SOTU

J: oh Jim Webb, what are you doing
A: ?
J: the Democratic Response
J: is a little dull and random
A: arg
A: they need to put that thing out of its misery
J: the response?
A: yes
A: every
A: single time
A: I didn't get to watch
A: anything awesome?
J: not at all
J: other than the general apathy of the audience
A: you know what is a weird word?
A: "Hillary"
A: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/
J: HillaryHillaryHillaryHillary
A: it doesn't seem like a name at all
A: Could you close the window? I'm feeling hillary.
J: "you seem off tonight"
J: "yeah...I'm just a bit hillary, it's not a big deal"
A: see?
A: and it's a somewhat unnerving word, whatever it means
J: I think the whole Obama is hot thing is weird. I think he is a tad odd looking
A: ditto
A: I don't know where that came from
A: p.s. the subject of tomorrow's microeconomics class is simply "Entry"
J: hah
J: It would be nice to have a president with a massive cock
A: indeed...his cock may even be larger than Hillary's
J: I bet it is
J: you should try to join his gym
J: and do some recon
A: good point
A: he must work out around here somewhere
J: I would think so
A: the new television is alive
J: you have a new TV?
J: how is it?
A: fine
A: I need to get an antenna or something
A: it is fairly big
A: barack is doing a good job
J: oh I am watching a different network I think
J: he was on earlier
J: Pelosi was doing this weird crooked mouth thing that looked like she was chewing on something
A: that woman just doesnt look good on television
A: at least they don't let her respond anymore
J: yeah thank god
J: she always comes off as just this side of sane
A: like the worst fembot ever made
J: she's manufactured by the same company who made Laura Bush but is like meant for a really niche market
A: haha

Opera, Chicago-style

Bryan Griffin, in the current Lyric F-Mouse cast takes some time out to represent...
I'm thinking not even Peter Gelb has considered Met cross-promotions with the Giants. Go Bears!

Siegfried out to pasture?

J: http://www.dc-opera.org/newsmedia/news/documents/07-08CastList.pdf
A: huh
A: I wonder if that Handel is any good
J: huh indeed
A: I have only vague knowledge of the elektra people
J: the Fliegende Holla could be neat
J: tho one wonders:
J: wha' happened to Siegfried?
A: oh right
A: um
A: oops
A: did they run out of bandannas?
J: yeah I mean
J: perhaps they ran out of dyed macaroni
A: ha
A: Plastico is all "glue faster! Arriba!"
J: hahaha
J: Frrancesca! Where the Indians? Oh god.
A: haha
J: I bet they didn't have a Siegfried lined up
J: and time ran out
A: that's a good reason, I guess
A: whoa
A: scroll to the bottom of the news page
J: the scary portrait?
A: yeah
J: that is upsetting
A: oh man
A: I don't like that at all
J: Antoine Schneck is messed up
A: imagine having that in your house
J: hahah
J: in the bathroom perhaps
A: "these vases are from italy...and that's the disembodied head of placido domingo"
A: haha
A: like, on the back of the door facing the toilet
J: haha
J: maybe it talks
A: no button, it just says stuff once in a while
J: it looks like he's saying something
J: like
J: eeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhh
A: haha
A: totally
A: !
A: I need to close that tab now

Your Once and Future Brunnhilde

A: dude
A: classic debbie action
J: whoa
J: her hair is nuts
A: it's like a mane
J: Voigt: Lioness
A: word
A: watch out Pav
A: she's a maneater
J: hah
J: "Watch out Pav she'll chew you up"
A: Pav looks like he might be down for that
J: he is in the older, gross phase
A: talk about letting yourself go

Wha?

DV Brunnhilde is back on the schedule? Come again?

And Hep B is going to do Siegfried in performance in 3 years? For serious?

Is this like the last installment in a Gelb deal with Satan? What gives?

Moor, please...

So, I just caught most of second act of Bernard Hermann's 1951 opera of Wuthering Heights on Henry Fogel's "Collector's Corner" show here on WFMT. I mean, I only heard that little bit, but....holy crap. It sounds completely amazing. The story, I gather, is that Hermann (composer of all the famous Hitchcock scores and more) saw it as his life's work, but couldn't get it staged, and in fact the only artifact we have today is a so-so record he funded and conducted himself, which is now way out of print (here's the Amazon page with more). One of the big arias for Catherine also appeared on one of you-know-who's discs a couple years back.

The musical language starts where you might expect from his film music, but goes so much further. At the moment I turned it on I thought I had stumbled onto part of the end of Wozzeck. The orchestration is immense and fascinating, moving seamlessly between intricately woven dissonances and passionate, engaging lyricism--none of that "ok, we're done with the 20th century business, now for a song" stuff--the whole thing is remarkably confidant. Neo-romantic I guess, but I mean that in the "so that's where the great lost voice of popular opera went" sense rather than the "major chords suck" sense.

So, is this widely acknolwedged as a travesty? Is the whole thing not as good? What gives? If you're in receiver distance of WFMT, or get it from the internets, he's playing the third and fourth acts next Sunday...

A Happy Wellsung New Year!

To those of you observing, at least. To the rest, I hope you have found awesome take out places still open.

Cheers.