Tag Archive Cosi fan Tutte

ByGD

Classic Dicks in the Canon

One of the most frequent – and most valid – arguments against the contemporary relevance of classical art forms like opera and ballet is their heroine problem. Misogyny is an unfortunate and unavoidable conclusion when the canon is littered with stories whose female characters are subjected to the virgin/whore binary and who usually end up dying for love regardless of in which category they are placed.

Philip Newton Photo c/o Seattle Opera

But then I watched the Met’s stream of Norma – a bel canto exception filled with strong, complicated women. In that opera, Pollione, the male romantic lead, starts out as one of the most obnoxious men in theater, a real dick. But he repents and redeems himself with an act usually reserved for the soprano – dying for love. His character development is so unusual that it got me thinking about men in opera. Women might get short shrift, but men aren’t portrayed very nicely either. Normalizing their bad behavior is another facet of misogyny, but the fact remains – if you believe the classics, men are just dicks.

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Music I Liked in 2018 Week 3

Ukelele GratisographyI got sidetracked from researching the music of Terrorfest last week, mostly because I was trying to decide which concert to attend in February to fulfill my resolution. So I still got to listen to some pretty good music. Read More

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Problematic Done Right at Seattle Opera’s Cosí fan Tutte

Photo by Philip Newton c/o Seattle Opera

My daughter was scandalized when she saw the Seattle Opera poster for “Cosí fan Tutte – Mozart’s Comedy About Sex.”

She was even more scandalized when she found out I had tickets.

If I’ve been doing my job right as a parent, I think the plot would offend her as much as it did the Victorians, who bowdlerized it. But where the Victorians were appalled by the opera’s depiction of women as subject to sexual desire – and gasp – acting on it, I would hope my 21st century daughter would be at least as offended by the free pass it gives the manipulative and judgmental men in the story as by the women’s weak commitment to monogamy.

But, if I had taken her to see the opera, I think she would have loved it. Read More