Readers' Digest Condensed...OPERA?!?

Question

This morning, I chanced across a news item announcing that a "potted" version of Wagner's Ring Cycle is set to be performed in 2013, in Melbourne, Australia.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/entertainment/arts/vics-could-host-potted-ring/story-e6freesc-1225910582363

I couldn't believe it - fifteen hours of opera reduced to a mere handful! I know that even the most dedicated opera lover might find the Ring Cycle a bit of a marathon, but even so, I was quite flabbergasted to learn about this. Potted opera - I'd never heard of it until now!

But why? Is this symptomatic of the society we live in - people too time-challenged or - God forbid - too lazy to sit and experience a musical work in its entireity? Are we becoming a society with a generalised "attention deficit disorder" - adults, as well as internet-addicted kids?

It all feels wrong to me, cutting and slashing at a work of art and reducing it to a few juicy, easily-digested morsels. 

And what next? A Potted Messiah for those poor frazzled souls with way too much Christmas shopping to finish? Or a condensed set of Beethoven's nine symphonies to fill the half-hour bus trip into work? 

I'd be most interested to hear your thoughts on this. 

Hafwen x

tucomena · Accepted Answer

Such sad news, Hafwen!

Reducing masterpieces?
 
No... Not at all! I have always been totally respectful of composers...... Their works  should always be interpreted exactly the way they wrote them,. That was their inspiration, that is what they wanted to leave for us to appreciate. 
Changing masterpieces  - and reducing them is one of the ways -  in my opinion, is nothing, but murdering beauty as it was originally intended to be enjoyed.

del_icious_manager · Answer

Potted Rings (pardon the expression!) are nothing new either. About 20 years ago there was an excellent potted Ring touring the UK. Not only was the plot condensed to about four hours, but the instrumentation was judiciously transcribed for about 10 instruments. In its own terms, it was marvellous. I don't think there's anything wrong with projects like this - they serve a particular purpose and have a value as such.

Like you, I despair at the onslaught of 'bitesize' classics for lazy listeners. However, I think what we are talking about is something quite different and need 'ring' no alarm bells within us.

hfrankmann · Answer

I strongly agree with you, except for one thing -  Potted Messiahs have been quite common for years.  I think this is rather an extension of the ' Music Appreciation '  movement of the 1940s and 1950s - the reduction of everything to middle brow mush.

Readers' Digest Condensed...OPERA?!?

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