It has often been remarked that had he lived longer, Wagner would have surely loved the cinema. The much-discussed concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk is often misinterpreted as a work in which the non-musical elements are of equal importance to the music, whereas Wagner was still clear about the precedence of the score. But that's just why he'd have loved the movies, where the soundtrack is constant.
This autumn, the UK opera establishment seems to be focussed as much on the cinema as on the opera house. The Met and Glyndebourne are broadcasting their productions in leading UK cinema chains, while Kenneth Branagh's movie adaptation The Magic Flute, set in the trenches of World War One, goes on general UK release on 30 November. Added to film director Sally Potter's new production of Carmen for ENO, it is clear that an attempt is being made to bridge the gap between popular forms of entertainment and high art.
In this article, we preview the selection of opera broadcasts on offer in UK cinemas in the coming months and examine the potential of Branagh's approach to the Flute.
Two leading opera houses have taken the initiative to bring opera out of the theatre and into the cinema in the coming months. The Metropolitan Opera's 'HD Live' scheme (broadcasting operas live around the world) premiered in the 2006-07 season and was so successful that they have increased the number of relays this year, as well as securing a deal with EMI to release some of the recordings on DVD. Hot on their heels, Glyndebourne Festival Opera has joined forces with Odeon Cinemas to broadcast three of their productions in cinemas around the UK.
The first of Glyndebourne's cinema presentations took place on 27 September. Nicholas Hytner's 2006 production of Così fan tutte was broadcast to ten cinemas around the country, from Harrogate in Yorkshire to Covent Garden in London. More excitingly, the next broadcast on 25 October features Nina Stemme in a recording of the new production of Tristan und Isolde from this year's festival, the only chance that those who missed the live performances will have to see it before the DVD of the production is released on the Opus Arte label in December. Then on 29 November, David McVicar's celebrated Bollywood-style production of Handel's Giulio Cesare will complete the season. Most tickets cost well under £10, far less than you'd have to pay for any of these recordings on DVD, and the unthreatening familiarity of the local Odeon may be a more relaxed venue in which to introduce people to opera than the Royal Opera House - the Cesare recording is particularly entertaining.
However, it has to be said that the scale of the Met's scheme is more ambitious, albeit more expensive: eight live broadcasts of starrily-cast operas to cinemas in the UK, the USA and selected other countries. The ticket prices of £25 or £20 may seem prohibitive to some, but you get to see the likes of Mattila, Netrebko, Gheorghiu, Heppner and Voigt in leading roles for much less than the cost it takes to get to America to see the productions in person.
The first broadcast (15 December) finds Placido Domingo conducting Anna Netrebko, Nathan Gunn and Robert Lloyd in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette. New Year's Day presents us with the perfect Christmastime family treat: an English version of Handel and Gretel with Alice Coote and Christine Schäfer as the siblings. Rosalind Plowright is the Mother, while in a change of vocal type, Philip Langridge is the Witch. Vladimir Jurowski conducts.
The following week, James Levine conducts Adrian Noble's new production of Verdi's Macbeth (12 January 2008). Maria Guleghina and Lado Ataneli are the doomed couple; John Relyea sings Banquo. Perhaps the most riveting broadcast on offer is Manon Lescaut, which features an outstanding cast of Karita Mattila, Marcello Giordani and Dwayne Croft (16 February); Levine conducts.
March features two very extreme works. On 15 March, John Doyle's new production of Peter Grimes is conducted by Donald Runnicles and stars British baritone Anthony Michaels-Moore as Balstrode. A week later, on 22 March, Levine conducts Tristan und Isolde with Ben Heppner and Deborah Voigt, shortly before the latter's return to Covent Garden in Ariadne auf Naxos.
The season comes to an end in April with two popular productions with leading international singers. On 5 April, Angela Gheorghiu teams up with conductor Nicola Luisotti (for my money, the most important young conductor of Italian opera to have emerged in years) for La bohème. With tenor Ramón Vargas also in the cast, Franco Zeffirelli's production promises to be spectacular on the big screen. Then on 26 April, Laurent Pelly's Covent Garden production of Donizetti's La fille du régiment reaches the Met, reuniting Juan Diego Flórez, Natalie Dessay and Felicity Palmer in the roles that earned them a huge critical success in January 2007.
So the Met's series of broadcasts offer English opera lovers the chance to experience great singers in roles they are not currently performing in London - such as Mattila in Manon - as well as allowing us to re-experience familiar role portrayals (Gheorghiu's Mimi, Flórez's Tonio).
Amidst the straightforward relays of operas from the Met and Glyndebourne is the UK release of Kenneth Branagh's new film of Mozart's The Magic Flute. The approach is potentially interesting: Branagh has apparently set the piece on Christmas Day 1914 in the trenches during World War One. The Queen of the Night arrives by tank; the Three Ladies have become field nurses. The new English-language libretto is by Stephen Fry, which might reap gains from the point of view of a bankable name - which the film otherwise lacks, Branagh aside - but will he be able to make the translation singable (others work for years to learn how to create singer-friendly translations)? The cast consists of mainly newcomers (Amy Carson as Pamina, Ben Davis as Papageno), though opera aficionados will be encouraged by the presence of René Pape as Sarastro. The Chamber Orchestra of Europe is conducted by James Conlon.
Branagh's track record on film in recent years has been rocky: Henry V was excellent and Much Ado About Nothing had colour, despite some odd casting and editing choices, but the Hollywood musical version of Love's Labours Lost was a disastrous miscalculation and his latest Shakespeare film, As You Like It, has received a critical slating. On the plus side, the new Flute film runs for 139 minutes without a break, which suggests a fairly complete text. But the rather gimmick-laden 'official website' is more interested in getting us to play games (such as 'join the dots to reveal Tamino's head') than tell us much about the film itself. Who knows? It could work - and I for one am looking forward to seeing what the director has done with the notoriously enigmatical opera.
With film director Sally Potter's new production of Carmen causing continued controversy at English National Opera as well as the varied events mentioned above, the cinema and the opera house have never been in such close dialogue with one another. Despite the criticisms levelled at ENO, Glyndebourne and the Met (and others) for this dialogue, it can only be a good thing to try and bring opera to the masses by means of a medium that is as non-threatening to people as the local supermarket - after all, in the nineteenth century the opera house was the cinema of its day. If the fusion of art forms means the fusion of audiences, who is justified in complaining?
Glyndebourne's broadcasts to ten Odeon Cinemas around the UK continue with Tristan und Isolde on 25 October and Giulio Cesare on 29 November (the latter warmly recommended). More information can be found on the Odeon website (click on the incorrectly-spelt banner halfway down the page referring to 'Guilio Cesare'!).
The Met's season of HD broadcasts to Picture House cinemas in the UK starts on 15 December. For more information on the screenings, visit the Picture House home page, though it's also worth seeing the Met's own website for more casting/production material (though bear in mind that the start times are American!).
Kenneth Branagh's The Magic Flute goes on UK release on 30 November 2007. Access the film's official site here.