A Big Jane Eyre on Stage (literally)

Via Kultiversum (Germany) we have discovered this curious production of Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville in Switzerland (at the Wasserschloss Hallwyl - Production: Regina Army / Sets: Andrea Marion Menziger) which has quite a few Brontë surprises in the settings, as you can see in the picture:

Seit 2003 wird das Wasserschloss Hallwyl im Kanton Aargau alle drei Jahre zur Kulisse einer Operninszenierung. Diesmal stehen für den «Barbiere di Siviglia» Bücher auf der Bühne, zwei, drei, vier Meter hoch: Brontës «Jane Eyre» und «The Professor», Austens «Sense and Sensibility», dazu als abgründiger Einschub die «Medea» des Euripides (Reclam-Ausgabe). (Translation)

Curiously it was Rossini's opera that Charlotte (and Anne) Brontë went to see in July 1848 accompanied by her publisher George Smith at the old Covent Garden in London.

The Santa Fe Reporter dismisses the rumours that associated Frédéric Chaslin's quitting his position as chief conductor of the Santa Fe Opera with his Wuthering Heights opera:

[Joyce] Idema [  SFO's director of press and public relations ] rejects any rumors that Chaslin is leaving because the Santa Fe Opera refused to produce Wuthering Heights."As a matter of fact, he was quite clear about that," Idema says. "I once said to him, 'Maybe we should do your opera.' He said, 'No, no, no! Not while I’m conductor.'...That had nothing to do with [his departure]." (Alexa Schirtzinger)

Brad Bevet on Rope of Silicon is not too thrilled about the US premiere of Wuthering Heights 2011:

Also getting a limited release is Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights (...) From what I've gathered about both, neither seem to be my alley. Arnold's adaptation of Brontë sounds very minimalist and esoteric[.]

This article on Cool Age (India) is a good example of modern Luddites:

What happened to the good old reading habits? People now have access to ebooks, and kindle readers and the good old ink on paper is dying! Arundhati Sharma from Sri Venkateswara College argues that the books these days are highly priced, tough to find compared to the easily available ebooks. I grudgingly admit that the points she made are valid but nothing compares to curling up with a tattered copy of an old classic and letting the sweet smell transport you to Brontë moors! (Vernika Awal)

USA Today remembers something quite obvious that, however, needs to be remembered:

In the romance world, the plot is an eternal trope - hello Mr. Rochester and Jane Eyre (fortune adjusted for inflation) - in the same way mystery writers and their fans never tire of plots revolving around crazed serial killers with determined detectives hot on the trail.  (Deirdre Donahue)

The New Zealand Herald talks about Kate Sylvester's new collection:

Kate Sylvester, whose show is tomorrow night, wanted to move her collection's initial idea along. The original romantic notion of Jane Eyre running off with her lover to live happily ever after in the South of France had yielded a pretty Victorian-inspired look, developed in conjunction with her long-time stylist, Karen Inderbitzen-Waller, who explains: "We've adapted the look. We've done the look-book, the campaign, a little film on it, and now this." This is a more dishevelled look, reflecting that the show is an evening event in a bar, rather than pitched at trade buyers.

We are still laughing after reading this review on SFX of the James Bond movie The Living Daylights (1987) with Timothy Dalton (who has been both Rochester and Heathcliff in Jane Eyre 1983 and Wuthering Heights 1970 respectively) playing Bond:

Yes, there are moments when he plays it like Heathcliff confronted by a particularly confounding tax return[.] (Nick Setchfield)

This writer at The Rochester Post-Bulletin reminisces about her school years:

Mr. Dyrud, my 12th-grade literature teacher, was so enthusiastic about Emily Brontë’s "Wuthering Heights" — diagraming the novel’s plot on the board with wild, chalk-dusty swipes of his arm — that I’d go to bed early at night just to curl up with the next chapter. (Jennifer Koski)

Tygodnik Powszechny (Poland) reviews the two Anne Brontë novels, Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall:

Bohaterka przetrwa te próby i doczeka się nagrody, jednak nad jej historią, mimo pokrzepiającego happy endu, unosi się aura smutku. Nie ma tu wielkich namiętności, jest precyzyjnie i nie bez ironii sportretowana codzienność wczesnowiktoriańskiej prowincji oraz niewesołe, a miejscami drapieżne studium charakterów – widać, że Anne Brontë, która sama była przez kilka lat guwernantką, szkicowała je z natury... (...)
Postać Helen Huntingdon wykracza poza konwencje epoki: młoda kobieta wypowiada wojnę obowiązującym regułom, decyduje się uciec od męża, zabierając ze sobą synka, by uchronić go przed deprawacją. Jest to zresztą jedyna droga w świecie, w którym małżeństwo oznacza dla kobiety „zaprzedanie się w niewolę” (to cytat!). Wagi symbolu nabiera scena, w której Arthur na oczach bezsilnej żony demonstracyjnie pali w kominku jej przybory malarskie i szkice... I choć Helen pozostaje do końca postacią nieznośnie wręcz szlachetną, a jej cnota doczeka się ziemskiej nagrody, w chwili ukazania się powieść Anne Brontë wywołała u wielu zgorszenie. Dziś nadal warta jest lektury, podobnie jak dzieła dwóch sławniejszych sióstr. (Translation)

Pasje i fascynacje mola książkowego...nie tylko literackie... and Zakurzona Pólka (in Polish) also review Agnes Grey.

El Correo Vasco (Spain) reviews the Spanish DVD edition of Jane Eyre 2011:

Una cámara sobria, unas iluminaciones matizadas, un tono intimista y unos decorados sin excesivos barroquismos, ayudan a degustar 'Jane Eyre' sin complejos. Asimismo, la creación de una atmósfera gótica contribuye al éxito de la empresa, sensible y nada folletinesca. Porque la elegante ironía de su máximo responsable, la ternura con que contempla a sus protagonistas y la conmovedora forma con que estos son encarnados por la actriz australiana, de ascendencia polaca, Mia Wasikowska (la pudimos ver en 'Alicia en el país de las maravillas') y el actor irlandés, de ascendencia alemana, Michael Fassbender (al que ahora mismo podemos admirar en 'Prometheus') convierten a la película en una notable reflexión sobre la dificultad de amar y ser amado. (Antón Merikaetxebarria) (Translate)

Artezblai discusses music in the stage:

Actualmente en la creación de cine y teatro está plenamente asumido que la música resulta crucial cuando se trata de tocar el lado emotivo del espectador. Tanto que incluso no habiendo música en sentido estricto, muchos creadores utilizan los sonidos con la delicadeza con la que se compone una banda sonora. En cine un ejemplo admirable es la última película de Andrea Arnold, una versión contemporánea de "Cumbres borrascosas", cuya música está hecha de vientos de montaña y de las respiraciones de los personajes. (Borja Ruiz) (Translation)

Rattling On... posts pictures of a visit to Haworth; Silver Pencils has read Jane Eyre; ShelbyLee is daydreaming... reviews now Jane Eyre 1983; poetictouch2012 uploads to YouTube a reading of Fall, Leaves, Fall.