Customer Reviews

Unsuk Chin: Alice in Wonderland

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

It is quite challenging to take a complex book such as Lewis Carroll's 'Alice' as basis for a new opera. After all, it has nothing to do with the traditional operatic subjects. Just take Carroll's wordplays as an example: how can one render these into operatic action? However, compsoer Unsuk Chin and playwright David Henry Hwang, have succeeded. Hwang is a linguistic virtuoso, and he seems to thrive in transforming 'Alice' into singable texts. The music is rich, beautiful and many-sided, listener-friendly and challenging at the same time. Chin fuses her original musical style, which sounds sometimes non-Western in its extensive use of percussions and its intricate rhythms, with allusions to different musical epochs, which are often displayed in a whimsical way. Many contemporary operas lack a sense of drama, but not this one: it's simply great musical theatre in the spirit of Lewis Carroll.
The musical performance is top-notch. Kent Nagano, an ingenious conductor especially for 20th century and contemporary music, shines with Chin's music and the Bavarian State Opera Orchestra and Choir are fabulous. The singers succeed in masterful performances although the music is very complex.
As regards the staging: one can see that the German stage director Achim Freyer, who was also in charge of design and light, was an acclaimed stage designer before he began directing. The visual aspect is absolutely stunning: Freyer has created unique images which not many (if any) opera directors can match. The Art brut-like masks and puppets, at the same time touching and eerie, are made by Nina Weitzner.
As regards Freyer's interpretation of 'Alice's' content: the director seems to be inspired by Siegmund Freud, and thus he takes the story deadly serious. There is not much room for the playfulness so crucial for Lewis Carroll's writing. Sometimes it is difficult to follow the stage action, as Freyer decided to double all roles with actors. There are a lot of grotesque ideas, which are sometimes interesting, sometimes maddening. It's a very eccentric staging and, according to the critic Alan Rich ([...]) it differs from the libretto - thus standing in the tradition of deconstructivist Central-European 'Regietheater'.
The chaotic video directing doesn't make much sense and thus fails to do justice to the production. However, as this is the only document of a highly interesting and unusual opera, it deserves five stars.

Unlike other versions of this Wonderland tale, things are taken to a completely new level. Under the wing of the highly skillful Kent Nagano and the up-and-coming Unsuk Chin, Alice is brought into a wonderfully insightful new land of fantasy, one that sits on the very edge of reality.

The masterful stage direction, music, costuming, and everything else that went into this opera create a highly juxtaposed view on Wonderland. The staging itself draws greatly to the feeling of floating through a magical yet scary and dark landscape. This music completes the feeling of sharp jagged angles jutting through Alice imagination. Characters are much more malevolent than comical when the masks are on. They are brought to life by actors and actresses floating about the stage on cables, while the opera singers are safely performing on the ground in front of the forty-five degree angle stage.

All in all, this is an opera for those who are very open to new orchestral music. If you are willing to join Alice in this frightening new fantasy, I highly recommend you watch it. If you were hoping for a fun and comical opera, stay very far away from this.

The music is intriguing, but mostly unlistenable. The design is beautiful, if incredibly monotonous and repetative. most of the time, the characters are standing in one place. That is probably why they never stop moving the video camera--zooming in and out, dutching the camera, and using split screen in ways that do not enhance the show, but reveal further it's inherent problems. It's a static show, but it looks as if J.J. Abrams shot it--the camera NEVER stops moving.

Dreadful.

I had moved on from this DVD, deciding not to pile on with another negative review. The forthcoming movie from Tim Burton with Johnnie Depp is what provoked me to add my reaction, given that others may now be more likely to find this version.

First off, most conventional music fans and traditional opera-lovers will not enjoy this avant opera. It is dark and grotesque, utilizing Freudian imagery in the service of an obtusely feminist rendition of the well-known story. I am not a conventional music fan nor a traditional opera-lover. I am an afficionado of the avant-garde, and I have enjoyed previous works by the composer, Unsuk Chin, who was born in South Korea but now lives in Berlin (see for instance this set of chamber music in the DG label's now defunct 20/21 series which I reviewed upon its 2005 release). But I find this opera to be dispiriting -- it does not move me musically or dramatically. The staging and costumes are fairly impressive in some sequences, not so much in others.

I am quite disappointed that Chin's promise was not fulfilled here. I am at a loss as to how this ALICE received so much praise in Germany, where it was acclaimed as the premiere-of-the-year by a leading opera magazine after its debut at the 2007 Munich Opera Festival. Germany supports more music theater, and more avant music theater, than elsewhere, and novelty is more rewarded there, that is my only explanation.

If you are interested in contemporary avant opera, you may find my list of interest: LATE 20TH/21ST CENTURY AVANT OPERAS.

It took me a long time to purchase this because of all the bad reviews, but I'm so glad I did! This is a truly amazing, but extremely esoteric production. My only caviat is that the music is very avant-garde. If you are a musician who appreciates temporary compositions, or a lover of great theatre, I highly recommend this dvd. And the camera isn't as distracting as some would believe.

If you are vulnerable to motion sickness, please do not watch this. The camera work and editing are terrible. The music is interesting, as is the staging. I loved the bizzare costumes. But this video is simply unwatchable. I feel seasick. What a pity. I think this would have been great if the editing and camera work were not such a distraction.

I sincerely hope this show comes to my city so that I can see and enjoy the show live. Minus zooming,swaying cameras and insane editing, I believe the show will get a great review from me.

This contemporary piece by Unsuk Chin is an amazing work which has been captured on this dvd. The conductor, Kent Nagano is one of the world's finest. This is a unique performance of high quality.

**THIS REVIEW IS NOT FOR CHILDREN!** Nor is this opera of a nightmarish vision of Alice for any child whose parents don't wish to explain grotesque phallic mask-noses and floppy puppet-breasts to their youngster. Do not be fooled by any official descriptions containing the words puppet, fairy tale, cuteness, delicacy, or children's classic. Any modern textual jokes added in the adaptation are definitely geared to an adult audience, as well. References to ashtrays or Huxley (or was it Orwell? I've forgotten now) are not despicable, but they do manage to make Lewis Carroll's own words seem ever more the work of a timeless genius.

It is helpful (often the case with opera, no matter what language is sung) to use the subtitles on your screen. Characters sing overlapping dialogue; the Caterpillar character has inaudible lines which may be sung offscreen during a clarinet solo played by the Caterpillar himself, but I could not hear the voice, only read the words. Familiarity with the original text is extremely helpful in this even-more-surreal-than-the-book staging.

Now, when I say that I did not really enjoy the music of the opera, I will qualify the statement by saying that it is very well-performed, and by admitting that perhaps it is too sophisticated for my palate. I am not, however, someone who is afraid of meeting Steve Reich, Sondheim, Thelonious Monk, or Wagner's Ring Cycle in a dark alley.

You can see from my headline, though, that I'm glad I saw this. I'm quite sure that the staging and especially the mask imagery will stick with me for a long time. I'll be keeping an ear and eye out for another chance to hear Mad Hatter Dietrich Henschel and others in the cast. Just please be aware that this is a modern opera for a specialized audience.

[...]

The videographer should be shot! The camera work gives no sense of the staging/ action at all. It's terrible. The sound quality is poor as well. Don't bother buying it. What a travesty!

Voilà un opéra délicieux, baroque et remarquablement mis en scène, bénéficiant de solistes efficaces et attachants......
hélas, le spectacle que nous voyons sur écran n'est pas celui que les spectateurs ont pu apprécier dans la salle : la faute en est à une caméra qui ne privilégie que les gros-plans et néglige les vues d'ensemble. On a droit à tous les détails des visages, des costumes et des maquillages, sans oublier une manie détestable des mouvements tournants qui donnent le vertige, alors que la force de la représentation tenait à sa parfaite harmonie dans une architecture minutieuse et intelligente.
Dommage, vraiment dommage...