Terry Gilliam (of Monty Python fame) to direct Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust for English National Opera next Summer

By -

from Charlotte Higgins - Guardian

While Terry Gilliam has written and directed numerous films, this will be his first foray into directing opera. Known for writing and directing bizarre, off the wall films like Brazil and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen as well as being a major influence/writer for the more infamous sketches for Monty Python (including writer of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. His unique flavor should bring a fresh take on the Faust story.

Artistic Director for ENO John Berry is aware of the risks newcomers bring to an opera production. "It can be like a car crash coming at you from every angle." This doesn't even take into account all the problems in previous productions of Terry Gilliam, such as the Heath Ledger dieing midway through filming of The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus or Jean Rochefort suffering a herniated disc in The Man Who Killed Don Quixote halting production.

However, Edward Gardner, ENO's music director, who will conduct the Berlioz said, "You have to create a world for The Damnation of Faust, and that is something Gilliam is incredibly brilliant at doing – if not several worlds at once. He's got a real grip on what needs to be done. I can't wait to tap into his crazy world and artistry."

The production will take the stage in May 2010.

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