I was not expecting to like this at all, because it’s by the atonal modern Phillip Glass. I won’t say he had any catchy melodies in there, but it was more melodic than The Trial, the other Glass opera we saw.
It tells the story of Galileo, only backward. It starts out when he is old, blind, but still defiant. He has recanted, but, as he says, “Still, it turns.” (“It’ being the earth, around the sun.)
And then it goes back a scene, to his sentencing, and then further and further back, and I was puzzled. Why? Why tell this story backward? Well, because otherwise it would be a pretty damn depressing opera. There are obvious modern day parallels with the conflict between church and science, and we don’t to watch science lose.
So Galileo gets younger with each scene, more optimistic, and the church’s lies are exposed because you start with what they said and then see later what they did.
Still, I was at the second to last scene and I wasn’t in the tank for it. But then the last scene is very surprising. You think you’re going to end up in the dark ages with the church in charge. Yet you don’t; it takes you back another step and instead you are left with Roman mythology and poetry and a mysterious galaxy.
I ended up quite liking it, and just loving the lighting that steals the show at the conclusion.
2 responses to “Review: Galileo Galilei”
Okay, you got me. Unfortunately I’m someone who loves the instrumental music of the opera but not the vocal aspect so much. Now I’m curious. My niece loves opera and I love her so I’ll check it out!
Lisa – I’m just a beginner, so the vocal aspect has to be really, REALLY good for me to appreciate it. I like lyrics better than music, so it helps they project the subtitles on the wall … and sing in English. But I am a sucker for a stunt. if there’s any stunt, like the really fast Figaro songs or the way the chorus all trilled in unison in Sushahnnah last year, I love that.