"English" National Opera
Alex Koster
opera productions in the English language this season, including
Wagner's "Twilight of the gods" and "Tristan and Isolde".
But is a point being missed by ENO, in their eagerness to make
operatic works more accessible to a non-German/Italian/French/Russian
speaking audience, especially with regard to Wagner's operas in
particular as the use of the German language seems to form such an
intrinsic aspect of his artistic output?
What I'm getting at is, is it right to change, alter, interpret an
artwork in someone's name in order to improve "accessibility" for a
particular audience?
I truthfully feel uneasy about this.
Alex
Simon Smith
n...@spam.net (Alex Koster) wrote:
> At the moment, it seems English National Opera is performing ALL its
> opera productions in the English language this season, including
> Wagner's "Twilight of the gods" and "Tristan and Isolde".
I think that's the whole POINT of ENO... i.e. what it set out to do in the
first place, and has always done.
Simon
--
Simon Smith | Clare College, Cambridge | sd...@cam.ac.uk
http://www.ingemisco.com/ | MSN: fourthc...@hotmail.com
Alex Koster
>I think that's the whole POINT of ENO... i.e. what it set out to do in the
>first place, and has always done.
>
Then why is the Welsh National Opera not performing everything in
Welsh? You haven't answered my question, Simon.
Alex
Jim Dunphy
They are doing what Wagner is on record as saying he wanted companies
to do when they gave his works in non-German speaking countries. So I
hope the ENO sticks to its guns.
Jim Dunphy
Tony Duggan
Alex Koster <n...@spam.net> wrote in message
news:3e56b986...@news.freeserve.net...
Because the vast majority of people in Wales speak English and only English.
Welsh is only spoken by a small minority even the bilingual ones.
--
Tony Duggan, England.
dug...@scribble.freeserve.co.uk
Mahler CD recordings survey is at:
http://www.musicweb.uk.net/Mahler/index.html
Alex Koster
French?
My question has yet to be answered.
Alex
On 21 Feb 2003 19:46:00 -0800, jimdw...@yahoo.com (Jim Dunphy)
wrote:
Alex Koster
that it is often almost impossible to translate all linguistic nuances
from one languages to another without losing the genuine meaning ment
by an artist.
That's one of the reasons why I'm not in favour of an opera by Handel,
composed to be performed in the English language, to be sung in any
other languages apart from English, and vice versa
Alex
On 21 Feb 2003 19:46:00 -0800, jimdw...@yahoo.com (Jim Dunphy)
wrote:
>They are doing what Wagner is on record as saying he wanted companies
Alex Koster
On Sat, 22 Feb 2003 08:42:20 -0000, "Tony Duggan"
<dug...@scribble.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
>Because the vast majority of people in Wales speak English and only English.
>Welsh is only spoken by a small minority even the bilingual ones.
Being bilingual myself and having an interest in languages I am fully
aware of the status of the Welsh language, but is a point being missed
here?
Alex
Alex Koster
irrespective of which language they were written for, were only to be
performed in Dutch?
Alex
On Sat, 22 Feb 2003 08:42:20 -0000, "Tony Duggan"
<dug...@scribble.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
@wanadoo.nl Herman van der Woude
done Italian operas in German (Nozze di Figaro became Figaros Hochzeit),
but after the war, they didn't do that anymore. And before the war they
did this seldomly, as Dutch audiences were acquainted with travelling
Italian opera companies who never sung anything else than Italian operas
in Italian. Operas are now always sung in the original languages. Why
not, with subtitles you can have a simultaneous translation and you don't
miss a word of what is being sung.
In Belgium (Flanders) though, they did perform a lot of operas in Dutch,
not only the Italian ones, but also Wagner. I must say I never heard any
of them, thoug the opera houses of Antwerp and Ghent did so far into the
eighties (and I believe even in these days sometimes).
Apart from musical objections you may have against using another language
in an opera than the original one, I think it is also the disadvantage
you may encounter with engaging international stars who don't know these
roles in Dutch, English, Polish, or what ever.
Can anyone of us imaging Pavaratti singing Cavaradossi in English, or
German?
Herman van der Woude
mailto : hermanvanderwoude @ wanadoo.nl
(spaces added to avoid SPAM/spaties toegevoegd om SPAM te vermijden)
"Alex Koster" <n...@spam.net> schreef in bericht
news:3e5739e...@news.freeserve.net...
Jim Dunphy
will find W.'s letter of Oct. 22, 1877 to Emil Sander in Melbourne. W.
thanks Sander for producing Lohengrin there (in Italian!), and goes on
to say "I hope you will see to it that my works are performed in
"English": only in that way can they be intimately understood by an
English-speaking audience. We are hoping that they will be so
performed in London."
And yes I'm sure Wagner was keen on having his operas performed in
French, in France. The Tannhauser fiasco in 1861 was not about what
language the work would be performed in.
Jim Dunphy
n...@spam.net (Alex Koster) wrote in message news:<3e5737e...@news.freeserve.net>...
Alex Koster
are untranslatable in any other language apart from German. You, at
best, end up listening to someone else's interpretation, i.e. that of
the translator.
In his day Wagner did not have subtitles and many of the modern
technical advances a modern opera company can use and also it was
custom for people, including Wagner himself, to clap, scream and cry
loudly in the middle of his own performances (Parsifal). There are
many things, during Wagner's lifetime, he said which are
contradictory, but he very definitely had a strong aversion to having
anything to do with the French or the French language, and some of the
things I've seen him write about the English and Italians is not
particularly of a high regard...... Guess which culture he has
highest regard for? But then again he also said quite a few nasty
things about Jews for example. What are you trying to prove?
Anything which Wagner happened to have written during his lifetime,
contradictory or not, should be taken as a holy truth? If so, I find
that disturbing.
Nevertheless, looking at the responses from people I've had so far in
this newsgroup, of whom the majority I suspect are English, towards a
valid artistic argument, I'm still waiting for a good
counter-argument. I am, unfortunately, finding it harder to
distinguish between the general chauvinism of the Parisian French 19th
century attitude and the modern chauvinist attitude of the English
(not British) opera world.
I remember last summer, when I went to a performance of Haydn's "Die
Schopfung" in London there was almost an outcry in the Art press about
the fact that it was sung in German and not in English. The fact that
it was played on period instruments with an eye on authenticity was
neither here nor there for the English Art critics. Mind you it might
also be surprising to see a performance of that oratorio, complete
with period instruments (sung in Chinese, to add an extra authentic
flavour to the performance)
Really, with regards to modern chauvinism in the English world of the
Arts, the mind certainly boggles!
To recap: like I said earlier, I find it extreme that ALL performances
of the ENO have to be in sung in English and ENGLISH ONLY.
Surely Art should be an enjoyment of EACH OTHER'S culture in an
increasingly international and multicultural world.
In the spirit of Beethoven's ninth "Alle menschen werden Bruder......"
.... and not in the spirit of modern English Art critics/directors
who, wether or not it makes artistic sense, demand: "All people
should perform in English......."
On 22 Feb 2003 18:03:30 -0800, jimdw...@yahoo.com (Jim Dunphy)
wrote:
>See "Selected Letters of RW" ed. Spencer & Millington. On p. 872 you
REP
> There are so many linguistic nuances in, for example, the Ring which
> are untranslatable in any other language apart from German. You, at
> best, end up listening to someone else's interpretation, i.e. that of
> the translator.
This is true.
> In his day Wagner did not have subtitles and many of the modern
> technical advances a modern opera company can use and also it was
> custom for people, including Wagner himself, to clap, scream and cry
> loudly in the middle of his own performances (Parsifal). There are
> many things, during Wagner's lifetime, he said which are
> contradictory, but he very definitely had a strong aversion to having
> anything to do with the French or the French language, and some of the
> things I've seen him write about the English and Italians is not
> particularly of a high regard...... Guess which culture he has
> highest regard for? But then again he also said quite a few nasty
> things about Jews for example. What are you trying to prove?
> Anything which Wagner happened to have written during his lifetime,
> contradictory or not, should be taken as a holy truth? If so, I find
> that disturbing.
Holy truth, no. But it should certainly be considered.
> Nevertheless, looking at the responses from people I've had so far in
> this newsgroup, of whom the majority I suspect are English, towards a
> valid artistic argument, I'm still waiting for a good
> counter-argument. I am, unfortunately, finding it harder to
> distinguish between the general chauvinism of the Parisian French 19th
> century attitude and the modern chauvinist attitude of the English
> (not British) opera world.
You did not present an argument, but instead raised a question that was
almost surreptitiously unrelated to what you had said before. As for calling
the English chauvinists, I find this insane. The translation of operas into
English is mainly to satiate our curiosity. See, we seem to lack any great
Romantic operatic composers of our own and so we really have almost no idea
what an English opera sounds like. We've rarely had the joy of being able to
sit there without a libretto or subtitles. The composers we have, mainly
those of the 20th century, seem to lack the natural fluency of their German,
Italian, and French counter-parts' vocal writing -- I have never seen an
English opera that I completely understood just by listening to the singing
(I've seen Peter Grimes twice and only understand, roughly, 25% of what is
said). Somehow, though, I doubt that this is any different for the Germans,
French, or Italians. It's just a matter of the grass being greener on the
other side of the fence. Not being able to understand German, French,
Italian, etc. we can't help but find the vocal writing incredibly natural
and fluent to our ears. So we think that this is true opera! And we must
hear true opera in English, to experience and revel in what these luckier
people have had for so long. How this is chauvinism, I know not. I know only
that it means one of two things: either English composers really are lacking
in vocal writing technique, and the public is therefor justified in their
beliefs that we are lowly and depraved, or that (2) the public needs to hear
more English opera and realize that no matter what language it's sung in,
nobody understands what is being said anyways.
> I remember last summer, when I went to a performance of Haydn's "Die
> Schopfung" in London there was almost an outcry in the Art press about
> the fact that it was sung in German and not in English. The fact that
> it was played on period instruments with an eye on authenticity was
> neither here nor there for the English Art critics. Mind you it might
> also be surprising to see a performance of that oratorio, complete
> with period instruments (sung in Chinese, to add an extra authentic
> flavour to the performance)
I did not hear about this.
> Really, with regards to modern chauvinism in the English world of the
> Arts, the mind certainly boggles!
>
> To recap: like I said earlier, I find it extreme that ALL performances
> of the ENO have to be in sung in English and ENGLISH ONLY.
The ENO is not a normal opera house and should not be judged as such. It is
a specialty opera house specializing in bringing operas sung in English to
the English public.
> Surely Art should be an enjoyment of EACH OTHER'S culture in an
> increasingly international and multicultural world.
And it normally is. Keep in mind that this is not a strictly English
practice. I have seen many of Wagner's works, among other German things,
performed in French and Italian. Shakespeare is also performed in many
different languages.
> In the spirit of Beethoven's ninth "Alle menschen werden Bruder......"
>
> .... and not in the spirit of modern English Art critics/directors
> who, wether or not it makes artistic sense, demand: "All people
> should perform in English......."
To answer your original question: it depends on in what way it is
"re-interpreted." The Boulez Ring I am offended by in many ways, just as I
am offended by abridged books, while linguistic translations I am not
offended by.
REP
JimBodge
> See "Selected Letters of RW" ed. Spencer & Millington. On p. 872 you
> will find W.'s letter of Oct. 22, 1877 to Emil Sander in Melbourne. W.
> thanks Sander for producing Lohengrin there (in Italian!), and goes on
> to say "I hope you will see to it that my works are performed in
> "English": only in that way can they be intimately understood by an
> English-speaking audience. We are hoping that they will be so
> performed in London."
>
> And yes I'm sure Wagner was keen on having his operas performed in
> French, in France. The Tannhauser fiasco in 1861 was not about what
> language the work would be performed in.
>
> Jim Dunphy
>
>
> n...@spam.net (Alex Koster) wrote in message news:<3e5737e...@news.freeserve.net>...
> > Hold on??? Was Wagner very keen on having his Operas performed in
> > French?
> >
> > My question has yet to be answered.
> >
> > Alex
Yes Alex, Jim Dunphy was quite correct. Wagner even composed his
alterations to TANNHäUSER to the French text. The German is the
translation.
He and almost every other pre-20th century composer you can name (and
many of them too) always insisted that their works be translated
carefully for performance in other countries.
For example, the English recordings of the RING are in a superb
singing translation by Andrew Porter, made at ENO almost 30 years ago.
Mike Scott Rohan
from "Herman van der Woude" <hermanvanderwoude @ wanadoo.nl> contains
these words:
> In the Netherlands they hardly ever produced an opera in Dutch. They have
> done Italian operas in German (Nozze di Figaro became Figaros Hochzeit),
> but after the war, they didn't do that anymore. And before the war they
> did this seldomly, as Dutch audiences were acquainted with travelling
> Italian opera companies who never sung anything else than Italian operas
> in Italian. Operas are now always sung in the original languages. Why
> not, with subtitles you can have a simultaneous translation and you don't
> miss a word of what is being sung.
> In Belgium (Flanders) though, they did perform a lot of operas in Dutch,
> not only the Italian ones, but also Wagner. I must say I never heard any
> of them, thoug the opera houses of Antwerp and Ghent did so far into the
> eighties (and I believe even in these days sometimes).
> Apart from musical objections you may have against using another language
> in an opera than the original one, I think it is also the disadvantage
> you may encounter with engaging international stars who don't know these
> roles in Dutch, English, Polish, or what ever.
> Can anyone of us imaging Pavaratti singing Cavaradossi in English, or
> German?
He might make a better stab at it than Domingo; Pavarotti's English is
fair, whereas Domingo, who understands it very well, just can't express
himself properly. He does better, I believe, in Hebrew, because he sang
most of his major roles first as a member of the Israeli national
company!
And incidentally, after the war Covent Garden put on its first Ring in
English -- with stars like Hotter, Flagstad and Neidlinger learning the
roles specially, although their English was often less than perfect.
Hence Hotter's famous story about being greatly bucked by seeing the
headline "Hotter in London this July..."
Cheers,
Mike
Mike Scott Rohan
from n...@spam.net (Alex Koster) contains these words:
> Would you say it to be a bit extreme if all operas in Holland,
> irrespective of which language they were written for, were only to be
> performed in Dutch?
> Alex
Of course, but ENO is not the only company performing! What's more, it's
doing so in the shadow of the international Royal Opera only a few
hundred yards away. Sadlers' Wells, as the company was originally
called, was founded to provide popularly accessible entertainment for a
less wealthy and less sophisticated audience, who might well be isolated
by singing in the original. ENO is there as an alternative, and a very
good alternative it is -- sometimes outclassing the bigger company.
WNO, incidentally, also performs in English, quite often, as does
Scottish Opera -- most often in comedies.
There is nothing wrong with opera in the vernacular, and many
advantages, provided the music is not markedly deformed -- and that
depends on the quality of translations. Nor is there anything abnormal,
internationally. Until recently it was more common than otherwise
throughout Austria and Germany to have all operas in German, so one
heard Figaro's Hochzeit, Eugen Onegin and Die Schlaue Fuschslein -- and
Carmen sang "Ja, die Liebe hat bunte Flugel..." (Which Christa Ludwig
does very seductively, on a 60s recording.) In Denmark you still see, if
I remember rightly, "Figaro's Brollops".
And as to Wagner, when you hear the Paris version of Tannhauser you are
hearing music -- from Venus in particular -- that Wagner originally
wrote to accompany the French libretto, and then re-translated into
German, not terribly well. Should we only hear that bit in French, and
the rest in his original German? There is such a thing as being too
purist!
Cheers,
Mike
Mike Scott Rohan
from n...@spam.net (Alex Koster) contains these words:
{snip}
> I remember last summer, when I went to a performance of Haydn's "Die
> Schopfung" in London there was almost an outcry in the Art press about
> the fact that it was sung in German and not in English. The fact that
> it was played on period instruments with an eye on authenticity was
> neither here nor there for the English Art critics. Mind you it might
> also be surprising to see a performance of that oratorio, complete
> with period instruments (sung in Chinese, to add an extra authentic
> flavour to the performance)
There is nothing chauvinist about this, just informed, since the text is
based on an English-language collage of Milton, only translated by Baron
von Swieten at a fairly late stage. An edition restoring the Milton
extracts is readily available, and fits the music very well. Likewise,
The Seasons is pretty much a translation of James Thompson's poem, and
can be sung to it very readily.
Cheers,
Mike
Mike Scott Rohan
from Simon Smith <sd...@cam.ac.uk> contains these words:
> In message <3e56b255...@news.freeserve.net>
> n...@spam.net (Alex Koster) wrote:
> > At the moment, it seems English National Opera is performing ALL its
> > opera productions in the English language this season, including
> > Wagner's "Twilight of the gods" and "Tristan and Isolde".
> I think that's the whole POINT of ENO... i.e. what it set out to do in the
> first place, and has always done.
That's so -- along with more popular pricing and a rather more
adventurous repertoire than the international-level Covent Garden. The
intention has been both to make it communicate more directly to an
English-speaking audience, and to expand the repertoire of native
singers without the barrier of modern language. There have only been a
couple of exceptions I can remember, one or two replacement artists who
hadn't learned their part in English, and Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex,
whose Latin was considered to be part of the point. In my experience it
works very well, not least because their translations are of such a high
standard, both in terms of singing and dramatic sensibility.
English-language performance is one reason Janacek's operas have become
so popular in Britain, because it illuminates the vividness of his
musical language. Of course translation represents a degree of
alteration to the original, more serious in Wagner than in Don Pasquale,
but they also provide it with much greater immediacy, even for people
who understand German and know the original more or less by heart
anyhow. And such immediacy, as someone points out, was important to
Wagner and has his sanction. Nobody would claim it replaces the
original, but it may help shed a new light on it -- like an alternative
cut of a film, for example. It's a lot less of an alteration than most
modern productions, when you think about it!
For this reason ENO usually confine themselves to artists from
English-speaking countries, chiefly the Commonwealth, although they have
the occasional guest from the USA and elsewhere, such as the excellent
Lisa Saffer recently. Aage Haugland was a complete surprise for the
Ring, but Clifford Grant was, I believe, suffering problems from singing
Hagen so much, and their only other top-flight bass of the day, Robert
Lloyd, probably didn't want to try (wisely, I think). Raimund Herincx
combined Wotan and Hagen on tour, but as a bass-baritone he wasn't ideal
for the latter -- especially in a big theatre like the Coliseum.
Cheers,
Mike
JimBodge
> For this reason ENO usually confine themselves to artists from
> English-speaking countries, chiefly the Commonwealth, although they have
> the occasional guest from the USA and elsewhere, such as the excellent
> Lisa Saffer recently. Aage Haugland was a complete surprise for the
> Ring, but Clifford Grant was, I believe, suffering problems from singing
> Hagen so much, and their only other top-flight bass of the day, Robert
> Lloyd, probably didn't want to try (wisely, I think). Raimund Herincx
> combined Wotan and Hagen on tour, but as a bass-baritone he wasn't ideal
> for the latter -- especially in a big theatre like the Coliseum.
I believe Grant returned to Australia, declining to sing Hagen any
more, therefore putting the ENO RING recordings at risk. Haugland was
asked "als gast" to solve the problem. I don't think the general
policy of restricting performers to those with Commonwealth passports
was removed permanently until about 15 years ago.
I saw Herincx as a good Wotan about 1975, though I don't think he was
well advised to sing Hagen. Lloyd has never done the part and is
probably still in such good condition because of it. Likewise Kurt
Moll, who even refused to make a studio recording of Hagen.
JimBodge
Actually, I find singing translations of musical material more
accurate in rendering the original than I do most translations of
prose, and even of poetic verse. In preparing a text to be sung, the
translator is restricted to the same metrical pattern as the original,
and the wise ones work very hard to match vowel and consonant sounds
appropriately.
I daresay they come closer to the original tone than translations of
novels, etc. And subtitle translations are, obviously, abridgements,
which perforce means leaving things out.
Of course the original is what we want most often; it's just nice to
have access to performances in our own language on occasion.
> >Jim Dunphy
Derrick Everett
> The message <c9c378c8...@sds46.clare.cam.ac.uk> from Simon Smith
> <sd...@cam.ac.uk> contains these words:
>
>> In message <3e56b255...@news.freeserve.net>
>> n...@spam.net (Alex Koster) wrote:
>
>> > At the moment, it seems English National Opera is performing ALL its
>> > opera productions in the English language this season, including
>> > Wagner's "Twilight of the gods" and "Tristan and Isolde".
>
>> I think that's the whole POINT of ENO... i.e. what it set out to do in
>> the first place, and has always done.
>
> That's so -- along with more popular pricing and a rather more
> adventurous repertoire than the international-level Covent Garden. The
> intention has been both to make it communicate more directly to an
> English-speaking audience, and to expand the repertoire of native
> singers without the barrier of modern language. There have only been a
> couple of exceptions I can remember, one or two replacement artists who
> hadn't learned their part in English, and Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex,
> whose Latin was considered to be part of the point. In my experience it
> works very well, not least because their translations are of such a high
> standard, both in terms of singing and dramatic sensibility.
> English-language performance is one reason Janacek's operas have become
> so popular in Britain, because it illuminates the vividness of his
> musical language.
Another reason is the excellent work done by Charles Mackerras. I recall
that the second production that I saw at ENO was "Kat'a Kabanova" with
Söderström in the title role and Mackerras conducting.
To perform Janacek in translation is even more of a radical change than to
perform Wagner in translation, because (so native speakers have told me)
Janacek's music is not only closely tied to the rhythms and pitch patterns
of Czech but to those of a specific (Moravian?) dialect.
--
Derrick Everett (deverett at c2i.net)
==== Writing from 59°54'N 10°36'E ====
http://home.c2i.net/monsalvat/index.htm
Derrick Everett
> There is nothing wrong with opera in the vernacular, and many
> advantages, provided the music is not markedly deformed -- and that
> depends on the quality of translations. Nor is there anything abnormal,
> internationally. Until recently it was more common than otherwise
> throughout Austria and Germany to have all operas in German, so one
> heard Figaro's Hochzeit, Eugen Onegin and Die Schlaue Fuschslein -- and
> Carmen sang "Ja, die Liebe hat bunte Flugel..." (Which Christa Ludwig
> does very seductively, on a 60s recording.) In Denmark you still see, if
> I remember rightly, "Figaro's Brollops".
>
>
"Figaros Bryllup". Which is closer to the "original" Italian than the
customary English translation "The Marriage of Figaro", which is an
understandable mistranslation of Beaumarchais' French title.
Then of course there is that Danish favourite "Jægerbruden" ...
Mike Scott Rohan
from bo...@boston.quik.com (JimBodge) contains these words:
> I believe Grant returned to Australia, declining to sing Hagen any
> more, therefore putting the ENO RING recordings at risk. Haugland was
> asked "als gast" to solve the problem. I don't think the general
> policy of restricting performers to those with Commonwealth passports
> was removed permanently until about 15 years ago.
> I saw Herincx as a good Wotan about 1975, though I don't think he was
> well advised to sing Hagen. Lloyd has never done the part and is
> probably still in such good condition because of it. Likewise Kurt
> Moll, who even refused to make a studio recording of Hagen.
This squares with what I know. As you say, Lloyd was very wise, and
probably Moll as well. ENO had two bass Wotans in the Goodall
production, Gwynne Howell -- who never sounded quite powerful enough --
and Don Garrard, a huge fellow with a huge voice but not as humane a
characterization as Bailey, but they also were not Hagen material. I
seem to remember Harold Blackburn sang Hagen once or twice, but I'm not
sure. Herincx was a very intelligent singer -- with an enormous
repertoire -- but definitely a bass-baritone, not the kind of deep dark
bass one would need. I note he seems to have left the stage not that
long afterwards, so I hope he didn't damage his voice. I can't think of
that many singers who combined Wotan and Hagen -- although I seem to
remember Emil Scaria did (but then he was given to nervous breakdowns).
Lately, of course, John Tomlinson has done both. Anyone else we know of?
Cheers,
Mike
Mike Scott Rohan
from Derrick Everett <deve...@c2i.net> contains these words:
> On Wed, 26 Feb 2003 02:18:47 +0100, Mike Scott Rohan wrote:
> "Figaros Bryllup". Which is closer to the "original" Italian than the
> customary English translation "The Marriage of Figaro", which is an
> understandable mistranslation of Beaumarchais' French title.
Indeed. Although I do think I've seen "Brollops" somewhere -- maybe one
of the other Scandinavian countries, if I'm not just misremembering.
Mistranslations like that are not uncommon in opera, of course -- like
"Orphee aux Enfers". "Orpheus in the Underworld" totally misses the
double meanings -- "To Hell with Orpheus" would be a bit closer! That
may have been bland Victorian bowdlerization, of course, as practiced by
the operatic Reverend Troutbeck. When Dvorak was commissioned to write a
new oratorio for the Leeds Festival, Troutbeck was horrified to find its
title translated as "The Wedding Shift" -- and that is why it's now
known as "The Spectre's Bride" everywhere except Czechoslovakia!
> Then of course there is that Danish favourite "Jægerbruden" ...
Has to be "Freischutz", right? Can't think what else. But that's
impossible to render in English at all, and presumably Danish has the
same problem. Mind you, it's difficult even for languages that do
contain an equivalent term -- it's not usually called "Le Franc-Tireur",
even in France, because the allusion is slightly wrong. (They even
adapted it as "Robin des Bois", at one time, to Berlioz's disgust!)
Cheers,
Mike
Stephen W. Worth
<n...@spam.net> wrote:
> Anybody who know anything about translation and languages, realises
> that it is often almost impossible to translate all linguistic nuances
> from one languages to another without losing the genuine meaning ment
> by an artist.
Have you read Porter's notes on his translation?
See ya
Steve
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