

He also reminded me of the current administration in use of torture. He actually used it to get something he wanted that he had decided was true. The torture works, but we are left with how inhumane it is, how terrible a way to leverage answers--even more horrible for the person watching than for the one being tortured. And I kept thinking of how torture has been in the news, how it's being debated and being used. Of all things, I didn't expect this opera to resonate at all with me, but then here was a character believing he knew the truth with no evidence, pushing forward to prove it to justify his lusts, and then torturing anyone who got in his way. It's interesting to me that Cavaradossi and Tosca are actually guilty of the crimes they are accused of, but that doesn't matter to us. When the accuser is corrupt, we have no choice but to side with the victims of his accusation. Certainly it's drama, and contrived for us to side with the "good guys", but interesting how slippery the truth is, and intention is all.

Now that's good melodrama.

Monday, December 19, 2005

Bush today

Well, a little troubled by this whole "domestic espionage" thing today--even more by the Bush camp's insistence on saying they have done nothing wrong. Anyone who is even passably familiar with the system of checks and balances in this country knows they have gone way out of bounds. Why even bother passing the patriot act when they are just going to go and do whatever they'd like in the interests of national security. I have nothing new to add to this, except that I was more than disturbed at this line from Bush: "Open debate about law would warn the enemy." Yes, God forbid we ever have open debate in this country. No one has ever died for that right, Mr. Bush, have they? Ugh.

Friday, December 16, 2005

Rock Star's Burden

If you don't read the NY Times on-line, here is A fascinating article about Africa and Bono's current efforts at helping the continent. An interesting point of view you don't hear very often.

Friday, December 09, 2005

Timefullness and Timelessness


I live in LA. I just saw a woman with obvious plastic surgery in jeans and a seat jacket. I realized suddenly why plastic surgery is so disturbing here when it's overdone and obvious. It's like your face is dressed up with nowhere to go. The woman's face looked like it was on the way to the Academy Awards, but she was dressed for grocery shopping. Disturbing.

On the timeless side, if you have a moment check out this NPR Story about Marine Colonel MAtthew Bogdanos, who is a NY Ass't DA and a Classics Scholar. He formed a group to chase down priceless antiquties that were stolen from the Baghdad Museum. IT's been closed for twenty of the last twenty-five years, and many of the treasures have been looted. Hearing him talk about a small pot from the 6th Millenium BC, and the effect it had on his men, is truly inspiring. To hear someone so fired up about art and its importance in our lives is wonderful. You can feel it in his voice.

Preparedness

All this talk in the news about "Terrorism" that just doesn't seem to die away, has caused me not a little consternation. I keep thinking about all of the other more pressing issues we should be facing, from poverty to global warming, instead of preparing for a threat based on fear and paranoia. I keep thinking of the quote below from Howard's End. Although written from the personal, I think it has some merit in this situation, especially considering our current budget issues and the economy. More later.

"Looking back on the past six months, Margaret realised the chaotic nature of our daily life, and its difference from the orderly sequence that has been fabricated by historians. Actual life is full of false clues and sign-posts that lead nowhere. With infinite effort we nerve ourselves for a crisis that never comes. The most successful career must show a waste of strength that might have removed mountains, and the most unsuccessful is not that of the man who is taken unprepared, but of him who has prepared and is never taken. On a tragedy of that kind our national morality is duly silent. It assumes that preparation against danger is in itself a good, and that men, like nations, are the better for staggering through life fully armed. The tragedy of preparedness has scarcely been handled, save by the Greeks. Life is indeed dangerous, but not in the way morality would have us believe. It is indeed unmanageable, but the essence of it is not a battle. It is unmanageable because it is a romance, and its essence is romantic beauty. Margaret hoped that for the future she would be less cautious, not more cautious, than she had been in the past."

--E.M. Forster, Howard's End, Chapter 12

Friday, December 02, 2005

Jew-dolph

A friend's son's preschool is having their annual Hannukkah Festival on Saturday, changed from last year's Holiday Festival. It does make sense, as it's a Jewish Community Center--even though the majority of the kids aren't Jewish. But they do Shabbat every Friday and sings songs, and learn Jewish stories, so Hannukkah Festival does seem apt--I mean, are they worried about offending the Christians? Anyhow, a friend expressed discomfort at last year's festivities, as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was represented at a Hannukkah Festival,a nd he thought it was a little jarring.

I mentioned to him that if Rudolph had 8 pointed antlers, four on each side, he would look like a menorah, and you could use his nose as the "shamash", the middle candle used to light the others.

And--going further--Rudolph is the 9th Reindeer, whose light helps the other 8 reindeer see their way. And the light burns through the night, much like the Hannukkah miracle (although that's eight nights, but go with me on this one).
Although Rudolph was written to bring in shoppers to Montgomery Ward in 1939, and wasn't written by a Jew, I wonder if there wasn't a little Holiday magic going on there. So Rudolph could actually be the tie that brings the traditions together. Now we only have to figure out how to include Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Kwanzaa, Sufism......

But I will think of Rudolph now as a giant flying Menorah, lighting the other candles in front of Santa's Sleigh. Since my Mother's Jewish and my Father wasn't, it brings it all together for me in a lovely way. I hope it works for you, too--a flying venison (kosher!) menorah pulling a Saint in a sleigh. I love the holidays.

Thursday, December 01, 2005

World AIDS Day

Today is World AIDS day, so I thought I'd spread the word that Bristol Myers Squibb is donating $1 to AIDS research for every time you click on this site--Light to Unite. I will keep in check my comments about how much money they are making off of AIDS drugs, and the ad they have for a new one as a banner on this site. I will just say it's a nice gesture, and welcome.
More on the Radio today about AIDS in South Africa and the huge number of children born with the virus. Luckily, one Catholic Bishop has his head on straight and is taking the Catholic Church to task about their stance on condoms. They can only bury their head in the sand so long, until too many children (and women) are buried because of their "morals". It's not happy that we have to have this day, but it's good we recognize how much of a struggle there still is.

While you're at it, you can visit www.seva.org, who give "gifts of service" for the holidays from your donations.