Even for his aggressive standards, today's interview with Corriere della Sera (not online) is a masterpiece of snark: Franco "Frengo" Zeffirelli demolishes all other opera directors out there, except for Patrice Chéreau and Robert Carsen and Hugo de Ana, the only survivors after Frengo's verbal A-bombs have been dropped all over the place.
Let's see: his point that the current season of Arena di Verona is teh suck: he calls the seasons that will open with Nabucco conducted by Daniel Oren and directed by Denis Krief "a season of mindless renewal and of progressive extinction, shaped by the unsufferable modernist extravaganzas dear to German and British audiences. Nobody can stand those, except the critics. I have been told that the audiences now flee l'Arena; reservations are declining, especially reservations from abroad".
The list of Frengo's grievances is long; he has words of great appreciation for directors of the past, the great Giorgio Strehler, "the magnificent Ken Russell", but most of the important directors of recent years flunk the Zeffirelli test. Let's see.
Graham Vick? "Eccentric. Unable to tell Violetta's story and to give shape to that miracle of passion and emotion, he shifts the action to our era turning Violetta into a cheap Princess Diana... Please! You hear Di quell'amor, quell'amor che palpito and instead of creating a transcendent moment you resort to irony? No, musical theatre deserves to be loved and respected for what it is. Directors must serve the author's intent".
Luca Ronconi? "For heavens sake!"
Liliana Cavani? "Please..."
Ermanno Olmi? "Have mercy!"
Pier Luigi Pizzi? "A one-trick pony"
Mario Martone? Toni Servillo? "They're too green"
His opinion on Franco Zeffirelli? "Après moi le deluge. I say this with sadness".