LORIN MAAZEL: 1984 (2008)

by | Apr 13, 2009 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews | 0 comments

LORIN MAAZEL: 1984 (2008)

Complete opera based on George Orwell’s 1984
Performers: Simon Kennlyside, Nancy Gustafson, Richard Margison, Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden/Lorin Maazel (Jeremy Irons, telescreen voice)
Studio: Decca Music 074 3289 (2 DVDs) [Distr. by Universal]
Video: Anamorphic/enhanced for 16:9 color
Audio: English DTS 5.1, PCM stereo
Subtitles: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
Extras: Introduction by Lorin Maazel
Length: Opera: 147 minutes; Bonus feature: 27 minutes
Rating: ****

Conductor Maazel was originally asked the the director of a Munich opera house to compose a new opera for him. Maazel reread Orwell’s book and felt it was a perfect choice from which to build an opera, but the director of the opera house suddenly died.  Covent Garden later approached Maazel and he went to work on the story’s denunciation of a world in which the individual is enslaved to an idea and an absolute power – represented by Big Brother. He felt that since Orwell used a most realistic and objective approach, the narrative process would be most effective, with every scene unsettling the viewer.

The totalitarian nightmare is illustrated mainly thru the relationship of two “misfits” who are fighting Big Brother’s brainwashing – Winston Smith and Julia.  Love is forbidden in the world of 1984, so we realize the pair’s saga is not going to come to a good end. The nature of the drama is bleak and unforgiving, and both Maazel’s often atonal music and the dark and oppressive stage settings support it.  However, Maazel also had to come up with Oceana’s national anthem, national songs and hymns, and various pop music of Britain during the 1950s, when Big Brother came to power. These are of a much more tonal design, offering a relief – though disturbing – from the unemotional portion of the score.

The integration of the video screens with their constant propaganda from Big Brother with the onstage action is handled well. They often illustrate the sense of Newspeak – the official party language – in which party clerks go back and change past history to conform to Big Brother’s current propaganda.  Oceana is constantly at war, and the enemy seems to change from day to day.  Most foods are rationed and our first glimpse of Julia is as she leads a militant parade of the Anti-Sex League. Winston and Julia naively trust O’Brien, who pretends to be a fellow resister of Big Brother, but who is actually another spy rooting out those guilty of “thoughtcrime.”

Winston reveals early on that his greatest fear is rats (similar to Indiana Jones’ snakes), and it is interesting to see how the production handles Winston’s later torture scene when he is subjected to rats (they are projected images). After their “reeducation” in Room 101 Winston and Julia are restored to the totalitarian society to continue their tightly-controlled lives under Big Brother.

The transfer to DVD of the often low-key and dark sets is excellent and the DTS surround communicates the full impact of the soloists, chorus and orchestra.  I had to sometimes raise the level in order to properly hear the singers, and much of the sense of the opera would have been lost had I not engaged the English subtitles to follow along. But I think that’s become a given for most of us no matter what the language, and has opened up the world of opera to millions of new ears worldwide.

 – John Sunier

Related Reviews
Logo Pure Pleasure
Logo Crystal Records Sidebar 300 ms
Logo Jazz Detective Deep Digs Animated 01