24 May 2011

New Naked Operas On Stage

Daniel Okulitch in The Fly
The Fly is an opera in two acts by Canadian composer Howard Shore to a libretto by David Henry Hwang. Commissioned by the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris 2008, also performed in LA 2008 where it was directed by David Cronenberg, conducted by Plácido Domingo.
The story of the opera is loosely based on David Cronenberg's 1986 film The Fly which was based on the short story by George Langelaan; Howard Shore also wrote the —unrelated— score for that film
Daniel Okulitch, a Canadian bass-baritone was born January 30, 1976. He first came to attention on Broadway as Schaunard in Baz Luhrmann's 'La Bohème' in 2002/03 – and again in Los Angeles the following year. He has since begun an international career with opera companies and orchestras throughout Europe and North America, and is admired for both his singing and powerful stage presence. He is sought after for many contemporary operas and world premiers.
Turandot ENO 
 Joseph Raisi-Varzansh (The Prince of Persia) in Rupert Goold's controversial 2009 Turandot at the English National Opera


Johann Kresnik's 'A Masked Ball'
Thirty-five naked pensioners in Mickey Mouse masks in the east German city of Erfurt in a re-interpretation of Verdi's A Masked Ball by the Austrian director Johann Kresnik, 68, a Marxist, who is famous throughout the German-speaking world for his provocative, anti-capitalist productions and his penchant for lavish displays of naked flesh. Its setting is Ground Zero, the post- 9/11 ruin of New York's World Trade Centre.  The naked male and female pensioners, the oldest being 69, will have their bodies coated with grey paint and will wear their masks throughout the show. 
"The naked stand for people without means, the victims of capitalism, the underclass, who don't have anything any more."

'Moses Und Aron' Ruhrfestspiele 2009
This performance is available on DVD from Amazon.

'Salome' Covent Garden
David McVicar's Royal Opera House production of 'Salome' 2008. 

In the opera, Covent Garden busker Duncan Meadows plays the silent role of the executioner who, naked and dripping with blood, presents Salome with the head of John the Baptist. He was discovered locally, painted silver as a human statue by director David McVicar. This Opera is available on DVD from Amazon.

Les Mamelles de Tiresias - Barcelona
 Poulenc's Dadaist story of Les Mamelles de Tirésias from a cabaret play by French Surrealist poet Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918), centers on the adventures of a couple — Thérèse and her unnamed husband — in an imaginary Zanzibar. 
Troy Cook as the husband is seen a transvestite part and in the full frontal nudity shower scene. 
Parsifal Stuttgart
American tenor Andrew Richards' brief nude appearance at the end of Wagner's Parsifal in Stuttgart.
Armida by Gluck Calixto Beieto Berlin

 I do not know what the voice over is about but the staging looks great.

Mozart's 'Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail'  Calixo Bieito.
Berg's Wozzeck once again by Calixto Bieito Barcelona
DVD Available
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