With Manfred Blosser’s unit set (a mockup of a

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Canada Goose Coats On Sale Let me be the first to admit it. I’m conflicted. On one hand, conservatives rail against political correctness; on the other hand liberals are increasingly outraged by acts of cultural appropriation. Both factions are Canada Goose sale irate about what they perceive as extreme wrongdoing on the cultural battlefield. But where opera is concerned, the arguments get especially confusing. Latvian tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko is among a small handful of international dramatic tenors canada goose store who can meet the considerable musical challenges of the role of Otello, one of the most demanding in the entire operatic canon, when sung without amplification on the stage of the world’s largest opera house. In recent seasons, Antonenko has sung the role to acclaim at the Royal Opera in London, at the Paris Opera, and with Canada Goose online Riccardo Mutiand theChicago Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and we look forward to his first performances of the role at the Met in Bartlett Sher’s season opening new production. Antonenko will not wear dark makeup in the Met’s production.» Canada Goose Coats On Sale

canada goose factory sale On November 6, 2016, the Los Angeles Opera’s opening night performance of Akhnaten starred countertenorAnthony Roth Costanzo (who had recently enjoyed a tremendous artistic success in theEnglish National Opera’s production of Philip Glass’s 1984 opera about the pharaoh from the 18th DynastyofAncient Egypt). Originally named Amenhotep IV, Akhnaten’s main claim to fame was moving away from polytheism toward a religion whose sun god stood above the other ancient Egyptian gods. Although Akhnaten was occasionally depicted as a somewhat androgynous figure, his royal wife was Queen Nefertiti. He is presumed to be the father of King Tutankhamun. canada goose factory sale

buy canada goose jacket cheap On opening night, about 25 protesters carrying signs that read «Our Black History Matters» and «Akhenaton Was a Black Pharaoh» demonstrated in front of the Los Angeles Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. As Catherine Womack reported in the Los Angeles Times, the protest had been organized by Legrand H. Clegg II, the West Coast President of the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations which organized the «Black History Matters» demonstration in collaboration with canada goose coats on sale the Black American Political Association of California. Citing Akhnaten’s significance as a black historical figure, Clegg likened the portrayal of the pharaoh by a white singer in Akhnaten to any production that would cast a white man as Martin Luther King Jr. buy canada goose jacket cheap

«We’re here to very peacefully inform people about our great history. The American public is unaware of the greatness of people of African descent because the academic, scientific and media establishments, through conspiracy, have suppressed, distorted or ignored the contributions of black people. Akhnaten and Nefertiti are icons in our community, and our children deserve to have heroes. It’s an insult. We are tired of it and we are demanding that the truth be told.»

As is often the case, none of the protesters had given much thought to how many countertenors are available who are capable of singing Glass’s score. A statement subsequently released by the Los Angeles Opera read:

uk canada goose «While we strive for overall diversity in our casting, we have a long standing policy of ignoring age, race and other physical characteristics when it comes to casting particular roles. Part of this is due to the complexity of casting for opera. In addition to acting ability, canada goose coats vocal beauty, tone and type, opera performers sing unamplified over a full symphony orchestra an Olympian level feat that is a combination of rare talent and years of dedication and training. The title role of Akhnaten is particularly difficult to cast, especially in this production. It requires a very rare voice type, called a countertenor, in addition to outstanding stamina and agility vocally and physically. Opera having recently learned and performed it for English National Opera. Ethnicity was not a factor in our decision. While we do not cast roles according to race, we have a number of people of color in Akhnaten, including in the role of Nefertiti, the queen, and another singer of Egyptian descent, among others. We fully canadian goose jacket agree that the historical contributions of people of color have long been distorted or ignored. Not only do we wholeheartedly support all peaceful efforts to right these wrongs, we hope that in our own way we can be part of the solution. We are working toward a world where people of all backgrounds experience, as artists canada goose and audience members, the transformative power of opera.» uk canada goose

«At the election eve Jenufa at the Met, Trumpism made an unexpected, if timely appearance. Before the show, a patron was holding court in the Lounge, bemoaning how Peter Gelb had ruined Aida by removing the elephants from the Triumphal Scene. This was, he said, waving his hands for emphasis, an unconscionable thing to do to a ‘great Zeffirelli production.’ His companions tried to convince him there were never any elephants, but he was adamant that his cherished production had been violated. They never fact checked his assertion that Zeffirelli directed the Met’s current production.»

canada goose Previous stagings of Aida have used horses, donkeys, and goats in the Triumphal Scene. In October 1991, the Connecticut Opera staged a mammoth production in the Hartford Civic Center Coliseum starring Natalia Rom and Bruno Beccaria. In his review for the Hartford Courant, Steve Metcalf noted that: canada goose

«In the triumphal sequence, the animals comported themselves like veterans of the operatic stage, the amateur extras showed an almost Rockette like precision, the dancing was strenuous, bordering on the lewd. The biggest burst of applause, however, was accorded the half dozen belly dancers, each of whom gamely worked holding a large live snake above her head. The tableau was so grand that it seemed entirely forgivable that one of the young choristers could be seen sporting a point and shoot 35mm camera on a cord around her arm.»

During a half century of operagoing, I’ve witnessed some pretty cockamamie productions. Two performances of Aida are forever etched in my memory. In the late 1960s, when I saw Marguerite Ruffino’s tiny opera company perform a stripped down version buy canada goose jacket of Aida on an op art set for The Boys in the Band at Matunuck, Rhode Island’s 200 seat Theatre By The Sea, I thought I had had my rock bottom operatic experience. I didn’t imagine that anything could be worse than the cheap Canada Goose sight of Amonasro clad in a leopard skin bathrobe while attempting to hide behind a plastic palm in Michael’s bedroom.

Canada Goose Jackets But I was wrong. Oh, so very, very wrong! Canada Goose Jackets

In 1988, while in London, I caught a performance of Pocket Opera of Nurnberg’s execrable interpretation of Aida. With Manfred Blosser’s unit set (a mockup of a computer’scircuit board) and Andrea Riedel’s outrageous costumes, the company hawked its dramatic concept as a war between the rival systems of modern, digital sound and old, analog recordings. Instead of ancient Egypt, the production reflected the struggle between the numbers 1 and 0 (which form the basis of digital computing).

canada goose clearance sale Thus, the Ethiopians were costumed to represent fiercely nostalgic followers of the 33 1/3 rpm cult thomas-sz while the more sophisticated Egyptians represented the kingdom canada goose outlet of the shinycompact disc. canada goose clearance sale

buy canada goose jacket Aida’s slave necklace was connected to a circular disc nearly four feet in diameter onto which numerous vinyl LPs had been glued. buy canada goose jacket

Canada Goose Outlet Amonasro’s cape was covered with old LPs that were smashed to bitsduring a bizarre confrontation with Amneris following the shattered musical remnants of Verdi’s Triumphal Sceneas the Egyptian princess wielded her royal sceptre (a piece of military equipment resembling a giant phonograph arm). Canada Goose Outlet

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The Egyptian princess dutifully doffed her royal headdress whenever the need for a female chorus arose.

Canada Goose sale Meanwhile, a man dressed in black tights, a codpiece that he could never have hoped to fill, and a Darth Vader helmet (he was supposed to double as Ramfis and the male chorus) kept sashaying back and forth across an elevated plank while canada goose clearance sale performing mock Egyptian poses. Canada Goose sale

canadian goose jacket Neither the canada goose deals singers nor the composer were helped much by the fact that Pocket Opera of Nurnberg’s backstage orchestra consisted of a piano, synthesizer, celeste, harp, and vibraphone. Although I Canada Goose Jackets pitied the leads for having to participate in such pretentious bullshit, I left the performance feeling that, with some kind of perversely divine justice, God oppresses those who oppress themselves. canadian goose jacket

There can be no denying the ugly fact that the 2016 election results represented a vociferous pushback against political correctness. However, when push comes to shove, Aida is essentially a story about forbidden love between a military hero and someone who clearly represents «the other.»

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Canada Goose Parka Although by birth she is anEthiopianprincess, canada goose black friday sale ever since her capture Aida has been a servant to Amneris, the daughter of Egypt’s ruling Pharaoh. Canada Goose Parka

While nobody ever questioned the tradition of Caucasian opera singers donningblackfaceto sing the role ofAida,Leontyne Pricestartled the opera world when she began to portray Aida in major opera houses. On several occasions, the makeup artists simply did not know what kind of makeup to use on her skin. As she explained:

«Let’s start with the obvious, or whatseemslike the obvious. Aida is a black woman and, in the world of opera, black artists don’t have many opportunities to play black characters. That’s it on a very simplistic level. But it goes far beyond that. I was always totally at ease when I sang the immortal phrases composed by that great master,Giuseppe Verdi, for his enslaved princess.»

«I used to joke that when a theatre cast me Canada Goose Parka as Aida they could always expect to save on makeup. (It’s not that I didn’t wear any makeup as Aida; every artist wears makeup on stage. But, as Aida, I can assure you, I could get away with less than just about any of my colleagues!) It was a joke, but there was a serious statement lurking Canada Goose Outlet behind my attempt at humor: When I performed Aida, the color of my skin became my costume and that gave me an incredible freedom no other role could provide. My skin was my costume all I had to do was drape something over it.»

canada goose store The San Francisco Opera recently unveiled a new look for Aida when it debuted a co production with the Seattle Opera, the Minnesota Opera, and the Washington National Opera. The director, Francesca Zambello, was inspired by the work of Los Angeles based graffiti artist, RETNA (whose hieroglypic like symbols feature strongly in Michael Yeargan’s sets). The poster art for the new production held great promise canada goose store.