This series of posts continues to be popular. So brace yourselves. Here comes another round of Stupid Reviewer Comments, all culled from Amazon customer reviews.
If it ain’t Baroque...
- Let's just face it...those of us enthralled by Italian composrs of the Romantic era...just cannot enjoy this kind of music at all, no how no way. If you do, then fine. …but if you think you don't liek Baroque music...stick with that...you don't, and you never will.
- If you don't like Baroque music, this is not the opera for you…
- If we can have original Baroque instruments, why can't we have castrati?
Well, duh! It’s opera...
The opera is silly, makes no sense.
Insulting to Italians...
The production is horrible. Very italian!!!
Insulting to choruses...
Where the
hell did they find this tenor? … He has no skills, no power, no breath and the
high notes come out horrible. … This guy does not deserve any role but perhaps
to be a chorus singer.
Wait…what?
It is the only recording currently
available of this opera which is complete… (I'm not sure it's absolutely
complete...)
Get this box set…or don’t:
It's a good price for a boat load of music. But if you don't
like Mozart, you're not gonna have a good time.
OK, now tell us how you really feel:
The staging is meaningless, worthless, uninteresting and an
ludicrous bore, bore, the idea a leach; an offense to nature and a disrespect
for talent and wonder.
You also may enjoy these previous SRC posts:
But there's so much of this stuff--how can you possibly choose?
ReplyDeleteIt ain't easy. Though I'm careful to avoid picking on people whose first language is clearly not English, and that automatically eliminates a lot of cringe-worthy (and/or giggle-worthy) commentary. Targeting non-native English-writers would be kind of mean; I may be snarky and sarcastic, but I try very hard not to be mean!
DeleteAnd, actually I came across at least one so appallingly racist that, as much as I wanted to share it, I couldn't spin it to make it funny for this post.
"Why can't we have castrati?" I am sure that the person writing that comment would be the first to volunteer his/her young son, if the kid had a voice . .
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about the staging that's an offense to nature and disrespects wonder. What was it?
It's Christoph Loy's Die Frau Ohne Schatten.
DeleteMy past experience with that opera suggests that this DVD ought to be added to my list. I've been on a bel-canto bender lately; I could do with something a little more substantial.
DeleteI think it's a worth-see. But I may finish absorbing the Solti Salzburg version first. Meanwhile, there is only so much bel canto one can listen to before one needs a break!
DeleteSome of these examples are gifts that just keep on giving, aren't they? :-) Good to see that circular reasoning still hasn't gone out of style. Happily for me, though, I do like baroque music because if I didn't, I wouldn't :-)
ReplyDeleteHa Ha! That's a good point! Me too, also.
Delete