ZEF AND ‘PAG’

I would like to respond to four statements made in Jan Breslauer’s “The Directors’ Cuts” (Sept. 1). First, the writer’s “This is not your father’s ‘Pagliacci.’ It is Franco Zeffirelli’s.” Since when have do we ascribe the creation of operas to directors instead of to composers and librettists? Let’s give that honor to Leoncavallo.

Then, Zeffirelli’s assertion that “Pagliacci” was the first realistic opera. Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” predated it by two years, and that opera is certainly not considered anything but realistic (verismo) opera. Then his self-serving statement that “ ‘Pagliacci’ is a piece that works better [reset] than if you do it in the period when it was written.” Balderdash! Any piece of artistic endeavor is a product of its time. You wouldn’t update the “Mona Lisa” by changing her enigmatic smile to a grin, would you?

And, finally, Julie Taymor’s fatuous assertion that we here in the U.S. are not accepting of new takes on opera because it’s not an old form here. Has she done her homework? We’ve been putting on operas here for over 170 years.

Peter Hemmings observed, “Sometimes I get the feeling that directors are so desperate to make an impact that they deliberately go overboard.” Did you hear that, Franco?

ANGELO S. LAIACONA

Los Angeles