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albadgerYes, I know I should be pursuing a voice acting career, moving to Hollywood, building my network of contacts, and eventually grabbing the attention of the producers of a faltering sitcom about a spunky young woman in the big city, which would lead to them casting me as the heroine's randy bisexual grampa, instant C-list fame, too much pressure, a mental breakdown, and relocating to an ashram in eastern Oregon where I would finally find peace and harmony. I'm just too busy travelling to foreign cities to see operas. Tonight it's Washington DC, where I saw Dialogs of the Carmelites tonight.
There's a meme in the opera world that predates calling shit "memes," -- "Not Since Turandot" -- the idea being that no opera has entered the regular repertoire since Puccini's post-mortem masterpiece. Mostly true but not entirely; at Operabase.com they have a fun tool that can show things like "100 most-produced operas." 8 of those 100 were written since Turandot, and Dialogs is one of them. As is Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, which I saw last year and is awesome, also the Rake's Progess also Threepenny Opera (though technically that's a musical and not an opera). Dialogs? Not so awesome. Most of it is that slightly heightened conversational arioso that's the hallmark of post-WW2 opera. Not bad but not riveting. But...
That ending. The nuns are condemned by the Revolution. They mount the scaffold, singing. Then -- thwack! -- one less nun singing, thwack! until you're down to a quartet... a trio, a duet... and then a single voice. Good gravy! The ending alone will keep this baby on the stage for centuries!
Hard to believe this is night 2 of 4 -- nearly halfway through the trip. Tomorrow, more theater, all near Metro stations! I hope.
There's a meme in the opera world that predates calling shit "memes," -- "Not Since Turandot" -- the idea being that no opera has entered the regular repertoire since Puccini's post-mortem masterpiece. Mostly true but not entirely; at Operabase.com they have a fun tool that can show things like "100 most-produced operas." 8 of those 100 were written since Turandot, and Dialogs is one of them. As is Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, which I saw last year and is awesome, also the Rake's Progess also Threepenny Opera (though technically that's a musical and not an opera). Dialogs? Not so awesome. Most of it is that slightly heightened conversational arioso that's the hallmark of post-WW2 opera. Not bad but not riveting. But...
That ending. The nuns are condemned by the Revolution. They mount the scaffold, singing. Then -- thwack! -- one less nun singing, thwack! until you're down to a quartet... a trio, a duet... and then a single voice. Good gravy! The ending alone will keep this baby on the stage for centuries!
Hard to believe this is night 2 of 4 -- nearly halfway through the trip. Tomorrow, more theater, all near Metro stations! I hope.
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Date: 2015-02-28 05:07 am (UTC)I agree. The last time I saw it in Sydney, I was actually pleased when one of the principals had the thwack....it was a fitting ending to her annoying performance
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Date: 2015-02-28 03:18 pm (UTC)