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| Author |
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| 25 new of 221 responses total. |
krj
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response 125 of 221:
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Oct 27 18:20 UTC 1999 |
Darn. I'd be willing to drive to Grand Rapids for a TURANDOT performance
if our calendar were not already so loaded. We're already seeing
two operas, and maybe three, in the next week.
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orinoco
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response 126 of 221:
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Oct 27 20:44 UTC 1999 |
<...continues to find Ken's dedication impressive>
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dbratman
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response 127 of 221:
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Nov 2 21:32 UTC 1999 |
Ken, have you heard either of Philip Glass's two best operas,
"Satyagraha" and "Akhnaten"? They both have some pretty dandy arias,
beautiful and lyrical. True, they aren't designed to show off the
singer's command of difficult notes, but I find the aim of doing so to
be fairly inimical to beauty in music.
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krj
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response 128 of 221:
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Nov 5 18:47 UTC 1999 |
Haven't heard those two: I've heard large hunks of 'Einstein on the Beach,'
and we saw the 'live' production of 'La Belle et La Bete' where Glass had
a conventional structure imposed on him by the Cocteau film.
Still behind: reports to be written on MOT's controversial WERTHER with
Andrea Bocelli, and Chicago Lyric's staging of Handel's ALCINA.
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mcnally
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response 129 of 221:
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Nov 8 20:25 UTC 1999 |
"Turandot", as presented by Opera Grand Rapids this weekend, was quite
enjoyable.
The music from "Turandot" is fantastic and includes what's probably
one of the most famous arias in all of opera ("Nessun Dorma", which is
so famous you'd almost certainly recognize the melody even if you've
never seen an opera..) and the story is a classic fairy tail.
Highlights of the Opera Grand Rapids production included lavish costume
spectacle and better-than-usual acting from the main leads. The vocal
performances were mostly adequate but not exceptional, according to the
judgment from the my amateur ear and limited perspective) -- I've heard
better, even in Grand Rapids, but there was nothing seriously lacking.
It's just that with such a beautiful score, you really want every note
to be perfect..
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dbratman
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response 130 of 221:
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Nov 9 02:32 UTC 1999 |
Ken: "Einstein on the Beach" is not at all like any of Glass's
subsequent operas: it's the least lyrical and the most hard-core
minimalist, and I would certainly urge you, or any curious person, and
in particular anyone who thinks Glass is tuneless neener-neener all the
time, to try "Satyagraha" or "Akhnaten". There's a single CD called
"Songs from the Trilogy" that samples all three.
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krj
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response 131 of 221:
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Nov 11 19:04 UTC 1999 |
U.Michigan's student production of SUSANNAH, by Carlisle Floyd, opens
tonight and runs through Sunday. SUSANNAH is an American opera
from the 1950s which has surged in popularity in the last five years,
and some people are running around calling it The Great American Opera.
I vaguely recall that it's about sexual repression in a
religiously conservative Southern culture. The show is at Power Center,
and my guess is that seats will be plentiful.
UM student operas are your best bargain in live opera performances.
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krj
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response 132 of 221:
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Nov 12 05:09 UTC 1999 |
Instant review: after a bit of a ragged start the opera pulled together
rather nicely. The setting of a religious revival meeting in the second
act was a powerful thing. Ann Arbor opera fans should take the opportunity
to see something different. :)
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mcnally
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response 133 of 221:
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Nov 12 16:44 UTC 1999 |
I think this Ann Arbor opera fan is going to take the opportunity to
catch up on sleep and do nothing all weekend, but it does sound intriguing..
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davel
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response 134 of 221:
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Dec 6 01:58 UTC 1999 |
I have an instant review, I guess. We went to see UMGASS's production of
Gilbert & Sullivan's _Utopia_Limited_ this afternoon. I wasn't looking
forward to it very much; of all the G&S operas, it's my least favorite, in
terms both of music & of libretto. We wanted to start the kids (who've been
enjoying such recordings as we possess, plus reading the libretti) on G&S,
so we went. We all enjoyed it. It was very well done, with lots of business
to perk up the fairly lame dialogue. Act II especially was tight & moved
well.
The opera had been cut significantly. There was no overture. (I'm not
absolutely sure Utopia has one, but I *thought* it did.) The entire sub-plot
involving the two wise guys' (excuse me, wise *men's*) desire to marry the
princess was removed. This definitely was a good choice. It made the opera
shorter & snappier, removing complications without actually having any real
impact. The wise guys have quite enough going on without this. My sincere
compliments to whoever made this particular decision. There may have been
other cuts I didn't notice. There were a few updatings, all well chosen.
I noticed the following: Zara had been at Cambridge, not Girton; and instead
of:
King: ... You are not making fun of us? This is in accordance with
the practice at the Court of St. James's?
Lord Dram: Well, it is in accordance with the practice at the Court
of St. James's Hall.
the king asked for assurance that it was in accordance with the practice of
business, & was assured that it was in accordance with the practice of *show*
business. (I presume that Girton was used originally because women could not
matriculate at universities in England, at the time.)
My sons, 12 & 9, enjoyed it thoroughly. We had taken the precaution of
reading the libretto in the last couple of days, which was as well - as usual,
some of the vocals were a bit hard to understand. (This goes back to G&S's
day, & is not really to be solved.)
A splendid time was had by all of us.
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davel
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response 135 of 221:
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Dec 8 02:14 UTC 1999 |
(Oh, one more update. The Utopian "strong language", the one that gets
repeated, turned out to be "ting tang walla wanna bing bang". (I had to
explain this to my family.) But obviously this was not what Gilbert
originally wrote.)
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mcnally
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response 136 of 221:
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Dec 8 02:38 UTC 1999 |
who did that "Witch Doctor" song (with "ting tang walla walla bing bang")?
Was that David Seville (of "the Chipmunks" fame)?
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omni
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response 137 of 221:
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Dec 8 08:54 UTC 1999 |
Unfortunatly, yes.
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kewy
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response 138 of 221:
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Dec 9 05:51 UTC 1999 |
I remember singing along with that record for music class in First
grade. What a wonderful music program Willow Run schools had. It was
amazing coming to Ann Arbor from there... but I digress.
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dbratman
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response 139 of 221:
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Dec 15 21:33 UTC 1999 |
The "Court of St. James's Hall" song is by far the best number,
musically, in _Utopia Ltd._, and I'm glad to hear it wasn't cut. I
agree it makes sense to change the joke to "business/show business", as
most people (including me) need a footnote to know that St. James's
Hall was a theatre.
At the time the operetta was written, Girton was a women's college
attached to Cambridge University in most respects except officially,
since officially Cambridge did not admit women. It's now a Cambridge
college like any other, so it makes sense to say that Zara went to
Cambridge.
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krj
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response 140 of 221:
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Feb 9 06:42 UTC 2000 |
Local notes: we just missed a Residential College performance of
Mozart's COSI FAN TUTTE, oops. And this weekend we'll be missing
more Mozart, DON GIOVANNI in Grand Rapids.
Ann Arbor Comic Opera Guild is staging a CARMEN in late February.
Toledo added some folding chairs to the room for their upcoming
Marilyn Horne concert, so Leslie and I graduated from the waiting list.
This appears to be Horne's farewell tour, so we're glad we'll
get in to see it.
And after that, the next opera on our calendar is Wagner's
TRISTAN & ISOLDE in Chicago.
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mcnally
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response 141 of 221:
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Feb 9 16:07 UTC 2000 |
I'll be seeing "Don Giovanni" this weekend. I'll let you know
how it went..
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dbratman
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response 142 of 221:
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Feb 18 21:35 UTC 2000 |
I sat through "Das Rheingold" with pleasure, but I think I'd rather
have teeth pulled than listen to "Tristan und Isolde".
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mcnally
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response 143 of 221:
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Feb 18 21:50 UTC 2000 |
Opera Grand Rapids' production of "Don Giovanni" was pretty enjoyable.
The acting was unexceptional, but the female leads sang well (in what
seemed, to me at least, to be fairly demanding parts) and everything
else was pretty competently handled. (Although the special effects
for Don Giovanni's abduction to Hell were less dramatic, and more cheesy,
than I would've liked)
Overall the production failed to thrill me, but I suspect that's
Mozart's fault, or mine. I've seen three of his operas (Marriage of
Figaro, Magic Flute, and Don Giovanni) and haven't been swept away by
the music in any of them.
One of the things that I thought was interesting about the opera was
how strikingly different the vocal parts are for the men and women --
much of the men's dialog is almost spoken but the women are always
trilling away into song..
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krj
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response 144 of 221:
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Apr 20 03:30 UTC 2000 |
My, I am behind.
The last two weeks have been swallowed up in a haze of THE MIKADO.
This was, as most of you know, the spring production of the University of
Michigan Gilbert & Sullivan Society, and I saw the show five times,
beginning with the dress rehearsal two weeks ago. And the music
has filled my head and driven out everything else since then, so I have
not played a CD for two weeks. I suppose I should learn all the songs,
so I could sing them for my own entertainment in my artless way.
I've been trying for two weeks to think of something intelligible
to write about the show, and I haven't come up with much. As for the
production, I think UMGASS really nailed it. But then I'm prejudiced,
as Leslie sang the part of Katisha, the elderly lady who the hero Nanki-Poo
would rather not marry; and I helped drag in the set, tear down the set,
and generally got lots of peeks into the backstage part of the show.
One moment which I particularly loved is the contrast between the
entrance of the women's chorus, which is written as a lovely serious
number, and the entrance of Yum-Yum and the rest of the Three Little
Maids, which seems straight out of vaudeville. I'm not quite sure how
to characterize those harmonies, almost barber-shop-like.
Anyway, it's been a fun two weeks, but it's probably time to get my head
out of the MIKADO clouds. There's a pile of other CDs here to listen
to, and we have tickets for ROSENKAVALIER this weekend at the Michigan
Opera Theatre, so I should start doing a little studying for that.
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davel
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response 145 of 221:
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Apr 21 01:23 UTC 2000 |
It was a really good production - up to UMGASS's normal high standards.
(We only saw one performance, Sunday matinee.) (I did not recognize
Leslie, whom I think I met once or twice quite a while back, or the
reference to krj in her section of the program notes on the cast.)
Pooh-bah was played especially well, but everyone did well. There were
times when we wondered if Ko-ko had a touch of laryngitis, but other
times he sounded fine. The bit of business he & Leslie did with "Ah,
shrink not from me" was particularly good - more extreme than I've seen
it done before.
We used to see all the UMGASS productions. When the kids were younger,
we saw none. Now all four of us are really enjoying getting back to
them.
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davel
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response 146 of 221:
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Apr 27 20:20 UTC 2000 |
BTW, there was one BIG improvement (relating specifically to Katisha) over
the last UMGASS Mikado we saw. (Remember, there was over a decade's hiatus
in this.) In that Mikado, Katisha was not merely elderly & ugly, but
portrayed as almost demonic - sort of like what Walt Disney did to the wicked
queen in Snow White. Bleah. In the production this month, Katisha was well
done in something more like the part given in the opera.
Personally, I get a bit tired of the endless stream of elderly-old-maid jokes
in Gilbert's librettos. More than a bit. But in any one play, when it's well
done (as this one was), I enjoy it fine. (My standard for doing this well
is an old UMGASS production of Pirates - the one that was released as a
phonograph record. Pretty much everything was especially well done that
year.)
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md
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response 147 of 221:
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Apr 28 12:30 UTC 2000 |
I once wrote a little poem about American Savoyards.
(Present company excluded, just having fun, etc.)
If you're anxious for to shine in an operettic line
In a manner tried and true,
Just appeal to every ass in the British middle class
And the Yanks will fall for you.
Though your doggerel be sorry and your politics be Tory
And your tunes no joy impart,
Still, your fan across the sea will imagine you must be
The very flower of British art.
And all his friends will say as he goes his dippy way,
"If he's mad about those vulgar Brits who seem so dull to *me*,
Why, what a very shallow sort of anglophile
That shallow sort of anglophile must be.
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mcnally
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response 148 of 221:
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Apr 29 17:30 UTC 2000 |
Savoyards? Meaning's clear from context, but it's mildly appalling
there's even a word for that..
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md
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response 149 of 221:
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Apr 30 11:22 UTC 2000 |
"G&S cult members," as I understand it.
I've been mildly irritated all my life by the various
dentists, proctologists, boutique-owners, etc., who
consider themselves enlightened liberal humanists and
in the same breath claim to be mad about G&S. G&S's
19th c. audience consisted mainly of middle-class British
philistines -- he same stateside dentists and shopkeepers
who dote on their D'Oyly Carte LPs today -- a fact of
which the boys themselves were well aware. Gilbert
himself referred to his lyrics as "doggerel."
Flanders and Swan did it so much better:
"I've been a little maid from school
Since I was just a tiny tot."
"With Jack Point's gags I've played the fool
Till I'm the only point they've got."
"I've toured through all the English-speaking nations
And can no longer play my part in Patience."
For one man in his time
Plays the same old part...
Can you wonder then that I'm
A little tired of D'Oyly Carte?
Three little Savoyards are we, tra-la-la-la, tra-la-la-la,
Started in 1893, tra-la-la-la-la-la.
With Gilbert and Sullivan we've toured from dump to dump, tra-la-la-la
And Sullivan and Gilbert can take a running jump
(From year to year and dump to dump
Can go and take a running jump).
Three little Savoyards are we, tra-la-la-la, tra-la-la-la,
Started in 1893, tra-la-la-la-la-la.
"Dear little town of Nanki-Poo"
(Smile, turn, pace to the right),
"Canst thou believe my heart is true?"
(Terrible house tonight!)
"One that with tender passion fired"
(Turn, pace, hand over heart)...
Woe to the day that we were hired
By D'Oyly Carte!
Why is it so admired,
This business first inspired
By former artists long retired
From D'Oyly Carte?
Anything new is disallowed
(Turn, pace, wait for the pause);
Blasphemous change would shock the crowd
Following in their scores!
Novel approach is not required
(Bounce, out of the part);
We've done our best,
But we need a rest
From D'Oyly Carte.
But the copyright's expiring in a year or two, no more,
And then at last we'll have the chance to settle this old score.
We'll buy back Covent Garden, and have the operas rewritten
With new words by J.B. Priestley and new tunes by Benjy Britten.
Till the end of this light operatic coma,
We're going off to sing in "Oklahoma"!
Tra-la-la-la-la-la!
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