Psychological Precision: Gotz Spielmann’s 'Revanche' 1; William Styron and Nicholas Maw’s 'Sophie’s Choice' – Less Than One

Two Saturdays ago, I attended the 11 AM screening of Gotz Spielmann's "Revanche" (Revenge/Reconciliation). This past weekend, I listened at 1 PM -- for the third time -- to the late Nicholas Maw's almost three-hour operatic treatment of William Styron's psychologically imprecise and problematic novel "Sophie's Choice". The music has grown on me, while the psychological imprecision has also grown on me (the basically acceptable to me idea of centering a Holocaust-era novel, film, and opera on a Polish Catholic young woman, aside).

Photo credit: (c) Lukas Beck / Janus Films 2009. Copyright controlled.