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Bringing Opera to the People
Jan. 18th, 2010 10:10 amMy mom sent me the link to this... opera singers disguised as shopkeepers start singing Verdi's Il Travatore (mid-sale, no less) at the market in Valencia.
Recently Heard: The Fairy Queen
May. 16th, 2008 12:40 pmPurcell - The Fairy Queen / Hunt, Pierard, Bickley, Crook, Padmore, Wilson-Johnson, Wistreich, Schütz Choir, LCP, Norrington
While I have a number of operas in my collection, most are from the romantic period - to be fair, early, middle, and late romantic works are represented, but not a single Mozartian or Beethovian or Otherwisian (save two more modern pieces, one an oratorio
by Paul McCartney, the other a vampire opera
with a heavily synthesized orchestra).Henry Purcell's The Fairy Queen is definitely a first for me - an opera from the Baroque period. I've heard the overture before, and it is a beautiful work - fits in nicely with Bach and Haydn and other harpsichord-centric pieces of that era.
On first listen, without paying the libretto any mind, some Mozart operas come to mind, or perhaps it would be better to stick with works of the period. Upon paying attention, though, a difference becomes clear: no Latin, Italian, or German for the libretto: it's in English.
Now I've gone on record for having a dislike of using English in a libretto - it often shows off that music is the strong point and the words are, well, somewhere between puerile and pure cheese. The writing here seems Shakespearian, and I suppose there's good reason for that: the text, while not transcribed from, was heavily influenced by A Midsummer Night's Dream
. In this case, it's presented as a series of entertainments for Titania and, later, the mortals.Although there are indications that some of the quaintness of Shakespeare's language was stripped away as a side-effect of the Restoration, there's enough that made it through - likely on account of the language of that day still seeming antiquated by todays standards - that it deflects some of the corniness that might otherwise come through.
The first line that really caught my ear was "Hold you damn'd tormenting Punk, I do confess-" "What, what?" "I'm Drunk, as I live Boys, I'm Drunk." And you just can't get any better than that.
Well, except when the chorus comes in a short while later with: "Pinch him, pinch him for his Crimes, His Nonsense, and his Dogrel Rhymes."
Recently Heard: The Cunning Little Vixen
Oct. 25th, 2006 12:51 pmThe Cunning Little Vixen composed by Leos Janacek, performed by Lucia Popp, Eva Randova, Dalibor Jedlicka, and the Wiener Philharmoniker conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras
I first discovered Janacek's music in the best way possible - I used to keep WCRB on at night, and I half-awoke one night to some eerie, beautiful, ethereal choral vocals: quiet, just fading out. Mmmmm... I started to close my eyes... and suddenly a wild organ toccata charged in! Very dark tonalities - first chorus, now pipe organ, it was like the piece was written for me. Of course, I already thought this before the strings and horns came in for the finale of the Glagolitic - or Slavonic, depending on who you believe - Mass.
Of course, when they announced the piece by "Yanacheck" I dutifully wrote that down and proceeded to not find it until I realized it was actually "Yana-" with a J. Since then, I've collected a number of pieces, including his two most popular pieces, the Sinfonietta and Taras Bulba. I chanced to catch some of Janacek on the Met or some other program one evening, and toddler-Justin and I listened intently and liked it.
This, my second Janacek opera, actually has even more of the darker sonorities that I associate with Eastern European music in general and Janacek in particular. The recording includes the opera and the orchestral suite across two discs, although the suite isn't isolated on that second disc so listenings to the opera tend to go right into the suite, which isn't such a bad thing.
Although the Mackerras is one of the few recordings you can find of this work on CD, it also has an exceptional reputation, but my experience with the conductor has been a bit touch and go, and for a long time I avoided picking this up for that reason alone.
I finally came across it for the right price and could resist no longer - glad I broke down, as it is a great performance. I haven't done more than give cursory glances to the libretto, but it follows a folktale-like setting, a humorous story of a fox and a hunter. This performance was done in the original language - Czech, if I recall correctly. I absolutely can't abide by recordings of works written in language A performed in language B, especially when language B is English and you realize *exactly* how weak the libretto really is... I can get the gist of the story by reading about it; I can learn bits and pieces of however many languages the booklet is translated into; and it sounds much more beautiful in the language the composer intended.
A worthy addition to any opera collection.
Osvaldo Golijov: Ainadamar
Dawn Upshaw and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra conducted by Robert Spano
In my opinion, this is flat-out the best modern opera I have heard. Of course, I'm partial to guitar playing in general and flamenco in particular, and this work uses them in very effective ways - not just the guitars, but the percussive and vocal elements as well. William Kanensinger and Andrew York of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet provide some of that power and finesse - both exceptional players, and the former a nice guy to talk with as well as the Steve Vai-trumping classical player in the guitar showdown at the climax of Crossroads.
The Gunshot Interlude is a particularly effective use of sound effects (a gunshot, and the bullet ejecting from the chamber) in telling the story. And just as that shifts into a rhythmic pattern, the flamenco vocals just rip your heart out and help you picture the scene.
I'm only about three listens into this so far - and I've yet to go in-depth into the lyrics or the plot - but I tend not to expect anything impressive in a libretto. Might be why I prefer to listen to opera in its native language, and why I prefer not to listen to operas where the native language is English. This one *looks* good so far, though, and no cheesiness has jumped out and said, "Hey! Here I am!" at this time. To be honest, I am afraid to look further, and may not decide if the story is worthy of those 5 letters or not.
I do know that this will be the opera I listen to most frequently, and it will rank higher in the playlist than a lot of choral pieces which get fairly frequent replays.
It might be just the thing if you like opera and were thinking maybe you'd like to explore flamenco, or if you like older operas but squirm at the thought of listening to a modern opera, or if you like flamenco and would like to explore opera but don't know where to start... or if you're not a listener of one or the other but appreciate good music.
