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19-08-2008 20:54
Performances of Puccini et al in the vernacular are almost as time-honoured a tradition as the opera itself. OzOpera also uses English translations because the theatres they perform in haven't the facility for surtitles which the Opera Theatre and its like possess. And Opera Australia does present operas in translation. Not the Italian standards, true; but Vec Makropulos this year and Jenufa in 2006 were both sung in English. Singspiels like Zauberflote and Entfuhrung keep the sung text in its original language but translate the dialogue into English. For my tastes, there was plenty of authenticity about the stylish singing from Jane and David (on August 15th) and the translation did a better job than others I've heard of drawing out many of the libretto's subtleties without resorting to clumsy, unidiomatic English. Personally, if I rolled up to the theatre in my fancy frock and discovered excellent singing in an elegant and sensitive production, it would take a lot more than hearing my native language to leave me as aghast as you seem to think I should be.
