Opera productions so bad that they're good and so good that they're bad. We've been there. Trust. When it crosses too far into gimmick OC (re)designates her ticket funds for Lady Gaga and (maybe even) Tokio Hotel. Don't threaten us!
(Or, as Leo Nucci says, "I refuse to work in Germany since 1991 because I don't think operas need to be rewritten").
The Times chief classical/opera critic Neil Fisher designates this Friday's Culture Clinic debate on modern opera productions that push their opera houses too hard, "Are modern opera productions too clever for their own good?" citing Rupert Goold's untraditional ENO Turandot (set in a Chinese restaurant), Christof Loy's ROH Tristan und Isolde for 5 hours of singing against a grey wall (photo above), and the Welsh National Opera's "Abduction" set on the Orient Express.
The debate goes down live via web this Friday, March 12, Noon -- London time.