My turn to weigh in on the Metropolitan Opera’s new Tosca, but not the production. Rather, I want to comment on director Luc Bondy’s reaction, and the Met’s general stance about classic productions and the need for new versions. I did so in an opinion piece published today on Forbes.com.
Let me say from the outset that I’m not against reinterpretations, as long as they are tasteful and respect/enhance the music/libretto. I take issue with Bondy’s blame-the-audience response. Despite negative reaction from both audience members and from respected critics (many of whom disliked the production and could hardly be viewed as reactionary), Bondy’s public response was “I was scandalized that they were so scandalized. I didn’t know that ‘Tosca’ was like the Bible in New York.” He simply refused to countenance that he had laid an egg, to use Variety-talk.
I also take issue with the common belief that young people won’t attend, or like, classic productions. As I say in the piece,
Is it not condescending to suggest that work created before their time is off-putting or uninteresting to young people? They still appreciate a van Gogh, don’t they? And in recent weeks, the Metropolitan Museum has attracted hordes of people, young and old, to see Vermeer’s “The Milkmaid,” from 1657-58, and Michelangelo’s first painting, “The Torment of St. Anthony,” made in 1487-88.
Is there a complete difference between the musical and visual arts? I don’t think so.
You can read the whole Forbes piece here.
UPDATED, 10/15: Parterre Box parses the problem with reaction to Tosca at more length, and better, than I did.
Photo Credit: Courtesy Metropolitan Opera