Rodelinda - a tale of obsession

I was fortunate to go to the opera last night to see Rodelinda by Handel at The Coliseum.

As I've previously mentioned, I'm no opera buff which is partly why I'm drawn to going to the opera so I can learn more about it and why and how it stands the test of time. It's certainly out of my comfort zone. I don't enjoy it in the same way I enjoy a musical like School of Rock or a play like Ink (I've seen both recently and both are excellent by the way and well worth seeing). But I do get enjoyment from opera most of the time. And this was one of those times.

I've never heard of Rodelinda and I had no idea that Handel even wrote any operas which shows you where my level of knowledge is. I'm familiar with The Messiah and Zadok the Priest but not much else by Handel. I don't even know very much about Handel as a composer so I was intrigued as to what I would be watching. At the very least I knew it would be good as it's the ENO, but whether I would like it is another matter.I needn't have worried. This production is very enjoyable indeed with beautiful singing, stunning set and great acting.

Director Richard Jones has brought the story of Rodelinda forward to Fascist Italy and brings attention to the obsessional element of the story. The King of Milan, Bertarido, is deposed and sends word that he has died with a view to returning in disguise to save his wife, Rodelinda, and son, Flavio. Meanwhile Grimoaldo has seized the thrown and has designs on Roselinda for his wife. Garibaldo, one of Grimoaldo's allies, has designs on the throne himself and plots with Eduige to do so. Eduige complies as she's furious with Grimoaldo for making a play for Roselinda when he's already betrothed to her. Unulfo is working for Grimoaldo but secretly helping Bertarido.

The common theme that I took from the opera is that of obsession. Grimoaldo is obsessed by Roselinda. In this production he has secret cameras set up to follow her every move whilst she is imprisoned. He spends his days lusting after her and working out ways to win her for himself. Eduige is obsessed by Grimoaldo. She wants him for herself because she wants the power he already has and the power he has taken in usurping the throne. Bertarido's obsession is his wife, and to a lesser extent, his son. Garibaldo is obsessed with power. He will go to any lengths to get it, including violence. Unulfo is secretly obsessed by Bertarido which means he's happy to double cross his boss, Grimoaldo. Roselinda is tormented by her grief at losing her husband, Bertarido.

All this obsession results in circular thinking, plots and subterfuge and violence and threat of violence and unintended consequences. It shows the audience how skewed we become when consumed by obsession of any kind. The story is more gripping than I was expecting - much enabled by the set and 1940s setting and the intense atmosphere it portrayed.

What was surprising was how the very old but beautiful style of music was juxtaposed with the modern setting but still worked really well. The orchestra were using instruments of the day and that even included recorders (who knew that the recorder could sound so beautiful!). The singing is also of its day. The good guys (Bertarido and Ufulfo) are countertenors and are hitting high notes as high as the female singers. And it was very beautiful and full of emotion and was definitely masculine despite the high register. What also worked well was the repetition of phrases in the singing. This added to the intensity of the scenes and accentuated each one's obsession. What I also loved about the production was the wit in both the translation of the libretto and the acting in some of the scenes. There were some laugh out loud moments which balances out the darker themes in the opera.

I won't tell you any more of the story here. Rather, you can google for a more detailed synopsis, or better still, go and see the opera for yourself. It's running until 15 November at The Coliseum. You can book tickets here.

Tonight, I went to a talk about the future of blogging and communications in a world of AI. I'll write about that tomorrow and revisit some of the work I did on that a couple of years ago.

Also, Day 2 of NaBloPoMo done! Thanks for reading.

Monday musings

I’m still not quite sure what day it is after my lovely holiday at Glastonbury Festival. But while I get myself together again and back into the swing of mobile things, I thought I’d share a few things that have caught my attention recently.

Mobile Developer Economics – a comprehensive free report from Vision Mobile and Telefonica. Check it out if you’re making decisions on which platform to develop for and would like to know how and why your peers made the decisions they did.

A round-up of what Windows Phone 7 will mean to the application developer landscape.

British mobile application designers share their top tips for creating a hit app.

Is youth marketing your thing? Are you aiming for a youth audience? If so, then these insights into media habits of 8 to 18 year olds is well worth a look.

UK newspaper circulation down by 25% and US newspaper circulation down by 30% since 2007. Article and link to full OECD report here. Meanwhile the Economist tells us that it’s not all over for print.

Really interesting reading here on MLearning from Dr Mimi Ito. This is live-blogged from the recent MLearnCon in San Diego. There are lessons to be learned here as well for marketing communications people too as it gives great insight into changing consumer habits.

InMobi sets up a $2m fund for mobile developers. This means that they’re offering 100% revenue share until the $2m is spent. Seems like a good idea to me if you’re using advertising to fund or part-fund your mobile site or application.

Fancy including travel tools ‘n stuff into your mobile app? Well you can, now that TFL has lifted all restrictions on the use of its data.

And now for something completely different.

If you like Opera and Horror, then why not apply to create the music for Werewolf in London from the ENO. It’s free to attend and they’re looking for musicians and singers to help create the soundtrack. It’s all happening on Sunday 25th July in London’s Docklands.

It’s Monday, there must be some (mobile) stuff going on

It’s Monday night and normally at this time, I would be concluding our Mobile Monday session in anticipation of chat and mingling at the bar afterwards. However, due to an inordinate amount of snow (there’s over a foot of it in my garden in South West London) and a distinct lack of public transport available, we’ve had to postpone tonight’s event until next week. So rather than deprive you of your mobile fix entirely, I thought I’d share a few things I’ve been reading about mobile-wise of late.

Long form video content appeals which surprises those who are still fixated on the ‘snacking’ element of mobile entertainment. Of course there is still a case for ‘snacking’ on mobile, but much mobile internet usage, especially since the advent of the iphone, is actually at home and complementing other media usage. There’s more discussion about there being more than one mobile context here.

If mobile entertainment, video or otherwise, is your bag, then you could do worse than head to London to see Ralph Simon in action at E.Factor’s event on 23rd February. It’s free for members to attend and £28 for non-members.

Tonight, we *had* planned to talk about the role of widgets in the future of the mobile web. Instead, you’ll have to make do with Vodafone Betavine’s widget competition. Betavine, a Vodafone Group R&D lab, is offering mobile developers a chance to win £20,000 in a new mobile widget competition. The competition opens today and runs until 30th April. The rules are very simple and seems like a great opportunity to me.

Opera claims that 9 out of 10 mobile internet users are male. I think this research is somewhat skewed. Research I’ve been looking at shows that smartphone usage, including the iphone, is heavily male skewed which probably explains the figures that Opera is reporting. Overall, however, the mobile internet is older and more female than you might expect. At least that’s what the nice people at m:metrics shared with me recently.

And last but not least…

Despite the snow, my friend, Oli Barrett, made a valiant effort at the crack of dawn to launch his Make Your Mark With a Tenner competition. Possibly not the best day of the year to choose to launch your new campaign, but nevertheless, it’s got picked up on by The Telegraph. It’s a really simple premise, 25,000 kids will get given a tenner and a month to go and make money with it. Oli explains it all here.

Technorati Tags: mobile,opera,opera mini,statistics,report,video,entertainment,mobile content,links,linkage

Oh dear oh dear, those premium rate scams aren't going away

See to the end of the post to get the latest updates on the story.

The recent premium rate TV scams just won't go away (Richard and Judy, Channel 5, and even Blue Peter et al). TV production companies (for they are not blameless) as well as mobile services companies have had their knuckles well and truly rapped by ICSTIS and having their names trailed through the press. But it seems the media hasn't had enough, and they may well be right.

Tonight, at 8.30pm, on the BBC, there's going to be a Panorama programme which alleges that 1000s of GMTV viewers (GMTV is a very popular morning chatshow for all you non-UK readers out there) have been ripped off to the tune of £45k per day (that's allegedly £10m a year) by entering competitions they had no hope of winning. What's even worse, is that they allege that the telecoms firm behind it, Opera, knew all about it for the last FOUR years. The BBC news report summarises it here where there's also a link to a video clip about it. And Brand Republic and The Guardian cover it too.

To say it's not looking good for GMTV or Opera is an understatement whether or not they are guilty - it's trial by media and who knows what the *real* truth is but there will be a general feeling of there's no smoke without fire so I'll be watching with great interest. And the word on the street is that Channel 4 is planning it's own Despatches programme on the same issue. So it's not terribly good for the premium rate industry as a whole. So I suspect there'll be a lot of discussion at World Telemedia this week in Amsterdam about how it affects us all in the industry - both client and supplier-side.

There's already some good debate on the issue over at SMStextnews (although I don't agree with some of it - but read for yourself and contribute and make up your own mind).

I suppose the good news is that the public now understand their chances of actually winning anything in these competitions (the odds are slim), the roles ICSTIS and OFCOM play in regulating this area (OFCOM is already providing more specific guidance on 'impossible' quiz questions like the infamous 'What's in a ladies handbag? Ans: A rawl plug.') and forcing the premium rate telecoms suppliers to clean up their act and put proper audit processes and systems in place. And long overdue that is.

This one ain't over yet.

Update: Opera has a statement on its website about the situation...

"Earlier this year Opera Interactive Technology took positive steps to improve its administration procedures and can confirm that all competition contestant entries throughout the entire competition period are now considered equally and fairly, whether handled directly by Opera Interactive Technology or by its telecommunications partners, using a randomised computer programme.

This process implemented as at 1st March 2007 has been observed and reviewed by Deloitte’s and has been successfully passed as satisfactory and in full compliance with the latest ICSTIS guidelines.

Opera has in no way benefited financially from any errors in procedure in the past and will continue to keep its processes in line with any future OFCOM or ICSTIS guidelines.

Opera Interactive Technology has today removed relevant staff from normal duties with regard to GMTV competitions pending further investigation."

Update 2: GMTV dumps Opera Opera declines to comment. And these are the same people who won an award for 'best management team' from the folks who compile the annual Media Momentum list. Hmm.