Passion

IndigoMedusa · Passion

Anyone know where I can find the quote where Sondheim says that Fosca isn't supposed to be likable, and the only thing that should endear the audience to her is her love for Giorgio?

Barberous

Not that exact quote, but here's a question and (different?) answer on the same topic from http://www.sondheim.com/features/stephen_sondheim.html :

Q: I saw Passion in previews and the audience reaction was decidedly mixed. It seems that the audience had problems with Fosca's passive-aggressive behavior, and so do I. Isn't her love too obsessive to be held up as something to be lauded as noble (or, worse, as something to be emulated?)? Certainly her love, unrestrained by reason, leads her to insanity and death. Is the audience supposed to find this noble or praiseworthy? Shouldn't love be tempered by some reason?

SS: Obviously, I don't agree with you and what you assume the audience had problems with. I don't think that's what they have problems with so much, but the point is, you say, "Isn't her love too obsessive to be held up as something to be lauded as noble?" When do I call it noble? When do I laud it? I'm writing about it. "...as something to be lauded," you say, "or worse, as something to be emulated." Where do I say it should be emulated? You're reading things in. We told a story. It's a story about this woman and how her love changes that man, and it's not an essay. It's like people who think that Sweeney Todd is about "man devouring man," forgetting that the man who sings that line is an insane murderer in the middle of a manic state; and they think it's the author's point of view.

You say "shouldn't love be tempered by some reason?" That's not a question to a songwriter, that's just a question to another human being. It's not should love be anything. There are kinds of love, and kinds of love. You keep looking for a sampler to sew. It's like being in high school and being taught that Macbeth is about overweening ambition. That's one of the things it's about, and how it can lead to bad things, but that isn't the only thing it's about.

You're right on the nose when you say the mistress never learns this lesson but Giorgio does. The second paragraph seems to contradict your first paragraph. Maybe you changed your mind as you thought about it.

Pannic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f60zuJnYrTU

I think it's there. Long interview he did.

IndigoMedusa	Passion Anyone know where I can find the quote where Sondheim says that Fosca isn't supposed to be likable, and the only thing that should endear the audience to her is her love for Giorgio?
Barberous	Not that exact quote, but here's a question and (different?) answer on the same topic from http://www.sondheim.com/features/stephen_sondheim.html : Q: I saw Passion in previews and the audience reaction was decidedly mixed. It seems that the audience had problems with Fosca's passive-aggressive behavior, and so do I. Isn't her love too obsessive to be held up as something to be lauded as noble (or, worse, as something to be emulated?)? Certainly her love, unrestrained by reason, leads her to insanity and death. Is the audience supposed to find this noble or praiseworthy? Shouldn't love be tempered by some reason? SS: Obviously, I don't agree with you and what you assume the audience had problems with. I don't think that's what they have problems with so much, but the point is, you say, "Isn't her love too obsessive to be held up as something to be lauded as noble?" When do I call it noble? When do I laud it? I'm writing about it. "...as something to be lauded," you say, "or worse, as something to be emulated." Where do I say it should be emulated? You're reading things in. We told a story. It's a story about this woman and how her love changes that man, and it's not an essay. It's like people who think that Sweeney Todd is about "man devouring man," forgetting that the man who sings that line is an insane murderer in the middle of a manic state; and they think it's the author's point of view. You say "shouldn't love be tempered by some reason?" That's not a question to a songwriter, that's just a question to another human being. It's not should love be anything. There are kinds of love, and kinds of love. You keep looking for a sampler to sew. It's like being in high school and being taught that Macbeth is about overweening ambition. That's one of the things it's about, and how it can lead to bad things, but that isn't the only thing it's about. You're right on the nose when you say the mistress never learns this lesson but Giorgio does. The second paragraph seems to contradict your first paragraph. Maybe you changed your mind as you thought about it.
Pannic	http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f60zuJnYrTU I think it's there. Long interview he did.

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