The Infernal Comedy: Confessions of a Serial Killer came to Berkeley on Friday for one night, starring John Malkovich juxtaposed against Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra and two sopranos who proved to be good sports--Louise Fribo and Martene Grimson, each destined to wear a bra tightened around her pretty neck. It’s quality not quantity I always say. Directed by Austrian or should I say Viennesian Michael Sturminger, who is about Malkovich’s age, Malkovich seems to find that it is still hard being him as he plays a real womanizing murderer of prosititutes named Jack Unterweger, posthumously on book tour. This is a Malkovichian piece, twisted, quirky, dark and crass—a little good humored deflation being just what the opera world needs sometimes. There's the sight gag of seeing divas strangled . . .
For a statement on things Unterwegean by Malkovich, click here: Infernal Comedy.
However. Viennesian Jack Unterweger conned the Austrian justice system, the public, the intelligentsia and the literary world from Austria to Los Angeles, only to cheat all yet again out of justice by hanging himself in prison the second time he was found guilty. It's a pretty good indictment of liberal intellectuals including the media. To be fair it's a good indictment of conservatives who may have judged the serial killer less harshly than they would a Ted Bundy since Unterweger killed prostitutes and not college girls. In any event . . .
Malkovich as the lady killer dressed dapper in a loose summer white suit and cheerful black and white polka dot shirt and sunglasses, performing as Unterweger trying to hawk his life story, speaking directly to the full house at Zellerbach Auditorium on that warm summer evening. Outside the campus was alive with a water polo match and cheering along with a DJ getting the Bears’ Lair crowd on their feet.
Inside, Musica Angelica positioned a full Baroque orchestra on stage behind Malkovich and performed lovely selections illustrating the complex components of the serial killer’s personality, although not explaining his motivations except that he is bad in so many ways. Each song is the soundtrack to a chapter Unterweger reads or discusses from his autobiography, on a simple folding table center stage comically in front of the orchestra with English subtitles playing overhead.
Reason to celibate?
The real Unterweger indeed wrote a book in prison about his ostensible rehabilitation, called Purgatory. To hear Malkovich tell it, Purgatory is fifteen years in prison with no sex with women although he knows those on the outside live sexless lives as well. They choose to have their cake and not eat it, he says mirthfully. He turns to a woman in the front row and asks when she last had sex. It is now 7:30, he says.
Dead composers, no harpsichord
The book introduction comes with a Gluck selection from Don Juan. Chapter two, Where to Begin, it’s a Boccherini selection La Casa del Diavolo from Symphony in D minor, G. Chapter 3, Mother: Vivaldi’s song about a scorned wife, Sposa son Disprezzata. Mozart for the Womanizer chapter, Gluck and Beethoven for the writer chapter, Haydn for the Liar chapter, Carl Maria von Weber for the Killer chapter, and for the exit, more Mozart.
Given the Mozart, a little harpsichord would have been nice. Lighthearted and comical so appropriate.
All came from dead composers who lived in the 1700s, although Vivaldi was born in 1678. Are they rolling in their graves?
I don't even like this kind of music
I don’t even like this kind of music, complained Malkovich as Unterweger on book tour. It was something the publicist dreamed up. He is not a good sport. Malkovich himself has no musical training, which was music to my ears since I have precious little either. I studied sociology at Berkeley. Fortunately Danish soprano Louise Fribo and soprano Martene Grimson do, performing with not only grace as wife, mother, victim . . . but also with comic timing even as Malkovich brought out sexy bras and put them on each singer, as Unterweger strangled the prostitutes with their own bras. Louise seemed the spunkier of the two showing a tolerance for Malkovich’s physical comedy. Martene will appear in another collaboration with Malkovich and Sturminger called The Giacomo Variations.
Italian
Speaking of Italian arias, my companion Giovanni, a young man from Rome, had just attended a lovely artsy version of Don Giovanni with me at SF Opera and it was so exhaustingly long that one man commented, just kill him and go home. My companion Giovanni made it through but even being from Rome could not understand the three hours of Italian. So I had promised my friend that Malkovich would be mercifully shorter. Gio and I took our seats, Malkovich emerged at eight p.m. and the opera began. Italian, Gio turned to me and said.
Tickets to The Infernal Comedy ranged from $30 to $150 dollars with various discounts available from Cal Performances. There is a DVD, out since 2010.
For more information, call Cal Performances at (510) 642-9988, or visit the Cal Performances web site at www.calperformances.org.
For select performances, Cal Performances offers UCB student, faculty and staff, senior and community rush tickets. Rush tickets are announced two hours prior to a performance and are available in person only at the Ticket Office beginning one hour before the performance; quantities may be limited. Rush ticket sales are limited to one ticket per person; all sales are cash only. Rush ticket prices are $10.00 for UCB students; $15.00 for UCB faculty and staff (UCB ID required) and seniors age 65 or older; and $20.00 for all other community members. Information is available at 510-642-9988, press 2 for the rush hotline, two hours prior to a performance only.
For more articles by this writer, check out the San Francisco Opera blog.
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