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| Author |
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| 25 new of 221 responses total. |
krj
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response 90 of 221:
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Aug 20 17:38 UTC 1998 |
Soprano Jane Eaglen has a nice web page:
http://www.sonyclassical.com/releases/60042/
The most interesting part of it is a journal she's been posting
while preparing and performing in Seattle's production of
TRISTAN & ISOLDE, by Wagner. Might be worth a look if
you are interested in backstage glimpses.
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krj
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response 91 of 221:
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Sep 6 15:18 UTC 1998 |
We just got a flyer in the mail for Opera Lenawee's September
presentation. It's a double bill of Leoncavallo's PAGLIACCI and
Puccini's GIANNI SCHICCHI. Performed in English.
Opera Lenawee stages its performances in the Crosswell Opera House
in Adrian, Michigan. The show runs between Sept.18 and Sept.26.
Call 517-264-3121, or see their web page at http://www.aso.org
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keesan
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response 92 of 221:
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Sep 15 20:38 UTC 1998 |
Can someone tell me the accepted English name for the Duet of the Cats by
Rossini, if that is not correct English? I have only the Serbian. It is for
alto, soprano and piano, as performed at the Nis Octoberfest.
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krj
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response 93 of 221:
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Sep 16 05:11 UTC 1998 |
I've heard this. I did an alta vista search +rossini +duet +cats
and found that the Italian title is "Duetto Buffo di Due Gatti."
Most translations into English read "Comic Duet for Two Cats," though
I did find one source calling it "Duet for Two Cats".
I realize there is a bit of redundancy there...
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mcnally
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response 94 of 221:
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Sep 16 05:47 UTC 1998 |
Not really. Of course a duet implies two participants but it's not
at all clear that they need both be cats..
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remmers
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response 95 of 221:
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Sep 16 14:47 UTC 1998 |
"Comic Duet for Cats" would be less redundant. Of course, the Italian
original contains the redundancy.
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rcurl
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response 96 of 221:
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Sep 16 16:44 UTC 1998 |
Seems to me its a Trio for Voice Duet and Piano. In any case - meow us
a few bars.
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keesan
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response 97 of 221:
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Sep 16 20:39 UTC 1998 |
Should I provide the common English name, or an exact translation of the
Serbian, which read duet of the cats? It is probably a moot point by now,
as I sent the translation in yesterday evening. What did the duet sound like,
anyway?
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krj
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response 98 of 221:
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Sep 16 21:11 UTC 1998 |
I guess exactly what form you use is up to you. "Duet of the Cats"
is going to be instantly recognizable. The two singers are mimicing
cats, if I remember correctly. I've just heard the piece done
once at a concert, I don't have a recording of it but there seem to be
plenty out there.
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davel
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response 99 of 221:
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Sep 17 11:12 UTC 1998 |
I've heard it done a few times. The first time, the two sopranos sported
ears, tails, and (cat-style) whiskers, and emoted heavily. It sounded just
as good and was a lot of fun. (This was in a church talent show.).
Agreed that "Duet of the Cats" is quite an adequate translation, IMO.
Actually, I think we (recently) acquired the sheet music.
And Rane, it's a duet, accompanied. A solo accompanied by piano is not a duet
for voice (or flute, trumpet, or what have you), it's an accompanied solo;
the same goes for this. It's not a trio.
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rcurl
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response 100 of 221:
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Sep 17 15:33 UTC 1998 |
I agree that is usually the case. But I am sure there are works in which
the piano is 'equal' to the instruments it is playing with, and is not
just "accompaniment". I can't name one at the moment, but I do doubt that
there are any with voice, though I don't know why there can't be.
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gracel
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response 101 of 221:
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Sep 17 15:43 UTC 1998 |
We have the sheet music, with title in Italian and German but not English.
"Duetto Buffo di Due Gatti (Buffo-Duett Zweier Katzen) per due voci e
pianoforte" with parts for "Primo Gatto" and "Secondo Gatto". The words
are all "Miau" except where they're "miau-au-au-au".
FWIW, when we saw it done the performers were both sopranos; the second cat
part goes down to the A below middle C, so I might have some trouble with it
myself.
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coyote
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response 102 of 221:
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Sep 19 17:55 UTC 1998 |
Re 100:
There are many, many pieces like that. Piano trios aren't called piano
trios because the piano plays the accompaniment. What oftentimes happens in
trios (at least the ones I've followed, which are all for violin, cello, and
piano) is that there are sections where the piano accompanies the violin
and/or cello playing a melody and there are sections where the violin and/or
cello accompanies the piano playing the melody, and there are also some
sections where there's a unison melody or perhaps even counterpoint.
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faile
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response 103 of 221:
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Oct 26 05:56 UTC 1998 |
random note on my part... really great English operas are those of
Purcell... they're kind of neat.
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krj
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response 104 of 221:
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Oct 29 19:43 UTC 1998 |
I'm trying to remember if DIDO & AENEAS is a Purcell opera; we saw that
in London, at the Royal Albert Hall, of all places; an odd opera
venue, especially since we ended up seated behind the orchestra.
-----
I am way behind on my casual reviews. It was about a month ago that
we saw Opera Lenawee's double bill of PAGLIACCI and GIANNI SCHICCI.
PAGLIACCI I found somewhat disappointing, both in the score
and the acting; the villain who motivates the killings was particularly
wooden. GIANNI SCHICCI, in contrast, was a delight, a reminder of why
Puccini stood so far above his contemporaries.
The singer acting Gianni Schicci had a great sense of comic timing.
The big aria from this opera is sung by Schicci's daughter, who
otherwise spends almost all her time being shoved offstage.
-----
Upcoming opera in Ann Arbor: UM School of Music presents
Verdi's LA TRAVIATA, at Power Center, November 12-15 1998.
http://www.music.umich.edu but the web page won't tell you
much more detail than I have just given you.
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mcnally
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response 105 of 221:
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Oct 30 03:54 UTC 1998 |
Opera Grand Rapids is doing Verdi's "A Masked Ball" this weekend.
I don't really have time to go, but I've already got tickets, so
I suppose I will..
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faile
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response 106 of 221:
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Oct 31 18:07 UTC 1998 |
"Dido and Aneas" (or however you spell it.) is Purcell.
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mcnally
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response 107 of 221:
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Nov 1 06:49 UTC 1998 |
#104's spelling of "Aeneas" is correct.
Opera Grand Rapids' production of "A Masked Ball" was OK but not
thrilling which was, I think, partly this production and partly
the opera itself. I found the music surprisingly forgettable
compared to other Verdi opera.
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krj
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response 108 of 221:
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Nov 14 04:32 UTC 1998 |
I still need to write something about MOT's TURANDOT, but we'll
skip ahead to tonight's LA TRAVIATA, from the UM School of Music.
The show runs through Sunday. I enjoyed the Violetta in our cast,
Jennifer Larsen, quite a bit. There was an interesting dance
piece during the overture, which explains that rather incomprehensible
drawing on the advertising poster for this production.
We had front row seats, just a few feet away from the violins, so
the orchestral sound was almost like wearing headphones, and we could
glance over at the conductor any time we wanted. I gather that most people
don't like such close seats, but we do -- they were available for us
to buy on Thursday.
Overall, an enjoyable evening.
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krj
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response 109 of 221:
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Jan 29 04:05 UTC 1999 |
Two student opera productions are listed in the February "Observer."
Benjamin Britten's THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA, a chamber opera, performed
at UM School of Music McIntosh Theatre, Thursday Feb 4 & Saturday Feb 6.
This is probably going to be a laboratory-style production
with minimal costuming and sets, is my guess.
Rossini, THE ITALIAN GIRL IN ALGIERS. EMU's Pease Auditorium,
Friday Feb 5 & Saturday Feb 6. I've never seen an EMU production.
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krj
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response 110 of 221:
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Feb 26 17:01 UTC 1999 |
Last Sunday Leslie and I saw a touring production of Verdi's OTELLO.
The company was billed as the Italian National Opera, but it was just
a patched-together roadshow. The orchestra was from Hungary, and
one of the singers was a Michigan native.
This was the sloppiest opera production I had seen in some time.
The singer who performed Otello seemed to be having some problems
with his high notes, and overall his tone had this warble to it which
reminded me of opera singers on old 78 rpm records. Leslie said it
may have been deliberate use of an older, out-of-fashion style of
singing. Leslie said the Desdemona was really annoying, because if she
hit the right note it was just a lucky accident. The orchestra and
chorus were good musically, but the chorus staging was awful
-- they didn't act or move, they just stood there and sung.
The only really good performer on stage was the Iago.
He had a fine baritone and a commanding stage
presence. Even though Iago is the bad guy, we were rooting for him.
But still, I had a wonderful time. I had never seen Verdi's OTELLO
before. It's a remarkably sturdy show, and even after taking all the
abuse Sunday's production heaped upon it, the opera acquitted itself
well. Verdi turned to Shakespeare at the end of his life;
after AIDA, he took 15 years off, then wrote his setting of OTHELLO.
And after about another decade (?) he wrote his final opera FALSTAFF,
based on THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR.
I place the end of Verdi's career in a magical, brief period for
Italian opera. Wagner's ideas for a fully integrated music-drama
had spread to Italy; composers such as Verdi, and Puccini to come,
were getting past the model of opera as hit song/recit/hit song.
So Wagner's ideas crossed with the glorious singing tradition of Italy:
still a few years in the future were the 20th century's impact on
popular classical music, and the collapse of the financial world
of Italian opera.
OTELLO flows in a way that I just love, rather
than stopping all the time for audience applause. In the last act,
Desdemona sings a prayer to the Virgin Mary; she knows that things
have gone very bad in her relationship with. Sello, and the aira
is full of foreboding. It comes to a quiet end -- and the MSU audience
did not clap. Whew! It was an emotional, impressive moment.
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arabella
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response 111 of 221:
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Feb 27 07:10 UTC 1999 |
Actually, I didn't say that the tenor was deliberately using an old
fashioned style of singing, but rather that he *sounded* old fashioned.
I believe that he has a faulty technique, with his larynx way high,
which accounts for both his tremolo (goaty warble) and for all the
cracking on high notes.
And with the soprano, it's not that she didn't know what notes to sing,
but rather that she sang so terribly off pitch that the occasional on-pitch
note seemed like an accident.
It really was a terrible production. I'll have to ask in the classical
singer forum what people have heard about this organization. But
I agree with Ken that the story and music are great, and it was worth
enduring two terrible singers to see my first Otello.
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mcnally
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response 112 of 221:
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Feb 27 20:37 UTC 1999 |
Thursday I saw U of M's Comic Opera Guild's production of "Kismet"
at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theater.. While I can't recommend the
production enthusiastically I had a decent time -- I've always enjoyed
the music from Kismet and I thought several of the cast members were
pretty good, especially the lead (the poet/rhyme merchant..) It plays
over the weekend (i.e. until 2/28/99) if anyone's interested in
catching it.
Tonight I'm going to go see Opera Grand Rapids' production of "Tales of
Hoffman", about which I know very little..
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krj
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response 113 of 221:
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Mar 18 19:40 UTC 1999 |
Mike, I hope you'll get back to us with a review of "Tales of Hoffman."
Spring student opera productions:
Michigan State's production of Verdi's LA TRAVIATA opens tonight.
School of Music Auditorium in East Lansing.
University of Michigan's production of Mozart's THE MAGIC FLUTE
runs Thursday 3/25 through Sunday 3/28. This is going to be sung
in the English Translation by Andrew Porter, according to the
postcard we got.
We're seeing the TRAVIATA tonight. UM's FLUTE is almost certainly
going to get squeezed off our schedule, as Leslie is busy with
a recital and a choral performance that week.
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mcnally
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response 114 of 221:
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Mar 18 22:19 UTC 1999 |
"Tales of Hoffman" was surprisingly good. The plot ties together
three of Hoffman's short stories in a framework of lost love and
the poet's relationship with his muse. The music was enjoyable and
the performace itself was quite good, especially the vocal talent
which was a step above the quality of last several Grand Rapids
productions I've seen (particularly the female lead -- Kathy something..
Baker? I'll have to check the program)
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