17 Jun 2007
BRITTEN: Death in Venice
Two productions of Death in Venice within a month : one high budget and glamorous at the ENO and the other at Aldeburgh with a much more humble pedigree.
Two productions of Death in Venice within a month : one high budget and glamorous at the ENO and the other at Aldeburgh with a much more humble pedigree.
Yet the latter easily eclipsed the former in terms of artistic merit. Death in Venice is Britten’s Faust and is inherently dramatic. Wisely, Yoshio Oida, the director, knows that the real focus of the plot lies within Aschenbach’s psyche. Nothing here was mere decoration, nothing merely for superficial effect. Everything revolved around the definition of the central character, even the basic imagery of Venice itself.
[Click here for remainder of review.]
[Click here for Anne Ozorio’s review of the ENO production of Death in Venice.]