Opera of the Week – Zemlinsky’s Dwarf
OperaOur Opera of the Week from OperaVision is Der Zwerg (The Dwarf) by Alexander von Zemlinsky, a powerful, empathetic love story between people of different social and physical stature, taken from a story by Oscar Wilde. If you want diversity, this is it.
This performance is Lorenzo Viotti’s first as principal conductor at Dutch National Opera, as well as the operatic debut of film director Nanouk Leopold. Heldentenor Clay Hilley performs the title role, while Infanta Clara is sung by soprano Lenneke Ruiten.
This is a 24-carat must-watch.
The Plot: the Spanish crown princess receives a very special present: a little person. To everyone’s amusement, he is unaware of his small stature. Before long feelings develop between the pair, but what chance do they have in a world where appearance is everything?
Available from 19.00 CET, 18.00 London and 13.00 NY on Saturday 18th September
The video below shows the processes that went into dealing with the challenges posed by producing this opera:
The trailer is all about creating the visuals. That is only of secondary interest.
Available? Ok, but where?
Watch it here:
https://www.operaballet.nl/en/opera-ballet-online
I love this short, twisted, wrenching opera. When the LA Opera did it (Conlon, of course) people in the audience had tears in their eyes. Of course the staging was more traditional and not distracting. This Dutch production from what I saw on the trailer has staging that is going to distract from Zemlinsky. But I’m watching anyway.
To paraphrase an old joke; I wonder where she gets her crazy ideas from.