Has Opera gone for Gore?

By -

First there was "The Fly" but that was a collaboration of several film folk who worked on the 1986 film version so there is a reasonable connection with why it was done. But now there is "Repo, the genetic opera!" This latest opera is coming out in film version rather than live, so perhaps they are going for the horror film genre rather than the opera crowd, perhaps trying to become a cult hit like the "Rocky Horror Picture Show".

The basic premise is in a future where replacement organs can be purchased on a layaway plan—and are bloodily reclaimed from those who can't keep up their payments. The very plot screams for blood and gore (but not necessarily music). In a review of the music by Jimmy O (of Arrow in the Head News) he suggests the music has a hard edge, "like something Marilyn Manson should be hissing at you" with moments of real beauty, "into a kind of operatic beauty with Sarah Brightman‘s vocal abilities."

Other reviews of the film suggest the music is really good for the genre and should appeal to the target audience, even if it might not be the right cup of tea for everyone. Michael Gingold of Fangoria.com writes, "the lyrics occasionally succumb to repetition or become too on-the-nose. Just as often, though, they're powerful and moving, and delivered with gusto by the eccentric ensemble." John Anderson of Vanity.com was not as favourable overall, but still felt "Bousman has created a world limited by the story's stage roots, and, no doubt, by its budget, but he creates a unified whole within a very untidy realm. Would that the music were more memorable."

More reviews are available on the site, and all are fairly glowing of both the music and the film. There are complaints about bits and pieces, but overall everyone seems to feel the piece holds together (even if the body parts don't). If there is a way to get a new audience looking at opera, perhaps gore is the way to go.

Addendum: I went out to MySpace to listen to the music myself (the film isn't out yet).

It's hard. Personally, I found all the songs to be very similar to each other. There are differences, different beginnings, different lyrics, but eventually the music reverts back to driving distorted bar chords. It took me a while to even discern if the keys had changed (they are that similar).

Lyrics are lost in the distortion and over-driven sound on MySpace, but it's possible this is due to the low quality mp3 and should be much better in the film. The trailer has much better sound as does LastFM. Even then, the music (electronics) still occasionally gets in the way - but stylistically dead on.

The lyrics tend to be repetitive, but again that's the style. It's not mine, but it works for the genre. Sweeney Todd didn't perform so well at the cinema, and this may follow the same fate, although the music is likely to reach a larger audience with the driving beat and heavy distortion. After the film it will likely feel like attending a rock concert, and perhaps, with the visuals (from the trailer) combined with the graphic art animation style, the overall effect is right inline with the target audience. While Sondheim's music is better (IMHO), it's of a different class than at those this film is aimed.

I don't think it will spawn copycat films, as it obviously took a lot of work to create so duplicating it isn't going to be easy - and it's not going to have a large enough appeal to generate a new breed of opera. But it's nice to see the horizons expanding.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Role of Music in Opera

By -
There are numerous books on the topic, and every composer, librettist, director, singer and audience member has their opinion as to what role the music should play in an opera. In a play without music, the words ought to support the meaning behind a character's actions. However, in the case of action movies, often times the action is what tells the story and there aren't words, just images to forward the plot. We might hear music to accompany action, build tension, but the action tells the story. Musicals tend to speak until the emotion of the moment just "has" to break out in song - unless it's something like "Mama Mia" where the dialog is the rails we travel on between songs; the songs themselves, written before the concept of the musical, are the focus of the production, while the story is secondary. Operas are a different beast. The music provides emotion to the words spoken, but it also plays the role of ambience when there is only action. In &quo
Read more

Episode 210b: Joyeuse le départ

By -
Image
Podcast:  Play in new window  |  Download Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts  |  Android  |  Google Play  |  Stitcher  |  TuneIn  |  RSS Provost Cunningham has Transmigrated, but to where! What is Dr Sage going to do with his body? And how can she bring home her friends, Abigail and Erasmus, without also bring home Cunningham? What are they going to say when they find the “skeleton” she’s hiding in her closet? Cast: Eddie Louise Clark  as Dr Sage Chip Clark  as Professor Savant Justin Bremer  as the Narrator Emily Riley Piatt  as Abigail Entwhistle, Calypso & Dean Stewart Written by  Eddie Louise Theme music by  Unwoman Sound Design by  Chip Michael
Read more

The Art of String Quartets by Brian Ferneyhough

By -
Image
When an artist sets paint to canvas, there are brush strokes used for different effects. Sometimes those strokes are subtle, imperceptible; they produce works of art like the Mona Lisa . Other times the very obvious nature of the stroke is the art, as in works by Van Gogh. With some composers of music, the notes on the page are their craft. How those notes translate into an aural experience is what defines some composers as great artists. Brian Ferneyhough has a masterful command of the techniques of putting notes on the page. These techniques are sometimes so subtle, even though written in black and white, they escape detection. Some of what he attempts with his music is just that, to escape detection, to bury the framework, diverting the ear away from the structure, so only the music is heard . The subtlety is so fine it is almost imperceptible. Even though he studied at several institutions, he is considered self-taught, studying scores from Boule
Read more