From: wilcox@vax.oxford.ac.uk
Newsgroups: rec.music.classical
Subject: REVIEW: Marschner's Vampyr on TV
Date: 5 Jan 93 15:42:56 GMT
Organization: Oxford University VAX 6620

I thought I'd mention one of the BBC's Christmas opera broadcasts, on the basis
that it was a co-production with the Music and Arts Network (or some such
organisation) so some of you in the states are likely to see it before too
long. It was an adaptation of Heinrich Marschner's Der Vampyr with a new
libretto by Charles Hart, who was responsible for Phantom of the Opera and
Aspects of Love. Rather than a continuous 2.5 hour broadcast, however, the BBC
presented it as a "soap opera": five 25 minute chunks broadcast on consecutive
nights, each ending with some sort of cliff-hanger. Briefly Ripley, the Vampire
is a succesful city slicker; he has to kill three girls in three days (the
original was three virgins but you'd be hard pushed to find three virgins in
London these days) in order to live for another year.

As for a critical reaction, you will already know if you'll hate it. I thought
that it was mostly very succesful, helped no doubt by a 1,000,000 pound budget.
The libretto was pretty good, mixing traditional translator's fodder with some
wonderful one-liners (Shit! My father! Shit! My trousers!; If I had some coffee
I'd invite you in, but as it is all I've got is gin) and cameo roles: a lovely
policeman (Well who'd've thought it) and car-park attendants (Be a good girl
and make us a cup of tea). The singing was very good; Omar Ibrahim as the
Vampyr in particular caought the mood of the part, as did Richard van Allen as
a bankrupt businessman. Philip Salmon as Alex, Ripley's assistant was perhaps
less succesful in terms of characterisation but his voice was excellent. The
women were less audible than the men: probably natural difficulties in
enunciating on top Gs complicated by being played through an old television's
cheap mono speaker. The orchestral playing of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
was as far as I could tell good: the balance was very much in the singers'
favour, and the same problem with low-fi reproduction obscured much of the
small amount of subtlety in Marschner's music. (It was broadcast in stereo; the
BBC are also releasing it on CD). 

As for the production, it was classic crowd-pulling bonking'n'blood stuff. A
couple of fairly graphic sex scenes: Willemijn van Gent as Ginny wasted no 
time at all after being jilted before stripping off for Ripley, and Fiona 
O'Neill as Miranda, who incidentally looks much better dressed or in the nude 
than wearing the swimming costume she first appears in, succumbs eventually 
to Alex. There is material there for lovers of the male form too: Ripley and 
Alex both appear naked, and, I'm told, look very good, even sexy. As for the
blood, there's more than enough to satisfy the thirstiest vampire: all over a
bed; being washed off Ripley in the shower; gushing out of the boot of Ripley's
car. Red pervades the production: each of the three girls dresses in red; there
is a wonderful scene in church where the only colour is provided by splashes of
red in Miranda's wedding dress. And the balance between drama and comedy is
drawn in just the right place. The action gets blacker and blacker as the piece
progresses, until the mood of the climax, which suits Philip Salmon better than
the earlier scenes, might have been lifted straight from Dracula.

I would recommend you seeing it: even if it is only a one-off curiosity it is a
wonderful way to attract more people to see opera.
-- 

Stephen Wilcox             |   For Sale: Posts in British Government. Suit
wilcox@vax.oxford.ac.uk    |   outgoing American. Highest bids accepted.
Newsgroups: rec.music.classical