Saturday, August 03, 2013

Amused



Anthony Tommasini reviews a performance of Walter Braunfels's Jeanne d'Arc at the Felsenreitschule, Salzburg, without mentioning how that theater would be most familiar to American audiences.

7 comments:

Zwölftöner said...

Even more amusing is the current Salzburg Museum special exhibition, *actually titled* "Realität und Sound of Music", which neglects to mention that the real Georg von Trapp was a committed fascist of the homegrown Austrian persuasion. Sanitized myth-busting that daren't jeopardize the tourist dollar is a wonderfully Austrian oxymoron; if only Thomas Bernhard were still around to excoriate it!

Lisa Hirsch said...

Let me guess: Nazi-hating right-wing authoritarian? Pfitzner-type, looked down on the nouveau Nazi scum?

Zwölftöner said...

Pretty much. The exhibition presents Trapp as a decorated WWI veteran and monarchist, and skates over the political positions that led him to take towards during the 1930s. Not all Austrofascists were monarchists but many prominent monarchists like Trapp happily served as mouthpieces for the Austrofascist regime (their desire for imperial restoration indeed steering them towards the belligerent, repressive wing of the movement). The historical irony, particularly considering the politics of The Sound of Music, is that restoration would have been protested by the former Habsburg states fearful of a hostile reunification and hence been a handy diplomatic pretext for Hitler to annex Austria in late 1936. There are many reasons to find The Sound of Music comical, but of them: democrat, defender of the nascent Alpine republic, effective opponent of the Nazis... to me, that takes the cake.

Oh well. By the way Fiona Maddocks has rectified TT's omission. Shame the review is so facetious.

Lisa Hirsch said...

Off to read that review. And by the way, Z, I have missed your blogging and hope you will resume soon.

Zwölftöner said...

Oh thanks for the too kind words. Am sure you've already read it, but the jfl/Ionarts Gawain review is the best, and pretty much exactly what I thought of the production and performances. I think I have more faith in the opera though.

Lisa Hirsch said...

I haven't seen it yet, have read only Boulezian's Gawain review.

Zwölftöner said...

Oh do read it! I love jfl's stuff.