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In all honesty, I wasn’t super-impressed last year when the current Seattle Opera season was announced. I didn’t want to see Turn of the Screw, and I was on the fence about the upcoming (R)evolution of Steve Jobs. I was kind of curious about it but suspected I wouldn’t like it. Now I’m actually excited to it see it. Here’s why.
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The last time Seattle Opera performed Verde’s Il Trovatore was in 2010. I saw it then, but I wasn’t blogging yet, so I don’t have a record of my impressions, and my memories are a little vague. Il Trovatore was the first opera that my opera buddy ever saw – she saw Seattle Opera’s mid-90’s production. We were both excited to see how this new production directed by local artist Dan Wallace Miller compares to our earlier experiences.
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Forrest Wu (Miles). Jacob Lucas photo c/o Seattle Opera
I thought about calling this post “Skipping the Screw” because dirty-sounding titles get more hits. Anyway, for the first time in years, I’m going to miss a Seattle Opera production. The Turn of the Screw is heading into its second weekend at Seattle Opera, and I’m not going. It’s partly due to logistics, but the truth is, I just don’t want to see it. Why would I skip out on this opera when wild horses couldn’t keep me from seeing operas as different as Tosca and Hansel and Gretel?
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Elizabeth Llewellyn (Bess) and Kevin Short (Porgy). Philip Newton photo c/o Seattle Opera
Porgy and Bess is the first opera in Seattle Opera’s 2018-2019 season, and probably the one I was most curious about. Like Madame Butterfly, Porgy and Bess is either loved as a pillar of the opera canon or reviled as a racist tool of oppression, depending on who you’re talking to. I couldn’t wait to find out which side of the fence I’d be on. As with most things, the answer is buried in nuance somewhere between the opposing views. In the end, I didn’t love Porgy and Bess, but not for the reasons you’d expect.
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Philip Newton photo c/o Seattle Opera
Some people listen to opera for that one perfect high C, but my ear is not refined enough to detect the subtler wonders of the art form. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m drawn to opera for the spectacle. Seattle Opera’s newest chamber opera, O+E, was the opposite of their over-the-top main stage productions, and as a result, I liked it even better. Even without a single baritone.
Opera: come for the pageantry, stay for the beauty.