The audience was, by the way, a little different from the usual. I must have seen enough black lace yesterday to last for decades.

Apparently the HS reviewer Jukka O. Miettinen was unfamiliar with the subject as he was confused and had to spend much time reading the synopsis. I found the ballet clearer than the novel it is based on. The one thing we agree about is that Atte Kilpinen as Renfrew was remarkable. Otherwise the cast I saw was different from the one mentioned in the review, but good. The switches between the "old" and "young" Dracula were neat. Also I'd like to mention the tango Dracula danced with Jonathan Harker in the castle. It might have been comical, but it steered well clear of that.

Some basic facts: Choreography is by Krzysztof Pastor, music by Wojciech Kilar, and libretto by Pawel Chynowski. The ballet was originally made for West Australian Ballet in 2018, and the production is rented from the Polish National Ballet. And of course it is based on Bram Stoker's novel and Francis Ford Coppola's film.

Before...

This production of Don Giovanni had its premiere in winter 2020, but before I had a chance to see it, Covid happened, and everything closed down. They did show it online at Stage24 (recording still to be seen until Dec. 23) and it made a good impression on me, so I was looking forward to seeing it live yesterday. To start with I was disappointed. Somehow it seemed much cruder, especially the "humour" was tiresome, nor was the singing what I had expected, especially in the beginning. Of course the cast was mostly new, as was the conductor Hannu Lintu, only Don Giovanni (Tuomas Pursio) and The Commandant (Koit Soasepp) were the same as in 2020. Of the others Mihails Čulpajevs as Don Ottavio was by far the best. Fortunately the performance improved towards the end, and I went home happy. But all this is old news, and I don't really have anything more to say.

Added later: I might have mentioned the only original idea: that The Commandant came to visit as a dead body stolen from the morgue by the avengers and spoke through a ghetto blaster. 

Due to illness Tommi Hakala did not sing the Wanderer's part, but his replacement, Tomasz Konieczny, was magnificent. I had goosebumps whenever he was singing, especially in the first act. All the singers were good, as was the orchestra led by Hannu Lintu. The first act is set in a "forest" of rusty pillars, with Mime's smithy in a camper van surrounded by oil drums and gym equipment. The second act is more abstract with narrow structures lit from the inside, where the dragon lives. The dragon is visible only in video, with Fafner's face when he is speaking and as a snake when he moves. Quite impressive, especially when I remember the ridiculous papier mâché dragon from the previous Siegfried at Töölö Bay. In the third act the abstraction increases further and there is hardly anything except mountain tops and fire, and the two innocents singing interminably.

If I were a fundamentalist Asa believer I might find this drivel called the Ring offensive, but as I am not, I realize these characters have nothing to do with their mythological and semi-historical counterparts, and it is best to forget the Eddas, Völsungasaga and particularly the Nibelungenlied. It is all Wagner's own psychology and philosophy. The Nazi elite assembling in Bayreuth were ridiculous. They can't have understood anything.

Anyhow, the idea of setting the events in the Crimean War is an brilliant idea, although it felt a bit awkward with the actual war so close to the region. The Spanish, Hungarian and such dances were also slightly comical in the context, although probably less anachronistic than they would have been in the original crusades setting. I also very much doubt there were entertainment tours in the real Crimean War. But basically the idea was splendid and was executed in a very satisfying manner.

My first opera of the year was Turandot, a co-production with Malmö Opera, which has received varied reviews in the newspapers. Helsingin Sanomat writes of it being of orientalistic prettiness, conventional and static, but having good singers, while Hufvudstadsbladet says it is excellent although a bit static, and the provincial Etelä-Suomen Sanomat thinks that it is visually lovely, even though the singers could have been better.

Meanwhile the director Sofia Adrian Jupither says: "--- Traditionally Turandot has featured dated gender roles, misogyny, and racist stereotypes. It is particularly important for the future of the entire opera art form that these problematic themes are discussed, as that is the only way we can make a difference to them. Together with the creative team we have aimed to remove all the dated layers of the performance tradition from our production. This approach to Turandot is our humble attempt to find ways of making central works of operatic history viable the modern day." Astonishing. I could see no trace of these thoughts in the performance, which probably would have delighted the audience of the first performance of Turandot in the Helsinki of 1929. If one wants to remove dated layers, why set it in a very decorative fairytale China of the past? A different time and place could have been possible, and apparently such productions also exist.

Either way, I enjoyed it far beyond my expectations, which admittedly were not very high as the long past Turandot of my memories was bland and thin. However, this was the opposite, rich and full. Strangely enough, my eyelids started drooping after Liù's death. Surely it can't have been the change in composer? But all in all, it was a very enjoyable experience that I would not mind repeating.

First, The Triple Bill: World Wide Dance in October was OK, but nothing world shattering. Heatscape by Justin Peck was peppy American and fun to watch. I liked he music by Bohuslav Martinú. Earthborn by Fei Bo was too long, not boring, but definitely too long. And finally Dust by Akram Khan: At last something with substance! For some strange reason I associated it with Autralia and suffering instead of WW1.

And finally last week I saw CircOpera 2.0: I didn't watch the previous one, but this was better than I expected as a non-lover of circus, although not as good as the review in Helsingin Sanomat claimed. It was good and entertaining but not magical. Everything flowed very naturally and fitted well together.

It started with an interesting video: at first an outline of a head and a neck with time spreading to a wide view of bodies moving in space to the music of Richard Strauss. Other memorable bits were the cigar box juggling to Pizzicato-Polka which was pure joy, the clever "vanishing cabinets" to Là ci darem la mano from Don Giovanni, and the very appropriate wheel of death to Montagues and Capulets by Sergei Prokofiev. However, it did not change my opinion of circus.

Before the show

The spoiler alert in the Helsingin Sanomat review was unnecessary. I obediently avoided reading the synopsis in the programme leaflet, but there was nothing there that would have "spoiled" it for me. The central trauma of the drama was a typical school shooting case that returns to haunt a wedding, and the end was a quiet "life goes on" optimism, in spite of the shooter's brother's marriage being apparently ruined at its start. Of course there were all sorts of points of psychological interest in the text, but it's just not my cup of tea.

The revolving house by Chloe Lamford that serves as various places in past and present was nifty, even elegant.

Anna Kelo's version is very comprehensible. It seems that I have only now started to grasp what the Ring is about. I've always thought that it is the directors' visions that have prevented me from understanding, but now I wonder if my own totally false preconceived ideas have been the cause. It is not large scale mythology at all, but basically psychological and intimate. Actually Die Walküre reminded me of L'Amour de loin ... I'm very much looking forward to seeing the rest and wondering what I will see

Tommi Hakala really should do something about his German pronunciation (as mentioned already in The Prequel). What on earth was he singing when Wotan seemed to say to Brünnhilde "Lass ich ihn den Meeresfrüchte"? If one knew the partition by heart one probably would know. More precision! Less Finnish sloppiness! But otherwise a good performance and a fine voice. Johanna Rusanen was a good Brünnhilde although with an unfortunate resemblance in looks to the comedian Ulla Tapaninen - only partly due to the costume. Also Joachim Bäckström, Siegmund, had an unfortunate resemblance, this time to an uncle of mine, which somewhat prevented me from seeing him as a hero. I liked the way Mikki Kunttu's lightning created spaces.

So apparently the idea of Anna Kelo's Ring is to set each opera in a different time: Das Rheingold in a mythical past, Die Walküre in WW2 period, Siegfried in the present and Götterdämmerung in the future. Interesting. I'm already looking forward to the possibility of seeing it as complete.

1. In Surge by Johanna Nuutinen with music by Lauri Porra, according to the programme "the world surges over the audience in a riptide of overwhelming, shattering stimulation," which it indeed does. Loud music, flashing lights, and smoke that filled not only the scene but the auditorium, too. There was a warning for the lights, but nothing about the smoke which stung my eyes, made people cough and I heard a person behind me leave. In a way it was an experience, but what were the dancers doing? Maybe binding the music and special effects together? It left me empty, although on leaving I heard a man say that it was the best of the three.

2. Boléro 2.0 by Kenneth Kvarnström, with music obviously by Maurice Ravel, was colourful and the most fun, with Kenneth Kvarnström himself doing the painting in the background. The dancers themselves could determine their entrances and exits, which may have been interesting to them, but to a viewer like me it hardly mattered.

3. Wedge by Tero Saarinen with music by Esa-Pekka Salonen was the last. I admit I have been doubtful about Salonen as a composer, but this Cello Concerto I could definitely listen to as music, and towards the end even the choreography started to seem interesting.

The lightning played a major role in all of these; the designer was Joonas Tikkanen. The first and last were very dark, with the brightly colourful Boléro 2.0, in the middle, which I had wondered because I had thought that it would have been the obvious choice for the last act, but as it was there wasn't other choice.

And of course, masks were still recommended, although outside they are hardly used any more.

The new choreography by the Australian David McAllister was very traditional and nice. I particularly liked the sets and costumes by Gabriela Týlešová, a nice mix of fairytale and realism with pretty and elegant colours. The bustles of the senior ladies placed the events in the 1870s. Altogether a pleasant experience, which unfortunately I can't recommend as it is completely sold out.

Watching it I was happy, but somehow, especially in hindsight, I would have wished for something wilder and more intense, less well-mannered, and well, nice.

After the first act I discovered I was very thirsty, and in spite of the inconvenience of the mask I decided to get a small bottle of cider, but "Oh sorry, we haven't updated the menu yet," and so I was persuaded to buy a glass of sparkling wine instead.