Vida Breve

boring
This work has maybe 10 minutes that provide any pleasure, mostly the well-known dances. The plot is a trivial Spanish mini-melodrama, with the usual clichés and a lot of atmosphere. The story is rather crudely developed dramatically. The stage is too dark and as a result the singers' skins have ugly artifacts - the video quality is poor. The orchestra is well miked but the singers sound as if they sing from another space - both audio mixes are simply botched. This review will receive of course a lot of negative votes, but believe the positive reviews at your own risk.

A short and lovely Spanish Opera
This is a relatively short, about an hour, Spanish Opera. The dances are well known, so it is interesting to be able to watch and listen to the whole Opera. The staging is minimalistic and, in my opinion, very effective. The drama is almost all played by Salud (Gallardo-Dumas), and this production is very inventive and in fact Salud is on stage almost all the time. Gallardo-Dumas is a very good actor, and she has to be to respond to the requirements imposed by the director. There are some small changes and variations from the original vision as detailed by the composer, which I think enhances the drama. In terms of the music, I found Gallardo-Dumas voice a little bet harsh, in particular in the high tones. I don't know if this is a result of the sound recording or she sang that way in front of the audience. In any case, I strongly recommend this BlueRay. The dramatization is interesting and profound. The music beautiful, and the overall experience enjoyable.

Monochromatic color scheme
Despite its brevity, "La Vida Breve" is not the most dramatic of operas. That might explain why it is seldom produced. However, it is graced with a beautiful early Falla score, and therefore deserves to be heard......but not necessarily seen. Thia production hardly makes a case for the opera. To begin with, the Salud, while affecting as an actress, is not an optimum singer. Her quavery voice is not always attractive, she seems to have difficulties in the upper register, and I noticed a tendency to have to find the note. The real deal killer, for me, is the production itself. Not only is the set purely minimalist, but the stage lighting is so monochromatically red, that it is actually difficult to watch. I mean everything is red, from the sets and costumes to the performers' skin, eyes and teeth. Furthermore, your HD monitor may have trouble making sense of all this, as the color blossoms out, and artifacts commonly appear. My suggestion is to skip this, and try either the great De Los...

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