The Opera in Cinema production of Norma we had seen earlier was interesting and enjoyable, but this Puritani was a completely different category of experience. It was more absorbing and satisfying than I thought a filmed performance could be.
At the end I was left exhausted, exhilarated and puzzled by what I had just experienced. Was it Opera? Cinema? Theater?
I wonder if it’s not a coincidence that movie theaters have started to screen both opera and sports: both music and competition engage audiences even when the production and presentation is primitive or misguided.
With this Puritani, all that was needed for a triumph was that the principals, chorus and orchestra attack the music with skill and ferocity, and that the Dolby Digital sound be sharp and clear.
And so with Juan Diego Flórez as Arturo and Nino Machaidze as Elvira the triumph was achieved, despite a wrongheaded production (Pier’Alli’s dreary Goth sets and costumes), and filmed-theater close-ups of things that don’t need to be seen close-up (the little mole on the edge of Juan Diego Flórez’s nostril that looks like a booger).
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