Editorial: How Roanoke’s opera marked an American premiere | Editorial
Metropolitan Opera singers Jennifer Johnson Cano and Kyle Albertson star at Opera Roanoke’s “Bluebeard Castle”.
Mike Allen
With the closures brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, every time a local arts organization reappears from the closures with a new show to share, it’s cause for celebration.
It is in this spirit that we approach the new offering of Opera Roanoke, “The Castle of Bluebeard”.
Esprit is a particularly apt word, because although this opera-concert takes place five days after Halloween, it is a continuation of this vein. Vein being another apt word for Halloween, as any vampire could tell you.
The original versions of folk and fairy tales are often much darker than the versions popularized around the world, and “Bluebeard” is one of the darker, so dark, in fact no children’s cartoon version. does not exist. There have, however, been a horror movie or two of this name.
“Bluebeard” however didn’t start out as a Grimm’s tale – as in the Brothers Grimm.
A French author, Charles Perrault, published what became the most famous version of the tale in 1697. Grimm’s version did not appear until 1812.
As early as 1905, “Bluebeard” appeared as a verb, with a rather horrible meaning. While it might seem a little silly not to want to spoil the surprise plot of a story published in the 17th century, for the sake of Opera Roanoke audiences, we leave it to you to find out what “Bluebeard” means. “.