#the unadventurous stories of victor

[loosealcina]

ITALO MONTEMEZZI'S L'AMORE DEI TRE RE AT LA SCALA, NOVEMBER 12, 2023

If you ask a music enthusiast: 1913?—there’s more than a good chance he/she’ll answer: Le Sacre du printemps. (Maybe some peculiar individual will go with: Olivier Messiaen turns five—but that would be a big outlier we’re just allowed to ignore). You can also start a conversation from there, packed with fascinating characters and items: a bunch of angry people in the audience, Vaslav Nijinsky in the wings, a rough array of odd meters/irregular beats, a (possibly made-up) cab ride to the Bois de Boulogne after the show… Yet La Scala is currently spreading the news that another answer is possible. You might have guessed by now: 1913 can stand for L’amore dei tre re, as well. I’ll provide you with the storyline first. In the middle of an occupied land, a castle is both home and prison to Fiora; she was forced to marry one of the conquerors (Manfredo [who seriously worships her, no less]), but she’s secretly seeing her former lover (Avito). Given Manfredo is often out and about fighting his enemies, his elderly father—a blind baron named Archibaldo—decides to morph into a bizarre figure, part guardian of public morals, part outright jailer (plus ardent torturer, and more). I think I can give my own private finale away at this point: as all the lights were turned on and I headed for my humble abode, I was feeling a little hesitant and confused, but essentially underwhelmed. It was obviously thrilling—and, to some extent, rewarding in itself—to make the acquaintance of L’amore dei tre re in the flesh.

(It should be noted that this title comes with a pretty unique, elusive aura. After a Milanese début, its glory days—in fact, its several glory decades—did involve [quite interestingly] the States, and a number of genuine superstars: Arturo Toscanini, Victor De Sabata, Enrico Caruso… Then, some kind of vanishing act seemed to be successfully carried out. In short: this is the first staging of L’amore dei tre re at La Scala since 1953). Yet, to me, the negative factor was hard to miss. I failed altogether to establish an emotional connection with the music I was listening to. Many scholars tend to mention Claude Debussy and Richard Wagner when they comment on this work, but I couldn’t perceive anything remotely reminiscent of those two operatic worlds. Furthermore, probably the worst bit: L’amore dei tre re didn’t appear to explore any significantly different/personal path, either. Apart from the circumstance that I wasn’t equipped with a proper heart (old story—I think you already know it), I put at least part of the blame on the performance. Pinchas Steinberg and the orchestra were extremely steady between forte and spirited. Spirited and forte. As for the production created by Àlex Ollé/La Fura dels Baus, it was the definition of plain, unadventurous illustration. Perhaps a certain restraint—as an example: the relative scarcity of old-school pseudo-medieval ornamentation—could be saluted as a highlight. But I’d say this revival as a whole is likely to be more an inhibitor than an encouragement as far as the curiosity about Italo Montemezzi’s best-known opera is concerned.

[kcrnixie]

I’m not gonna lie, I’m a little scared of next semester coming up soon, I’ll end up having three jobs and have to deal with school while also maintaining relationships. We’re going to be booked next semester boys! 😓

Also, I wanted to apologize for not keeping up with my comic this summer, life happened and I ended up prioritizing my health, job, and other art projects that were more imminently important. I still have plans for TUSoV to continue on WEBTOON and I’m still very slowly working on episodes but I might not end up releasing as often as I originally planned, so for now I’m going to work on making a new schedule and trying to reorganize myself for the semester projects wise. Thank you all for your patience and I hope to be posting a new episode very soon! 🫶🏼

This goes the same for streaming on twitch. 😓

Also, in case you haven’t noticed, I have a new website! Please take a look at my portfolio and my upcoming projects and music! (I’m still working on adding art on this website so not everything is up and ready yet)

Website -> www.kcrnixie.com

[kcrnixie]

Where are you guys coming from??? (Anywho thanks for the support! 🥹)

Sorry for no episode this week, next one will be coming soon, I swear! Life’s just been a little crazy lately bahaha…

In case you didn’t know, go read my WEBTOON pretty please :)

Click here to read my WEBTOON!

[kcrnixie]

🔗 Link to my WEBTOON! (Also in my links list!)

WEBTOON series has launched! Go do a reading! Biweekly episodes starting today!