[From www.sfcv.org - Music News]

Programs for the upcoming 46th annual San Francisco International Film
Festival (April 17 to May 1) will not be announced until later this
month, but the Shadow knows that Penny Woolcock's new film of John Adams'
"The Death of Klinghoffer" will be shown twice at the festival.

With a libretto by Alice Goodman, the 1991 premiere directed by Peter
Sellars, the work was inspired by the hijacking of cruise ship Achile
Lauro by four Palestinian terrorists, who killed the disabled American
tourist Leon Klinghoffer.

The Channel Four video's cast includes Christopher Maltman, Sanford Sylvan,
Yvonne Howard, Tom Randle and Kamel Boutros.  An early on-line review
(without byline) from somebody who admits that he or she does not like
or even know opera, writes:

"To her credit, Woolcock didn't merely just film the opera...  which
come to think of it, might have been a preferable option.  Instead she
uses standard movie conventions to film something that looks very much
like a movie. And that's part of the problem.  Because every time the
audience starts to get drawn into the story and begins to feel the terror
of those on board, someone starts singing.  This absolutely ruins the
moment, which is kind of a bad thing, given that this is supposed to be
an opera." Say what?

Janos Gereben/SF
www.sfcv.org
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