[contextly_auto_sidebar id="bkv13k1YwsUOJ9oOZ89GQDYLY1wM0rF3"] WELL, of course it's not, but another story has gone up recently arguing that the entire art form is finished. The focus of the piece is that the opera repertoire has been stuck in the 19th century for way too long -- that it doesn't move forward, with new work, anymore. That would indeed be damning, but looking closer, we see that … [Read more...]
“Dido” and “Bluebeard” at LA Opera
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="AkwrwxM6eGKNL3GVzj0NAKOSml0rfK6D"] YOUR humble blogger came out of a performance of Duke Bluebeard's Castle yesterday reminded of what a bloody genius Bela Bartok was -- and I mean that just about literally. The production at Los Angeles Opera is brutally sharp, filled with sexual menace. The swelling, at times astringent music itself offered a dark kind of beauty to … [Read more...]
Jeremy Denk Responds re The Classical Style
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="Lz4IkluPYlxFQWA9NEkxhgYseWGqugC1"] MUSICOLOGISTS will already have seen this, but the rest may enjoy this defense from pianist Jeremy Denk, who conceived and wrote the libretto for The Classical Style (An Opera of Sorts.) The opera was performed last month at the Ojai Music Festival. I was one of a handful who were frustrated by it. Another was Los Angeles … [Read more...]
The Trouble With Opera
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="wZSGDJOmSbhvFKacaUaPFIlOS5DNnjBE"] IS it more prominent than ever, or disappearing from American eyes and ears? It may be some of both, in a time in which opera is played in movie theaters and opera companies struggle to survive. An aptly ambivalent story by Mark Swed in the Los Angeles Times looks at the strange predicament of American opera in 2014. Things were … [Read more...]
A Dissent on “The Classical Style”
AS I posted the other day, this year’s Ojai Music Festival was full of good stuff. But there was one piece that frustrated me: The new opera, The Classical Style, which was for many the highlight of the weekend. Why did it drive me crazy? The Classical Style: An Opera (of Sorts) is the first opera commissioned in the seven-decade history of the festival; it’s based on a well-regarded book by … [Read more...]
Massenet’s “Thais” at LA Opera
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="GYlAzT4O3lEomZ10GqKrQmACXiv7ZjHE"] WHAT kind of love is the truest and most enduring, spiritual or erotic? That’s a theme that echoes through the opera I saw the other day. My experience with Massenet is limited, so I have little sense of what to expect. But Thais, which stars Placido Domingo as an earnest and confused fourth-century monk seeking out an Alexandrian … [Read more...]
Will Kickstarter Save Culture? And, Curvy Divas
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="OipGQdl5st5HpgJ16uvOZV10yHar99su"] WE'RE now five years past the launch of Kickstarter, and some culture hounds, a new Telegraph article says, refer to the eras "BK" and "AK" -- Before and After Kickstarter. What has it done for arts and culture projects? The story takes stock of the good and bad, and comes down mostly on the good the crowdfunding has done. It's been … [Read more...]
Can Impulse Records Come Back? Plus, Shakespeare’s Acting
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="BkttmRWC0b2xNNu3idGGaZviRdyibZxn"] ONE of the most storied of all jazz labels, Impulse -- "The House Trane Built" -- may provide that rarest of things: Good news for the jazz world. In hibernation for a while, and decades from its leadership of the avant-garde in the '60s, Impulse is being revived and will begin releasing new music. Now part of Universal Music … [Read more...]
Trouble With iTunes, and More On San Diego Opera
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="QbQ1AU6Xrnco2mhImRDlqE6xwuPHZulj"] WHEN it comes to the collapsing sales of recorded music, and subsequent loss of revenues for musicians, I go back and forth between blaming the record labels for dropping the ball, and seeing the revolution of digital music as relentless and unstoppable. Either way, musicians have been the prime casualty. But it looks like one of … [Read more...]
The Roots of “Noah,” and More on San Diego Opera
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="C9NSdernwV8X41Rw5BV3m3kxC3W8iYky"] THE movie Noah was directed by one of the most talented filmmakers of my generation. He can also be one of the most erratic. I got to hang out a bit with Darren Aronofsky about a decade ago when he was following up his debut, Pi, with Requiem for Dream. He had a reputation even then for being difficult and stubborn, but he came across … [Read more...]