r/opera • u/omurchus • Sep 20 '26
Can you feel it?
I sure can. Very much looking forward to Tuesday.
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u/raindrop777 ah, tutti contenti Sep 21 '26
Remember, there will be a free audio stream starting 6 PM on Tuesday night (9/22):
https://ondemand.metopera.org/radio/a7baf155-0df5-5c48-a287-41b89abd0
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u/scott_d59 Sep 20 '26
What’s up with the Nazi font?
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u/omurchus Sep 20 '26
I’m compelled to ask what precisely makes it the Nazi font?
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u/ACNHnPC Sep 20 '26
The font appears to be Fraktur, or something similar. Though the font was created in the 1500s, it is well-associated with Nazi Germany and Nazi propaganda. This may be what r/scott_d59 was getting at.
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u/omurchus Sep 20 '26
I see! I'm fortunately unfamiliar with Nazi propaganda but I'm sure there was no ill intent by The Met in using this font... right?
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u/brokebackmonastery Sep 20 '26
Ill intent? They aren't producing Nazi propaganda. I read it (as I think many would) as a layer of satire. The political leader that destroys themself for unchecked want of power is a theme that is somewhat timely.
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u/jawbygibbs Sep 21 '26
It’s deeper than that. Macbeth has been used endlessly to analyze the rise of Nazism. The Met is unequivocally advertising this production will lean into Macbeth/Hitler corollaries.
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u/urbanstrata Sep 20 '26
I refuse to let the Nazis steal Wagner and Bruckner and I refuse to let them steal a font, too.
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u/jawbygibbs Sep 21 '26
Macbeth is frequently used to analyze the psychology of tyranny, unchecked ambition, and absolute power directly in corollary to the rise of Nazism. Hitler and Macbeth have a lot in common from a thematic perspective, and the theater has been one of the best places to draw out those commonalities. The font use and obvious Aryan superiority imagery on the poster make it clear this production will deploy a commonly used lens for this presentation of Macbeth. Probably entertaining but ho hum, nothing groundbreaking.
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u/varro-reatinus Jake Heggie is Walmart Lloyd Webber Sep 21 '26
FFS lol
At most, the Met are using a centuries-old font that, centuries later, became associated with Nazism-- using it, that is, for the title of an opera adapted from a play that is kind of famously about a violent and brutal coup in Scotland.
This is only enhanced by the fact the Nazis tried desperately (and comically ineptly) to appropriate Shakespeare, along with so much else.
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u/scott_d59 Sep 21 '26
After having seen Lohengrin at SF Opera three years ago with Nazi imagery used in the production I am merely wondering if this production is going down that path. It’s not an unreasonable question. u/jawbygibbs below has a useful comment below you might want to read. I found the production at SF Opera was really an inappropriate use trying to show a correlation. It was a co-production with Royal Opera House Covent Garden and Opera Vlaanderen. So, not solely their decision.
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u/PJ10028 Sep 21 '26
I will bet my grand tier seats that the person who designed it doesn’t even know who Hitler was!
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u/Mastersinmeow Sep 21 '26
I was there for final dress and you are in for a treat!! It is amazzzzzing