Orazi & Curiazi

Last evening, Jill and I went to the Minnesota Opera’s production of Orazi & Curiazi.  It was a big production, which was different than the others that we have seen by them; and the role of Camilla sung by Brenda Harris was outstanding.  It was an enjoyable musical experience, but visually it was horrid.  The opera is set in 650 BC Rome, before solidification of the Empire.  However, the costumes (Kärin Kopischke) and stage sets (Neil Patel) were all antebellum American Civil War which was stupid.  You had characters singing to the gods dressed in hoop skirts, a High Priest looked like a Catholic Priest, and soldiers dressed in blue and grey.  In addition to the music, I did like the lighting by Michael Chybowski which was very rich.  But overall I summed it up when I said to Jill, “I didn’t realize that this production was supposed to be a farce.”