The horizons of opera have been given a new dimension through technology. First came the invention of the gramaphone, which, as Orrey and Milnes (2005: 236) remind us, took the "golden voices" of the internationally renowned tenor Enrico Caruso and others into the homes of people who could never have heard these singers in the flesh. Today, these authors suggest, recording techniques have brought the sound spectrum to an almost "damaging degree of perfection" (ibid.). Such perfection, they argue, is unattainable in a live performance.Cinema made its biggest impact on opera when the addition of sound track made possible the transmutation of opera into film: Carmen , directed by Francesco Rosi (1984), Don Giovanni , directed by Joseph Losey (1979) and La Traviata by Zeffirelli (1982) are but three examples of opera transposed to the silver screen.
Some operas have even been specifically composed for the cinema. Such is the case of Les Parapluies de Cherbourg 1963, directed by Jacques Demy with music by Michel Legrand. Other film directors choose to transpose the original settings of the plot to an environment more relevant to C21st audiences. Such is the case of Branagh's 2006 film version of Mozart's The Magic Flute; the opera is placed in a World War One setting, and the score is translated into English by Stephen Fry. Certainly, modern camera techniques make possible a totally new range of visual beauty, yet, as we see here in an article from the The New York Times, opera as a cinematic experience does have its downside: voices become subservient to physical appearances, the ability to project one's voice becomes de-emphasised and the loss of experiencing live voices on stage. Yet, one wonders if such comments are simply an expression of a reluctance to move on with the times, and a preference for treating this dramatic art form as museum culture.
Source:
Orrey, L. and R. Milnes. 2005. Opera: a Concise History. London, UK: Thames and Hudson.
Image: Punk at the Opera House by Catalia.
