“Ah! je ris de me voir si belle en ce miroir” – Marguerite’s aria from Act III of Charles Gounod’s grand opera “Faust”
1990, Wiener Staatsoper, Václav Neumann
While the close-ups are arguably unflattering by today’s standards, they are indicative of how the business has changed for the worse. Back then, no one would bat an eye. Today, at the expense of important, unique and interesting voices and artists, the fixation is with looks for the benefit of the High Definition cameras. Everything as inoffensive and palatable as possible. Opera as Miss Universe pageant. Shallow and sterile.