The Death of Klinghoffer: Chorus of Exiled Palestinians

The opening chorus from John Adams' 1995 opera "The Death of Klinghoffer," based on the hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985. Libretto is by Alice Goodman, and this 2003 movie version was conceived and directed by Penny Woolcock.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• John
• Adams
• Death
• Klinghoffer
• Chorus
• Exiled
• Palestinians
• opera
• Israel
• Palestine

[geobabe73]

This and the Chorus of the Exiled Jews are wonderful bits of music and they are absolutely TRASHED by this (tone-deaf) movie director. Opera Theater of St. Louis performed this opera recently and the choral parts were astounding. But you won't get the full impact from this video.

[dbryandolman]

@geobabe73 I'll speak up in defense of Penny Woolcock -- she draws some wonderful, very human performances out of her cast in the movie. The documentary style doesn't work for the choruses, it's true. But this was an opera written to be performed in a very abstract style (singers doubled by dancers on a cube of steel girders!) which obviously had to be discarded when they set about making a movie.

[dbryandolman]

@geobabe73 It's true that the wonderful choruses are the moments that ring most false, but I think that given the task of finding a naturalistic way of presenting something that had been very anti-naturalistic in concept, Woolcock did, on the whole, a pretty great job -- particularly in choosing and coaching her cast.

[Longfellow10]

John Adams is a national treasure. An intellectual giant and just plain damn good.

[HinZ3]

It's a definite shame that this chorus in particular isn't performed more or even cancelled at some concerts since the attacks on the World Trade Centre in 2001. Orchestra's should have more courage and not so much 'prudence'. You can't censor culture, not this piece anyway.

[thamestango]

It might have had a greater impact with just the images and the music.. the contrast in the horrific images and the serenely lyrical music could have been very powerful.

[geobabe73]

@dbryandolman: With that said, I think it's a crime that the only way I can hear this music is from excerpts from the movie. This is wonderful music and the fact that it convers a controversial subject should not deter opera companies or symphonies from performing it.

[geobabe73]

You're right in that the original opera (and to some extent, what I saw at Opera Theater) is somewhat abstract and that does not translate well into a movie. Ms Woolcock chose the story of the events that took place on the Achille Lauro over the music. For a movie-maker that's probably a wise choice. What I saw was a somewhat scaled down version of the original opera, some scenes removed, a smaller orchestra, etc.

[golddjlr]

Did this really happen?? Most Palestinians fled because they were told to. In fact, Haifa and several other municipalities asked the Arabs to stay. I do not doubt that some Arabs were forced from their homes, but many just fled without seeing a single soldier. And how does this history excuse the murder of an old man in a wheelchair?

[lornamoone]

let us not forget the amazing Alice Goodman, who wrote the libretto!