Commentary
When you think of “Frankenstein,” does opera come to mind? Mary Shelley’s classic novel about a scientist who tries to create life by unnatural means, but ends up creating a monster, is hardly the most musical horror story. However, Los Angeles Opera chose it as the basis of its Off Grand Halloween performance this year. The premiere, which was performed on Oct. 28 and 29, was not an original opera based on the story of Frankenstein’s monster. Instead, it was a live operatic accompaniment to the 1931 Universal film starring Boris Karloff.
Since 2015, LA Opera has made performances of this sort an annual tradition. Instead of the company’s usual venue, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, these Halloween events take place in the ornate Gothic movie theater beneath the Ace Hotel on Broadway in downtown L.A. The first collaboration between opera and classic films of this kind was “Dracula” (1931), which was accompanied live by an operatic score by contemporary opera composer Philip Glass with the Kronos Quartet. Since then, this has become a very popular autumn event, with featured movies since then including one silent film, three classic talkies, and one recent release. The year 2020 was the only year the tradition has been skipped, with its planned programming of “Get Out” (2017) being postponed to the following year….