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| Author |
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| 25 new of 221 responses total. |
mary
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response 171 of 221:
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Oct 21 13:51 UTC 2000 |
Ken, John and I would like to get tickets to Falstaff too. We're
not huge opera fans but the female lead is a friend of ours and
we'd like to be there. If you hear of tickets going on sale before
we do would you let us know? (I'll let you know if I get the info
first.)
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mcnally
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response 172 of 221:
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Oct 21 21:05 UTC 2000 |
This talk of fall opera productions is making me homesick, since it's
reminding me that I won't be getting back to western Michigan to catch
Opera Grand Rapids' fall production, which usually occurs around this
time of year.
Having heard Leslie's high praise for the Seattle opera company's Wagner
productions, I tried to talk my few social acquaintances out here into
checking out the first production in the cycle with me earlier this fall
but couldn't talk anyone into it.. I now regret not going by myself, but
it was a busy week, etc, etc..
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krj
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response 173 of 221:
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Oct 22 01:56 UTC 2000 |
Mary (and John) -- a web page with information about the upcoming
UM production of FALSTAFF is at:
http://www.theatre.music.umich.edu/uprod/current/uprod-falstaff.html
The opera runs Thursday November 16 - Sunday November 19 at Power Center.
Leslie says that tickets come from the Mendelssohn Box Office. They'd
likely be on sale by now, I think.
Since you want to see a specific singer, be sure to note that the
operas at UM are staged with two casts, one on Thursday-Saturday
and one on Friday-Sunday. This is done in part to give more
students experience, and in part because it's not healthy to sing
this stuff on consecutive nights. You'll want to check with your
friend to be sure you get tickets for one of the two shows she'll
be appearing in. (Or you could wander over to the School of Music
list and check the posted cast list there, which is what Leslie does.)
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krj
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response 174 of 221:
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Oct 22 02:20 UTC 2000 |
(er, "wander over to the School of Music building..." sheesh)
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mary
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response 175 of 221:
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Oct 22 16:41 UTC 2000 |
Thanks, Ken.
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mcnally
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response 176 of 221:
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Jan 31 04:54 UTC 2001 |
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.'"
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krj
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response 177 of 221:
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Mar 16 01:46 UTC 2001 |
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."
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mcnally
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response 178 of 221:
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Mar 16 04:01 UTC 2001 |
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..)
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rcurl
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response 179 of 221:
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Mar 16 21:19 UTC 2001 |
Why would you expect to not like "Tales of Hoffman"?
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mcnally
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response 180 of 221:
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Mar 17 00:40 UTC 2001 |
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.
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rcurl
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response 181 of 221:
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Mar 17 07:42 UTC 2001 |
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.
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mcnally
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response 182 of 221:
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Mar 18 02:07 UTC 2001 |
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.
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rcurl
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response 183 of 221:
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Mar 18 06:54 UTC 2001 |
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....
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dbratman
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response 184 of 221:
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Mar 18 07:31 UTC 2001 |
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.
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md
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response 185 of 221:
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Mar 18 12:20 UTC 2001 |
[Psst. Just agree with him, David.]
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rcurl
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response 186 of 221:
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Mar 18 23:41 UTC 2001 |
(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.
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dbratman
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response 187 of 221:
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Mar 19 18:41 UTC 2001 |
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.
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rcurl
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response 188 of 221:
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Mar 19 19:51 UTC 2001 |
Sorry, I thought you were making an observation relevant to Tales of
Hoffman. What opera were you referring to?
mcnally?
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mcnally
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response 189 of 221:
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Mar 19 22:23 UTC 2001 |
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.
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orinoco
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response 190 of 221:
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Mar 20 00:46 UTC 2001 |
(Looks like you had a relapse in the second paragraph, too.)
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mcnally
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response 191 of 221:
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Mar 20 01:20 UTC 2001 |
errata: n n n n n n n
<please distribute as needed..>
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rcurl
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response 192 of 221:
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Mar 20 02:48 UTC 2001 |
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.
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krj
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response 193 of 221:
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Mar 26 15:56 UTC 2001 |
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!
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dbratman
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response 194 of 221:
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Mar 28 22:11 UTC 2001 |
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.
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krj
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response 195 of 221:
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Jul 8 18:26 UTC 2001 |
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.
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