Bonesetter's Daughter Review

The Bonesetter's Daughter: an adaptation of the well-received book by Amy Tan.

After not attending the opera for quite some time, I decided to purchase season tickets to the SF Opera.

Generally, I am thrilled to hear modern works. The fact that a "classical" organization is willing to play something that isn't an obvious favorite makes me feel like perhaps "classical" music might make it a couple generations more.

With that said, Amy Tan has so many fans in this world, and a large Chinese population in the Bay Area. It was more than likely for the creators and the company that it could draw a very large crowd.

I was very disappointed with the opera. While the set, costumes, and acrobatics painted a really exciting picture of what was to come, what actually showed up was an opera that fell on its face as did the main character. I have never seen a soprano fall so many times, and hold her knees as a way to show sadness and frustration. As a joke, perhaps I will incorporate that into my daily routine.

Why would an audience want to go to an opera in a day when television, movies, and unfortunately musicals fill in the story void for a main stream audience? My answer is that operas are able to take me to a world full of passion, excitement and some of the most beautiful music ever to be written. Yes, the words are repeated often as some of my friends have stated, but what poem or current song doesn't repeat lines?? After all, the form of modern songs has barely changed for hundreds of years. In opera the composer has an opportunity in these moments to convey not only the very literal interpretation of the words but more importantly the emotion that the character really feels. It is in many of these moments that I feel the most.

This is not to say that any opera ever written is going to be fantastic or that I adore every opera I've seen, but I can say that I have taken away something from all that I've been to, that is until I heard/experienced The Bonesetter's Daughter.

The music meant absolutely nothing to me, and I found no reason for any of the notes to be there. Between the opening theme "These are the things I know" until it was brought back two and a half hours later, the opera was filled with meaningless notes that I would say, fail to paint any of the words and surprisingly kept me on edge. I say surprisingly because the music often fell into the same rhythmical pattern, yet I was on edge? I am a person who loves and listens to Schoenberg and Ligety so how can this be?

It was hard to figure out what was going on. Why was this woman ranting about O.J.? Did the woman just turn into the devil? No? She just set herself on fire? oh.

Why the creators felt it had to be so abstract in a medium that is usually very straight forward, I will never know. There was one moment when the music was simple as was the theme. Any daughter can relate to the turmoil and misunderstandings that a daughter might have with her mother and vice versa. To have them resolved only moments before the mother's death is heart wrenching to say the least. It was the simplicity of the music that freed me to really be in the moment. Was it great music? No. I'm certain that I would have cried, like I have in many movies, where a loved one dies regardless of my connection to the characters.

I REALLY wanted to like this opera, but I cannot validate paying lots of money for something that didn't really live up to what it should have been. As consumers we pay for so much and often times get so little. People are so happy to giving standing ovations to validate their time and money when it often is not deserved.