Tuesday, May 03, 2005

1984 - The Opera

Lorin Maazel to premiere Orwell's 1984 at London's Royal Opera on Tuesday, May 3rd.

In particular, there are three choruses - including a "hate chorus" reflecting the "hate rallies" of the book.

"They are shown at these rallies a picture of the enemy - whoever the enemy happens to be that week - and they scream 'death to the enemy, kill, kill, hate, hate, blood, blood' - that sort of thing."

The other two choruses are a religious chant, reflecting the "cult of Big Brother," and a patriotic chorus, reflecting "our need to believe in our country, so that our eyes fill with tears when we hear the national anthem... unbridled, unquestioning patriotism, in the name of which people are exploited".

Maazel said that he felt that 1984 had a great contemporary resonance with governments around the world.

"That is the theme of today - a creeping 1984-ism, the invasion of one's private life," he added.

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