Nine, the musical: a saucy show about one sceptic

30 April 2019, 16:00
Nine, the musical: a saucy show about one sceptic

The musical Nine, based on the legendary film 8½ by director Frederico Fellini, was prepared under director Stanislav Moša as the penultimate premiere of the season at the Brno City Theatre. They prepared an at places almost erotic show, led by interesting scenography, well-made costumes, brilliant musical preparation and the energy of the female acting. The sensuality of some of the dance parts thankfully did not overshadow the central theme of the hero’s crises: mid-life, art and relationship.

As the main and only male role is the director Guido Contini, who finds himself at both a life and professional crossroads, surrounded by two dozen women colleagues. Contini is to direct a film, but he has no idea about the topic, thinking much more of women. Nine is actually a musical pastiche of Fellini’s part-autobiographical film 8½, from 1963. The musical version from 1982 is the work of the American author, renowned composer and musicologist Maury Yeston, who is frequently featured in the programmes of the Brno City Theatre. Their repertoire includes his Titanic, followed next season by his musical, Grandhotel. Yeston says that he added the half into the name Nine for the music he wrote for the story. Viewers know the musical, filled with hits and grand dance numbers from the star-filled film edition, created in 2009 by director Robert Marshal.

But back to the Brno production. I view the scenography of Christoph Wevers as its great asset, to a certain degree being the key to the production for the audience. Its backdrop is made of 24 boxes, like the number of Contini’s fateful women. It is however not only about the effective distribution of the actresses, who stand on three floors above each other. All of these women in red (red being the colour of sex, lust, sensuality and want, which are the motifs) actually create a mosaic above the protagonist, a female universe constantly running through his head. It is also a successful scenic solution to the original material of the story, where reality is often mixed with the hero’s memories, old and new, and the viewer sees the parallel workings of reality and the hero’s dreams in some sort of watchful dreaming. Thus, Contini can be talking with his mother, bearing down upon him from a kind of godlike perspective or can be in contact with his attractive lover, Carla, while at the same time speaking with his wife Luisa. Moša uses Wevers’ imaginative scenery not only for the effective moving of the ladies in this great living clockwork, but also often works with the shadow-play of female silhouettes or with lighting and projections. The red costumes by Andrea Kučerová, who worked with many variations of the Italian chic style from the sixties to the modern age, are very accurate. The gentlemen in the audience will certainly be pleased by the amount of garters, panties and bras, not matched by any other local production. Some of the more conservative viewers may be surprised by the ostentatious erotica of certain dance performances (you can guess what the scantily dressed dancers pretending to be maids implied with broom handles and dusters, on another occasion even with a tambourine), but thankfully the provocativeness stays at a certain level and doesn’t turn into a cheap erotic show. Choreographer Michal Matěj was inspired by other famous dance performances, and the ensemble performance of the ladies with the large feather fans was one of the viewer’s highlights of the evening.

A welcome bonus to the evening is the accomplished and fast-paced musical preparation by Dan Kalousek and Ema Mikešková, which highlights the quality of the musical material, offering almost hit musical songs, in places soul and chansons, a fast tarantella and surprisingly also a quotation from a baroque opera, which sound out here with great musical and vocal bravado. 33 musical parts with orchestral accompaniment and complicated dance performances make up an hour and a half out of the two-hour length of the play, so it is certain the you will enjoy all the music you could wish for.

The story of the musical Nine takes place in contemporary Venice and the director Moša wanted to create, in his own words, an adventurous comedy with an erotic charge. The main protagonist constantly staggers between dreams, reality and his own past. Guido Contini however, as played by Petr Gazdík, in the end presents his doubts in an unnecessarily agonising and melodramatic way. One can imagine a far more tragicomic portrait of a man run down by dozens of women, professionally burnt out and blundering after the solid point and shape of his life. A more farcical take would maybe add a little more truth to this story of a lost man.

You will also enjoy the procession of women’s fates. Whether it is the confident and not overly lascivious Dagmar Křížová as the lover Carla or the comically precisely drawn mother, Lenka Bartolšicová, who oppresses her son with motherly love. Markéta Sedláčková as producer Liliane went for an almost operetta-style caricature of a female figure, her main vocal performance Folies Bergéres being one of the highlights of the evening. It is impossible to name everyone, since all the roles in the musical are played by two alternating actors, so I am very sorry for not naming the second in each case.

The Brno musical Nine is, all in all, a skilful show, which will please many men’s eyes and ears. However, no matter what your gender, you will enjoy two hours of good fun, which, expectations notwithstanding, isn’t sad but rather a show of fast-paced, understandable and not overcrowded musical drama.

Photo Tino

Comments

Reply

No comment added yet..

The last opera première of the National Theatre Brno this year was Hurvínek Sells the Bride, which was co-produced with the Spejbl and Hurvínek Theatre. The première continued the thematic focus associated with the Year of Czech Music and took place on 24 November in the large hall of the Reduta Theatre.  more

With Thursday's concert entitled Bruckneriana, the Brno Philharmonic under the direction of Principal Conductor Dennis Russell Davies launched the subscription series Philharmonia in the Theatre I. The orchestra performed works by Anton Bruckner and Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, a Polish-American conductor and composer who devoted his life's work to Bruckner. Performers wearing crimson sashes with the inscription "Playing forte!” appeared in front of the audience, joining the "Let's not let culture die” initiative, which draws attention to the underfunding of culture and opposes the government's plan to invest just 0.64% of the state budget into culture next year, moving further and further away from its promise to spend at least 1%.  more

The Brno Philharmonic Orchestra has been running the Orchestral Academy of the Brno Philharmonic (OAFB) project for nine seasons, enabling young talented musicians to gain orchestral experience in a professional ensemble. In this manner, the orchestra educates the next generation of musicians, both permanent and external. However, working here also gives young people the opportunity to show their skills in chamber music and in a concert series called Young Blood aka Music Up Close. The first seasonal concert took place on Wednesday 15 November at Besední dom.  more

Baladas da Luta, Fighting Ballads, is the title of the sixth album by Brazilian singer Mariana Da Cruz and her Swiss-Brazilian band Da Cruz. It is a combination of modern music that combines Latin American tradition and contemporary electronic elements with strong lyrics. In them, the author fights for women’s rights, stands up against dictatorships and specifically criticizes the atmosphere that has evolved in Brazil under the now former authoritarian President Bolsonaro. Da Cruz performed at Brasil Fest Brno in August 2023. We revisit this festival with an interview conducted following their concert at Zelný trh. Singer Mariana Da Cruz and keyboard player and producer Ane Hebeisn, performing as Ane H, responded to our questions.  more

The programme for Janáček Brno 2024, an international opera and music festival now in its 9th year, was unveiled at a concert held to mark this occasion entitled Janáček to the start! On Saturday, 4 November, the Mahen Theatre was filled not only with devoted fans of the festival, but also with foreign journalists, politicians and prominent figures from the world of culture. In addition to a collection of wonderful musical performances, the audience was also treated to a lineup of renowned artists – Kateřina Kněžíková (soprano), Václava Krejčí Housková (mezzo-soprano), Josef Špaček (violin) and, last but not least, Robert Kružík, who took on the role of both conductor leading the Orchestra of the Janáček Opera at the National Theatre Brno during the evening and also performing as a cellist.  more

The musical comedy The Addams Family is the latest production to hit the stage of the Music Theatre of Brno City Theatre. Audiences are in for an ironic, slightly morbid and enticingly horrific spectacle for the whole family. A musical production has been crafted here which serves up a famous contemporary pop culture phenomenon, as well as a generous helping of hyperbole and catchy melodies to boot. And testament to the audience’s hunger for this wacky family is the fact that all thirty performances are already nearly sold out…  more

The Ensemble Versus choir, accompanied by the Ensemble Opera Diversa under the baton of Gabriela Tardonová, demonstrated what a combination of historical and modern instruments sounds like within a contemporary musical context in the Red Church. The dramaturgical line of Tuesday evening was presented in the spirit of a combination of the works of Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa (1566-1613) and the world premiere of Exsultet by the principal composer Ondřej Kyas (*1979), which also includes parts written for cornett (Radovan Vašina), dulcian (Jan Klimeš), trombone (Pavel Novotný) and theorbo (Marek Kubát).  more

The second New World of Moravian Autumn festival began on Thursday in Brno’s Besední dům. This project, by students of the Faculty of Music at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts, was primarily originally created for the practical musical programming course and intended to be a one-off event during the Moravian Autumn the year before last. Subsequently, however, more students signed up and started working on a repeat festival. The dramaturgy for New World 2023 was handled by percussionists Adéla Spurná and David Paša, bassoonists Aneta Kubů and Josef Paik, and multimedia composer Martin Janda. Three concerts were prepared for 19, 20 and 21 October for this mini festival.  more

The Restlessness of Icelandic Peace was the name of a concert on 15 October at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Brno, at which conductor Chuhei Iwasaki with the Moravia Brass Band and American artist Adam Wiltzie performed a work by Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson (1969-2018). Many of you may know his music from the award-winning films The Theory of Everything and Arrivalmore

The third concert of the Moravian Autumn Festival, held under the auspices of the Ambassadors of Latvia and Lithuania, Elita Kuzma and Laimonas Talat-Kelpša, presented mostly contemporary works by foreign composers on Wednesday 4 October at the Besední dům. The show was directed by the Kremerata Baltica string orchestra, who invited the young talented pianist Onutė Gražinytė to join them, and the whole evening primarily rode on a wave of minimalism. However, during the preparation of the concert, the programme was changed and instead of Geörgy Ligeti's String Quartet No.1 "Métamorphoses nocturnes", works by Jēkabs Jančevskis and Olli Mustonen were performed in their place.  more

The Ensemble Opera Diversa has already presented several compositions by David Matthews (*1943) to Brno audiences, and in most cases these were Czech or even world premieres. This year Matthews’ 80th birthday was celebrated with a performance by the above-mentioned ensemble, or rather its chamber branch Diversa Quartet, headed by dramaturge Jiří Čevela, with a concert on 20 September at the Villa Löw-Beer. The programme, consisting of works by composers closely associated with David Matthews himself, including his own compositions, was preceded by an hour-long discussion in the presence of the composer. Matthews is a British-born composer with long-standing ties to the Brno circle of composers and musicologists. In addition to his participation in the so-called "apartment seminars" in the 1980s, he also is friends with several personalities such as composer, pedagogue and oboist Pavel Zemek Novák (*1957).  more

Trains as a symbol of departure, arrival and return were the main theme of the second edition of the International Festival of Jewish Culture ŠTETL FEST, which took place at the end of August and beginning of September. The four-day program combined the historical events of Jewish citizens taken from Brno to concentration camps during World War II with the modern stories of Ukrainians who fled to the city from the war in their country. To commemorate these events, the Memorial to the Disappeared was unveiled at the opening of the festival at Brno's main railway station and visitors can see the exhibition entitled Stories from Ukraine in various Brno locations until the end of September. The final concert directed by the Škampa Quartet under the title Trains, held on Sunday 3 September at the Besední dům, was a meaningful end to the festival, during which the question of leaving and returning was musically and historically reinforced.  more

The Brno-based singer-songwriter Yana recorded her first album Journey of the Soul in Dublin, Ireland, and invited a number of top Irish musicians to join her in the studio.  more

The international group Ensemble Fantasmi, which focuses on older music and was founded by flautist Paul Leenhouts, performed in Olomouc, at the Znojmo Music Festival and also visited Brno during a small European tour. The group presented themselves to the audience on Monday 24 July at Červeny kostel, where they, along with the invited singers prepared vocal-instrumental works by Czech Baroque composers. The reviewed concert in the Hall of Merciful Brothers on 25 July, which was also the last night of the tour, was in the same spirit. Its subheading Musica Bohemica pointed to a varied programme consisting of instrumental works by Czech composers of the Baroque and Classical periods.  more

The trilogy of lute concerts at the chateau within the Concentus Moraviae International Music Festival concluded on the evening of Sunday, 18 June. Once again, the audience at the Ceremonial Hall of the Rájec nad Svitavou Castle saw performances by Ryosuke Sakamoto on the Renaissance lute and David Bergmüller on the Baroque lute. Both prepared their own recital for the audience, dedicated to the given historical period, finally joining their artistry at the end of the concert. There was also a slight change in the program of the Renaissance block, which was more than welcome given the expansion of the repertoire and the offer of interesting - often lesser-known - lute pieces.  more

Editorial

The concert entitled "In between genres" is the culmination of a three-day event celebrating 100 years of radio broadcasting in Moravia. The whole event includes genre-free concerts, a showcase of new music recordings from radio production and a colloquium dealing with folk songs in radio broadcasting, and last but not least, a commemoration of editor Jaromír Nečas and his radio venture - a series of programmes called The Colourful Singing World. The final concert is moderated by Břetislav Rychlík and Jiří Plocek.  more

Mahan Esfahani, an absolute world leader in harpsichord playing, is coming to Brno. He was the first and only harpsichordist in the world to win the BBC's New Generation Artist in 2008-2010 and has won countless prestigious music awards. He will perform with the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra in a programme entitled Mahan Esfahani: harpsichord in the main role.  more

Years of international cooperation between the cities of Brno and Stuttgart will culminate in one musical event - a joint concert in the Hall of the Brothers of Charity. Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle will be performed by the Ökumenischer Choir.  more

The fourth instalment of the Invisible City series is entitled Ministry of Truth - based on George Orwell's novel 1984, which deals with the manipulation of the past. This time the Bruno Contemporary Orchestra will play in the former headquarters of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. The world premiere will feature, for example, Jiří Adámek Austerlitz’s composition We Are The Powermore

The Brno women’s choir Gloria Brunensis regularly represents its city and the Czech Republic at international competitions. It is bringing home not only the golden diploma in the Women’s and Men’s Choirs category, but also the grand prix - the Golden Lyre for the best choir of the Varsovia Cantat competition in Poland.  more

Davies- Skrowaczewski - Bruckner. Three musical personalities will meet in the upcoming program of the Brno Philharmonic under the name Bruckneriana. The concerts will take place on Thursday and Friday at the Janáček Theatre.  more

Due to the sudden illness of Joachim Bäckström, the actor in the title role, today’s and Sunday’s (17 and 19 November 2023) performances of Peter Grimes are cancelled.  more

The Brno Cultural Newsletter brings you an overview of events and opportunities in the coming period with regards to theatres, clubs, festivals and cultural events in Brno.  more

The Janáček Opera Choir is looking for a new member for the BAS voice branch. Auditions will take place on 1 December 2023.  more

On Friday, three Christmas trees in the centre of Brno will have their lights switched on. The first of which will be the Tree of the Republic on náměstí Svobody, which has been going on there for 99 years. The opening ceremony will be accompanied by wall-dancing and acrobats on stilts. The programme during Christmas in Brno will offer more than 200 concerts over 30 days in all the city’s squares. Performers include the Gustav Brom Radio Big Band, Hana Holišová and the New Time Orchestra, Igor Orozovič & Company and others.  more