47 new of 221 responses total.
Thanks, Ken.
Ken & Leslie might enjoy an article from this week's Onion:
"Finest Opera Singer of Her Generation Unknown By Her Generation"
http://www.theonion.com/onion3703/opera_singer.html
My favorite quote:
Raised by symphony violinists Celeste and Antonio Coletti,
young Alessandra grew up surrounded by opera and classical music.
"My earliest memories are listening to Enrico Caruso 78s on my
parents' Victrola," Coletti said. "When I was seven, they took me
to see Renata Babek in 'La Gioconda.' What a thrill that was.
I remember asking my mother why there were no other children in
the audience. She told me they were all across town at Carnegie
Hall watching Tchaikovsky's 'Queen Of Spades.'"
Coming up: a regional double helping of Jacques Offenbach. The spring UM student production is "La Perichole," which opens March 22 at Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre. And then in June, Michigan Opera Theatre offers "Tales of Hoffmann."
I didn't expect to like "Tales of Hoffman" but I found it quite interesting. (when I saw it performed by Opera Grand Rapids a few years ago, that is..)
Why would you expect to not like "Tales of Hoffman"?
Because the only works I'd heard by Offenbach up to that time didn't thrill me and because I read a poor summary of the libretto that made it sound like a sequence of unrelated vignettes.
It would be interesting to see (and hear) how that would be done. If it has been, it would make a good "Opera Quiz" question - name the opera that is a sequence of unrelated vignettes. Certainly, some ballets are like that.
Well, to some extent "Tales From Hoffman" comes pretty close -- it's made up of three stories which I presume were not written to be connected in any way, but in the process of adapting them to operatic form the librettist added a connecting framework which ties them together as elements of an outer story about the relationship between an artist and his muse.
I don't see it that way. In the prologue, Hoffman is asked to tell about the three love encounters of his life, which is what he does in the succeeding three acts. This is a very common structure of both novels and autobiographies. I certainly think that everything is tied together by the protagonist, Hoffman. (The text, by the way, is of course not by Offenbach, but by Jules Barbier, who was a very famous librettist.) There a other threads that tie the three main acts together. They all have an antagonist - a "malignant influence" - Spalanzani in the first act, and Dr. Miracle in the others. They all have "heroines" of great artistic skill - a dancer, a coquette, and a singer. They all end with specific disillusionments for Hoffman. AND...all that provides marvelous excuses for beautiful music and songs! Where's my recording....
A link formed of somebody telling some otherwise unrelated stories is a good way to ... um ... to link together some otherwise unrelated stories. (And black is black, and white is white.) It is indeed a very common strategy, but it doesn't make the stories any less unrelated.
[Psst. Just agree with him, David.]
(md is my Dr. MIracle.....) Would you explain, please, David, how the stories are unrelated when they all involve the same protagonist (Hoffman), the same antagonist (called Spalazani or Dr. Miracle, both out to ruin Hoffman's fun), and the same type of love objects, false, unobtainable, or fickle? The three acts are practically the *same* story.
Why don't you ask Mike McNally that question, Rane? He's the one who was talking about "The Tales of Hoffman". I was making a general comment on the linking together of unrelated stories.
Sorry, I thought you were making an observation relevant to Tales of Hoffman. What opera were you referring to? mcnally?
My understanding is that the libretto was adapted from several stories whose only original connection is that they were written by E.T.A. Hoffmann and feature the several common elements you mention. (I just noticed I've been leaving out an "n" for several responses now..) I haven't read the original stories, but I was under the impression that it is the invention of the librettist that Hoffman has replaced the original protagonists of the three stories chosen, as is the story of Hoffman's choice between his muse and the opera singer Stella.
(Looks like you had a relapse in the second paragraph, too.)
errata: n n n n n n n <please distribute as needed..>
McNally is correct in #189, that what Barbier did was make E T A Hoffmann himself the 'hero' of adventures adapted from several separate stories written by Hoffmann. I guess it is time for us all to read the original tales to determine whether the commonalities between the middle acts in Barbier libretto are also present in the original tales. Quite a few anthologies of Hoffmann's "Weird Tales" have been published. Apparently he was an early Kafka in writing bizarre tales.
Sunday afternoon we saw UM School of Music's production of "La Perichole," by Jacques Offenbach, which I gather isn't performed often these days. We really weren't sure why, since in both book and music it's easily the equal of the Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, though "Perichole" has a sexual edge which the Victorian G&S audience would never have accepted. The story is set in colonial Lima, Peru, though the conceit of the production designer was to turn Lima into a 1950's seaside resort. La Perichole is an impoverished street singer who would like to marry Paquillo, another singer, but they can't afford the money for a marriage license. While Perichole and Paquillo are separated by the machinations of the plot, the Viceroy of Peru spies Perichole and decides to rescue her from hunger and install her in the palace as his new mistress. Of course proprieties must be observed: no unmarried woman can live in the palace. So.... (and on and on and on...) The music was lush and delightful throughout, and I think the score was better suited to the young student voices than many UM productions have been. One thing which startled me was the age of the audience. Almost everyone had white hair, and lots of the audience had mobility problems. "Well, at least you only need a cane and not a wheelchair!" said one of our neighbors to another. I don't know if this was because it was the Sunday matinee, or because it was Offenbach. One elderly gentleman seated behind us made a comment in the last act when The Old Prisoner appeared in the dungeon: "Oh, he's a *great* character." So he, at least, had seen this show before!
I saw "La Perichole" once. Comparing your reactions to mine, I guess I have the gene for enjoying Gilbert & Sullivan, but not any other light opera. I don't like "Die Fledermaus" or "The Merry Widow" either.
Wow, I never write reviews any more on stuff I have seen. Sigh. Upcoming: Friday, July 13: the Arbor Opera Theater, a local company which Leslie has been doing some singing with, performs two 45-minute chamber operas: Leonard Bernstein's "Trouble in Tahiti" and Gian Carlo Menotti's "The Telephone." 8 p.m., $10, at the Vitosha bed & breakfast & arts center (the former Unitarian Church), 1917 Washtenaw Avenue. "Trouble in Tahiti" is about a crumbling marriage, in a setting using lots of 1950s cultural idioms. I saw a student production of it about a decade ago and it's a favorite work of mine.
The chamber opera presentation (resp:195) was cancelled. Apologies if anyone showed up for it besides me.
how was The Telephone? (MEnotti's one of my favs.)
Haven't seen it; the performance I was going to see was cancelled. Arbor Opera Theater are doing "The Telephone" and "Trouble In Tahiti" Thursday-Sunday at the Ann Arbor Civic Theater on Washington St., which I think is the old Performance Network space. I plan to see the presentation Thursday.
which show is Leslie in?
Leslie is in neither of these shows; Leslie is coming to the end of a four week opera workshop in the Czech Republic, in the towns of Kromeriz and Karlovy Vary.
it's nice to be an audience on occassion. (:
I saw Arbor Opera Theater's production of these shows today at the old Performance Network/new Civic Theater. Both were highly enjoyable and well-executed. I'll plan to attend other Arbor Opera productions in the future.
Forgot to put this in earlier. The first performance of this show has already run. This is the U.Michigan School of Music fall opera presentation. I think it's an excellent modern opera, we saw it in Montreal about four years ago. >Nov. >8-11 Opera Theatre Department: "The Consul" by Gian Carlo Menotti >Thu-Sun Power Center for the Performing Arts > 8:00 PM Thu-Sat/2:00 PM Sun. > Directed by Joshua Major. Conducted by Kenneth Kiesler. > The Consul tells the tale of a family trying to flee > political tyranny in Eastern Europe. Sung > in English. Tickets are available at the League Ticket > Office for $20 (center > orchestra/balcony), $15 (rear orchestra/ balcony); students > with proper ID can purchase > tickets for $7. For more information, call 764-2538. Also running this weekend is UMS presenting Gluck's opera "Orfeo & Eurydice," with spectacular Polish contralto Ewa Podles singing Friday and Sunday performances.
We saw the Saturday presentation of "The Consul." This was Gian Carlo Menotti's 1950 opera set in Eastern Europe in the early days of the cold war. Overall this was a very good production from the UM School of Music. The dream & hypnotism sequences still seem to have dated a bit for me, but those are in the book, not unique to this presentation, and we felt the final dream sequence was better in this production than in the one we saw in Montreal. The main story is still pretty chilling and sad. The set of the Consul's waiting room was monumental -- one of the best sets I've seen in a UM opera. Behind the desk of the Secretary, the file drawers went up to the roof...
Some housemates of mine say that one and loved it. I spent the weekend in Pittsburgh and missed out. Pity, really. Menotti rocks my world.
Then you will be happy to know that Menotti, himself, (age 90!) will be conducting 'Amahl and the Night Visitors' in Detroit next month. That is, if you live around here. My friend's son will be be one of the two actors portraying Amahl.
Oh wow. Thanks for the tip.
I saw Ewa Podles in something else at Hill a year or two ago. I think it was the Messiah, but I coudl be wrong. She was fantastic. I was hoping to go to O&E, but this work thing is really messing me up.
OK, so it's taken me four months to say something about the UMS production of Gluck's "Orpheus & Eurydice." *sigh*. Seeing this the same weekend as Menotti's "The Consul" was like bookending Western culture, both in theme and in operatic style. Thematically, we leapt from Greek mythology to totalitarian horrors; musically, Gluck is "The Great Reformer" of opera, who is considered to have stripped away all the aspects of opera which were only to showcase the singers, to try to get to presenting drama, and of course Menotti represents almost-the-present-day. Before the 20th century's excavation of Monteverdi's operas, Gluck's works were the oldest ones likely to be performed. Gluck's drama seems kind of slow for contemporary sensibilities, which may be why the dance company was included to perk up the visuals a bit. I think it's an interesting approach and might be fun to apply to some of the Haydn operas which are recorded for their musical beauty, but rarely performed on stage. Eva Podles sang Orpheus, and she's a favorite in our house, ever since she won over the Ann Arbor audience when she filled in for Cecelia Bartoli at Hill Auditorium. Leslie said "she sings like a force of nature." Gluck left one aria in the old florid style for Orpheus to sing, and it was delightful to hear Ms. Podles navigate all those ornaments. I've forgotten the name of the Euridyce; we saw her two years ago as the daughter in Bolcom's "A View From The Bridge." OPERA NEWS gave this production a tremendously enthusiastic review and suggested that it should tour. This was the first time that the University Musical Society had assembled its own opera production, rather than importing one, and we were quite pleased. Having front-row seats was an extra treat.
... and so much for advance warnings on local opera. The University of Michigan School of Music has already opened their spring opera, Rossini's "La Cenenterola," a character better known as Cinderella. At Lydia Mendellsohn Theater through Sunday, I think, check your favorite arts guide. Eskarina mentioned that MSU's music school is performing Offenbach's "Orpheus in the Underworld" this weekend. I have NO details, try to contact the MSU music school if you are interested. And, we completely missed the Comic Opera Guild's production of Mozart's "The Magic Flute," in part because Leslie doesn't like that opera much, and I only like the first act, before the heavy Masonic symbolism comes crashing down like a ton of bricks.
One of the evil stepsisters in Cenerentola (sp?) is the director of the Arts Chorale, that I sing in. I may or may not get to see it this weekend.
The most enjoyable opera production I've seen in recent years was a Berkeley opera production of Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri, with an English-language script that updated the story more than slightly. It was titled "The Riot Grrrl on Mars." Freapin' wonderful. (Hearing James Morris sing Horace Tabor in the San Francisco Opera production of Ballad of Baby Doe was pretty impressive, too.)
Upcoming opera events in the Ann Arbor area: Michigan Opera Theater's production of Verdi's IL TROVATORE runs October 12-20 in Detroit, so now is the time to look into tickets if one is interested. This is a major Verdi opera which we have never seen, so I'm looking forward to it. Leslie tells me the critical consensus is that the music is glorious but the drama is a bit of a mess. I haven't got the rest of the fall MOT schedule handy. Ann Arbor Symphony offers Bizet's CARMEN in a concert presentation (no sets or staging) at the Michigan Theater; Saturday November 9. CARMEN is possibly the most popular opera; one of my opera guidebooks writes that if you don't like CARMEN, maybe you should give up on opera completely and move on to something else. :) I haven't got the dates, but the University of Michigan School of Music fall production is Janacek's THE CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN. And, TV ads report that Andrea Bocelli is singing at The Palace of Auburn Hills, that acoustic wonder. :)
Toledo Opera has Verdi's LA TRAVIATA coming up the weekend of October 5, and MOT's second fall opera in Detroit is DON PASQUALE.
How bad *are* the acoustics in the Palace? I've seen nought but the circus there.
I saw the most amazing thing (to me) on cable TV Sunday morning: On something calling itself the ARTS channel, there was an item (each item lasting a few minutes and having a musical piece accompanied by "something" visual) which in the credits just said "animation" that I can best describe as "claymation". This one happened to be from Rigoletto (Act I, "The affectionate (?) Duke, abduction of Gilda"). The characters seemed to be singing in English. Call me a "hillbilly" :-) but I wouldn't mind actually possessing (or renting) video tapes of such a rendering - the entertainment value was high, and I can appreciate the music. Thoughts?
There was a Claymation Christmas special some years ago that I remember fondly. I liked their "We Three Kings" with the camels singing the chorus.
re 216: there's an entire video of little opera snippets set to animation (I think it's mostly computer animation) call "Opera Imaginaire" or something like that. some of the animation has nothing to do with the music (a la fantasia) and some of it is a little scene from the story. it might be distributed by miramax, but I don't remember.
I've been trying to come up with something to say about the Michigan Opera Theater production of Verdi's IL TROVATORE without much success. Singing in the production was mostly good; acting was just fair. Dramatically this opera is a bit of a mess, probably because the librettest died midway through, if I remember correctly. TROVATORE is one of those improbable opera plots which everyone sneers at: two brothers separated at birth on opposite sides of a civil war, in love with the same woman. It's interesting that TROVATORE is lumped in with two of Verdi's strongest dramas, RIGOLETTO and LA TRAVIATA, all three premiering in a brief period in the early 1840s. What makes TROVATORE worthwhile is the music, which is oriented towards choruses and ensemble pieces, which I love. It's always great to catch up with one of the mid or late-period Verdi operas which I have not seen. Before the show, the director of the company came out to make a pitch for Proposal K, which was (in part) a plan to get the Detroit suburbs to kick in some millage money for the Detroit cultural institutions. "Arts, Parks and Kids" it was called. I didn't hear if it passed. ----- Coming up this weekend: Janacek's THE CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN, presented by UM School of Music. I think it's at Power Center, but I'm not sure. Sung in Czech with projected English titles.
(yes, it's at the power center)
UM School of Music's spring opera offering is DON GIOVANNI. Mozart's setting of the tale of Don Juan is one of the best and most popular operas, and it will be performed in the cozy confines of Lydia Mendelsohn Theater: it's almost guaranteed to sell out. Four performances, March 25-28. Call the League Ticket Office at 734-764-2538 or peek at http:///www.uprod.music.umich.edu
You have several choices: