Karen Mercedes wrote:
>
> On Sun, 30 Sep 2001, Trevor Allen wrote:
>
> >
> > Okay....I did a little searching and found out that
> > the opera runs approximately 2 and half hours. If
> > anyone knows it well enough, are the any places that
> > could be chopped out and still have the opera make
> > sense?
>
> A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM isn't supposed to make sense. :)
>
> I wonder - aside from cutting out one of the funniest bits of slapstick
> comedy Shakespeare ever wrote - whether the "Pyramus and Thisbe" scene is
> really crucial, if your concern is maintaining plot coherence. I'm saying
> this based on Shakespeare's play - I'm frankly not as familiar with
> Britten's opera as I should be, so I don't know how much time this scene
> takes up in the opera.
Oh, but that is one of the best and funniest parts of the whole opera!
Particularly the Wall with his Pierrot-Lunaire type sprechstimme.
But I agree with Peggy, the whole work is a masterpiece. I don't think
you can really cut any of it.
cheers
Linda
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