Queen of Spades

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Sep 23, 2019 Дама Пик (Queen of Spades), 2016 I’m an opera singer, and I’m trying to learn Russian, so I was cautiously intrigued when I saw Queen of Spades on Amazon Prime. I’m not a film critic, so this review is mostly from my perspective as a singer who was curious as to how accurately the opera world would be portrayed. I was a little worried at first when one of the two leads, Sofia, was described as a mezzo-soprano, and yet her signature roles were dramatic soprano roles (Norma, Lisa, Madama Butterfly). Don’t tune out here, however, as this is explained later. We later learn that she was once a (apparently dramatic) soprano, but has transitioned to mezzo-soprano roles as she aged. She has also become a stage director. I’ve personally witnessed these kinds of transitions in the opera world, so I was relieved to see what I initially considered a plot hole to actually be a deeper layer that adds to Sofia’s twisted motivations. I do have a couple of small quibbles with the portrayal of the operatic process. First, the actors who play Andrei and Lisa are supposed to be young opera singers capable of singing the roles of Hermann and Lisa in Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades. These roles are “dramatic” tenor and soprano roles, respectively. “Dramatic” in this context refers to the size and timbre of the voice. Think big and loud. Usually, not always, but usually, a singer with a voice like this has a certain look. It has something to do with head size, bone structure, and often body size. Suffice it to say that the actor portraying Andrei does not look like he’d ever be able to sing the role of Hermann. Lisa looks like an unlikely “Lisa”, as well, but just maybe she could actually do it. Ironically, I’m complaining that these two actors don’t look like opera singers, and yet opera singers often get defensive because the public expects us to look like actors! Now let me say that I’ve never worked in Russia, so things could be different there. But the fictional production of Queen of Spades portrayed in this movie seemed to have a luxurious amount of rehearsal time. In particular, they spend a lot of time rehearsing in the theater with the orchestra. In my experience in American opera houses, these types of rehearsals are often limited due to their great expense. One other inconsistency bothered me. Sofia arrives in Russia to great acclaim (adoring crowds, press). Then at the first rehearsal, she reveals the cast, which was apparently unknown to this point, and just happens to consist of people who are already in the room. Furthermore, while Sofia is already the stage director, she also names herself as the singer portraying one of the pivotal roles in the opera. And she names the aging artistic director as the lead tenor, Hermann. At this point I’m thinking this must be what we call a “vanity” company. Vanity companies are small opera companies where the people in charge cast themselves in lead roles. Later, however, we find out that this is a sumptuous production in a large theater. These two fact sets are incongruous, in my experience. These inconsistencies aside, the story ends up being entertaining. The plot of the film mirrors parts of the original opera’s plot. The character of Sofia ends up being extremely complex. There is quite a bit of Tchaikovsky’s opera in the movie. The Russian “mafia” is crucial to the plot, as well. And best of all, the voice actors for the musical parts are obviously real opera singers. In fact, many of the supporting opera characters appear to be acted by real opera singers, as well. What’s better than a mafia movie with good opera singers (even if they’re behind the scenes)??? To sum up, if you’re an opera professional or true connoisseur concerned about watching this film because you’re afraid you’ll be taken out of the drama by inaccuracies concerning the business of opera, don’t be. Overall, the filmmakers got enough right about the business ofopera to allow me to enjoy the melodramatic plot of the film itself. See more Read all reviews

Queen of Spades

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