So today I had the misfortune of seeing a dress rehearsal of King Arthur (at the New York City Opera). It was not even an opera. It was practically a ballet with singing. The costumes (by fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi) were a disaster and an eye-sore to look at. The over-flamboyant director/choreographer, Mark Morris, showed that he belongs in less prestigous venues. He even left a stupendous directors note littered with gramatical mistakes and horrible word choices. The note follows:King Arthur is here presented as a pageant–a sort of vaudeville–a sequence of production numbers scared and profane, small and large, sad and happy, sung and danced. I chose to discard the spoken text (which I don’t like) and keep all of the music (which I do). The setting is the stage. The time is now. The performers are themselves. The production had no story line. The production must have had a low budget because the scenery was scarce and their was apparently not a diction coach. Even though the Opera was in English, I had to read the sub-titles. The conductor, Ms. Jane Glover, looked as if she could not control the musicians, let alone the singers. At the end, Mark Morris demanded that the polite audience (because they hated the Opera) give him a bigger round of applause.Stupidly the City Opera put King Arthur as their “big production” this half-season and is starting the half-season with a huge gala including the Opera. I just hope that this is not the first step by the new general manager, Gerard Mortier. If this production was chosen by him, it shows that he is not serious about opera and is trying to make the company look the same. I just hope this is the last satirical, and flat out stupid production this season. It would be horrible for the New York City Opera to end on such a bad note, given that next year they will not be performing due to construction. What are your thoughts?
Ooh. So critical.