October, 2nd, 2015

RIGOLETTA PUNK

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“Prolonged experience has confirmed me in the ideas I’ve always had concerning theatrical effect, although in my first years I had not the courage to manifest them, except in part. I shouldn’t have risked writing Rigolet to ten years ago. I find our opera composers on the side of excessive mono tony, so much so that today I should refuse to set such subjects as Nabucco, Foscari, etc. etc. They present dramatic moments of great interest, but no variety. They harp on only one string, a lofty one, if you like, yet always the same one. It seems to me the best subject I have set to music so far, from the point of view of effect is Rigolet to. It has very powerful situations, variety, verve, pathos.”. This is the letter Giuseppe Verdi wrote to An tonio Somma in 1902. Somma is an Italian playwright who is most well known for writing the libret to of an opera which ultimately became Verdi’s Un ballo in Maschera. That’s how #JunTakahashi staged a #SS16 performance-art en trompe l’œil @Undercover_lab in a cirque-en-scène. A fusion of punk, costume and militaire genres that not only delighted me but illuminated several mysterious aspects of #Takahashi’s creative impetus. For #Takahashi, the notion of combing the clownish in the clothing and the cynical in the attitude made the collection more humaine, more réaliste. Circus costumes are brilliant because they show that you are willing to have a laugh at yourself, while still wearing fantastic fancy dress. With #Undercover you want something a bit different, so why not try circus fancy dress that isn’t a clown outfit? Wear a circus outfit like you are a magicienne, or une fille de cabaret. If you are going in clown fancy dress or pants, finish the look with a clown wig and some face-jewelled make up (à la @Riccar doTisci17 #Givenchy #GRTNYC17 shown in #NewYork, sept 11 @NYFW). However it appears to me that he was not able to effect the dramatic largess of the characters as he wished because models are models, not actresses. And what of the character of designer, is he not a jester? #Jun certainly is. Rigoletta is the new Rigolet to. Bravissimo ?
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#ALESSANDROBERGA | L’ÉDITOR
#PARIS #PFW #MODEDIPLOMATIQUE (at Cirque d’hiver)