Unsuk Chin – Alice in Wonderland

Reviewing this remarkable opera, a critic said the plot of the story as delivered by Korean composer Unsuk Chin would be quite hard to follow for those who are familiar with this children’s classic. I might add, let’s not even speak of those individuals who never read it - such as I (blush).

Dreams and events of Chin’s personal life are inserted into this tale; a tale which, in Unsuk’s hands, has turned from an exciting, joyously witty adventure story for children into a stern tragedy almost as perverse as Euripides’ Medea.
Alright, I’m exaggerating. No kids are stabbed to death on stage, although I wonder how much it took for Chin to restrain her rather cruel imagination and add a gory infanticide or two.

“Cruel imagination”?
Well, I mean to say the Korean’s story (read: music), is full of unexpected twists and turns. As is Dodgson’s, of course. But Chin’s effects, more aggressive than funny, dark instead of light-hearted, may feel like a sudden punch to the stomach. Consequently, the atmosphere of this stagework will deteriorate into the grim and brutal here and there. A mood which deviates grossly from the spirit of the original source….somehow, ghosts of ninja swords or related cutlery never seem to be far off where Asian high art is involved.
As an example I mention the fact the admirably capable performers sing their parts in an intensely dynamic and expressive way, but do so hidden behind children’s masks. And masks, of course, are exactly the opposite from dynamic, warm-blooded humans; masks are rigid reflections of a single mood. So, we see frozen puppets with faces devoid of humanity, and yet they harbour a large amount of violent emotions inside.
If that alarming contrast doesn’t warn you in advance you’re about to see something wicked…

On the subject of dreams: Unsuk Chin claims they’re very important for her work. She uses them in her compositions, as she does here. Did we think Freud had died with Dada and Surrealism, up comes our exotic high priestess of avant-garde and reintroduces the Wiener Sage into opera.
Beware, though; like another critic remarked, “it’s not Carroll’s dreams we’re seeing here, but Strindberg’s nightmares”.
One can engage in endless discussions about perspectives – should the music dutifully serve the book, or the book the music? It’s a matter of preference, not obligation, I think.
Unsuk Chin, then, decidedly took the latter course, leaving lovers of literature with many doubts as to whether it is legitimate to do so. Make no mistake about it, in England Carroll’s tale is held in similar esteem as the bible and Shakespeare - and one doesn’t mess with the words of gods.
I have nothing against altering the nature of another person’s art for the sake of developing one’s own. However, as an artist, one had better be damn sure about oneself before starting on a project like that.

It’s up to you to decide whether Unsuk Chin ‘had the artistic right’ to create her piece. According to me, she be requested to dream on by all means, if it leads to interesting works like this. For interesting it is, what with the amazing light effects, choreographical patterns, costumes…and of course, highly original music.

Note:
This is only my first serious DVD-rip. I’m working hard trying to learn about ripping movies to avi, but find it pretty difficult subject matter.
As for now I’m using a very simple piece of software which does the job well enough to my personal taste – but ‘simple’ usually means, ‘having less features for enhancement’..
Anyway, advice as to how to make better rips are welcome. If you know about software that enables previewing, ripping and cropping during one and the same process, I’m eagerly awaiting your suggestions. After which I shall harrass you with a thousand questions, of course.






Performers:

Bayerisches Orchester
Statisterie Bayerischen Staatsoper
Choir and Children's Choir of the Bayerischen Staatsoper
Chorus Master: Andres Maspero
Director: Kent Nagano

Directed and designed by Achim Freyer
Costume Design/Masks/Puppets: Nina Weitzner

Alice - Sally Matthews
Cheshire Cat - Pha Komski/Julia Rempe
Duck/Mad Hatter - Dietrich Hensel
White Rabbit/Badger/March Hare - Andrew Watts
Mouse/Pat/Cook/Dormouse/Invisible Man - Guy de Mey
Owl/Ugly Duchess/Two - Cynthia Jansen
Queen of Hearts - Gwyneth Jones
Old Man/Crab/King of Hearts - Steven Humes
Old Man/Eaglet/Fish-footman/Five/Executioner - Christian Rieger
Dodo/Frog-footman/Seven/Mock Turtle - Rüdiger Trebes
Caterpillar - Stefan Schneider

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