Iphigenia in Tauris

I scarfed a whole load of cold medication and went to see the COC's production of Iphigenia in Tauris yesterday with zingerella. It was the second time I'd seen the opera—two years ago, Opera Atelier put it on, and I went with the kiddies.

This production was essentially the opposite of the other one that I saw, which had awesome staging and good music. The music in the COC's production was exquisite. Susan Graham sang Iphigenia and she was breathtaking. The staging, alas, left something to be desired. They went uber-minimalist with it—the set consisted of bare walls, with scene changes marked by chalk and water, and everyone was in black. I think it might have worked up close, maybe, but from the fifth ring, all you could see were bare legs and floating heads.

It doesn't help that the opera itself is a) transitional, with gorgeous, tragic arias and oddly upbeat choruses, and b) lulzy in the way of Greek drama. I think the concept behind the staging was to bring some of those contradictions to the forefront, especially in the last scene, which, as zingerella put it, looked a bit like the end of Hamlet with dead bodies lying all over the stage, and sounded like a triumphal march. I think it would have worked in a different setting, but at the Four Seasons, not so much.

( the plot )

So, yes, I quite enjoyed it. Rigoletto tomorrow with chickenfeet2003 and lemur_catta. There is an awful lot of opera this week, considering that I have the plague.