A: do you know what the deal is with Norma #1?
A: "Hasmik Papian"?
J: yeah she's supposed to be good, though Greg finds her ordinary
A: hrm
J: probably better than Guleghina
A: ok
J: we waited in line for 4 full hours yesterday
A: there are really non without stupid Farina, huh
J: F-ing Farina is in all of them
A: so
A: weak
A: what were you waiting for?
J: oh just a bunch of balc box stuff
J: my new obsession is balc box 1
A: interesting
J: the one right up at the stage
A: did you have an experience with BB1 recently?
J: well last year we sat there for those national council finals
J: and I was very pro
J: and then we sat there for Cesare
J: and it was sort of great
A: nice
J: and $15.
A: they were selling for the whole year?
J: yeah
J: the line wrapped around the Met lobby 4 times, went out the door and past the fountain
A: dude
A: I think my priorities are as follows, in no particular order
J: ok
A: T n' I
J: natch
A: Walkure
J: natch
A: Otello
J: yeah
J: despite Guelfi
A: oh balls
J: total balls
J: continue
A: Norma
J: despite Farina
A: War and Peace
A: In the second tier of things that could be awesome but aren't pressing life list things
A: we have
A: The Gambler
A: Peter Grimes
A: and I'd like to see Fille du Regiment for the CDF
A: JDF
A: and one of the Dessay outings
J: yeah I think the Lucia will be sort of awesome
A: oh
A: I forgot that its new
J: with Dessay
J: right
A: despite Dessay and all, I was having a little trouble getting stoked about that lame old production
J: totally
A: with Levine conducting no less
J: we skipped a bunch of key things yesterday that we wanted to wait until we could afford decent tickets for
J: so we ended up with:
J: Lucia (Season opener)
J: Figaro
J: Butterfly
J: Aida
J: Norma
J: Manon Lescaut
J: Macbeth (new prod opening)
J: and Otello
A: nice
A: I might throw the MacBeth on my pile too
J: the rest of the premieres require some saving
A: which cast did you do
J: as even the cheap seats are $50
J: we did opening night of Macbeth
A: dang
J: T und I and Walk may require balc
A: yeah
A: oh
A: Roschmann is Countess in the Figaros
J: yeah
J: she is awesome
A: trying to come on a weekend and paying the weekend prices is annoying
J: yes
J: ugh
J: the only semi-affordable Saturday seats are fam circ boxes
J: even then it's $27 for sucky seats
A: I suppose I should wait to figure out classes in case I have weird days off
J: oh yeah
A: and try not to choose classes based on their opera vacation potential
J: that will be the tough part
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
On Slow Culture
I like this from Matthew Guerreri very much. A great addition to the debate that actually sounds like it is asking some new questions.
I often think that maybe classical music hasn't gotten smaller, the world's just gotten bigger. And classical music, i.e., a sort of music and a practice of experiencing it figured out when the world didn't have so many people in it, therefore has some natural limits on its ability to maintain the market share it did in 1860. And, as Matthew and others seem to be pointing out more and more lately...that's OK.
It gets me thinking, though, about that mid-century golden age of modern classical music appreciation that serves as the benchmark for the classical music debate. We seem to spend a lot of time thinking back to that period, when the country waited with bated breath for the next Saturday Met Broadcast, when opera stars made the cover of Time Magazine, when NBC devoted more energy to a symphony orchestra than it did to Fear Factor and its imitators, and wondering: what's wrong with us today that seemed to work back then? We're not talking about hundreds of years ago...in Bavaria...when people had no electricity. The country looked more or less the same, yet it actually seemed to give a damn about art music and serious culture. Pretty soon otherwise rational people are feeling warm and fuzzy towards the Eisenhower era, while the Sandows of the world are using it as a cudgel to justify just about anything in the name of putting butts back in the seats and slowing classical music's long cruel slide from the relevance it used to enjoy. It's not a pretty state of affairs.
So here's my armchair cultural historian take, intended to at least start parsing out how we ought to reconcile ourselves with the nagging questions raised by that mid-century classical music heyday. In short, I think that period, as tantalizing as it sounds sometimes, should be seen as an aberration rather than the norm. Back in the day, what we might call "art music" and "popular music" both subsisted on live performing traditions, and, as such, more or less co-existed in their separate spheres as defined by experience, setting, class, what have you. The great breach which upsets the order of things is, of course, modern recording and distribution technology. The short song form and malleable structures which figure large in popular music forms collide with new technologies favoring discrete packages, easy recognition and rapid stylistic assimilation. A truly viable product for the new media is born.
And what of the mid-century heyday? Perhaps it was nothing more than a lag period during which this process took place. The pinnacles of recorded music, hybrid popular music forms like rock and R&B, had not yet been reached, and those guiding the industry were distributing the old music through these channels because people wanted it and nothing better had come along.
If that sounds like snark, it shouldn't. The radical break in music precipitated by modern technology is a simple fact, and it has produced its own tailor made art forms which have great virtues. But 'proving' that certain styles of music and musical experiences are now inferior or irrelevant because they have trouble competing with musical mousetraps designed specifically with world domination in mind just makes no sense.
And if that's true, then the takeaway should be that the "classical music problem" isn't a problem with classical music, per se: it's a bigger problem for all music still firmly rooted in the pre-mass media performance traditions attempting to compete in the 20th century information universe. The immediate issues are genre specific to be sure, but the overriding challenge is the same.
Now, that doesn't mean I think classical music and popular music don't have their differences. Call them what you will, there are clearly some broad differences in the character of the listening experience and the nature of intellectual engagement entailed in classical and, say, the blues. All I can say is that anyone who would argue that those things are equal must not care very much about the unique qualities of either. And to be sure, when talking about the practical question of how you keep a tradition alive, there is a resource question. You're probably not going to do struggling Bluegrass traditions any favors by consolidating banjo faculty, whereas losing Juilliard, Eastman, and Curtis would leave a substantial void in the classical world.
But in the end, is the music really so endangered? I suspect the contractions we've seen in recent years, far from heralding the coming disappearance of the tradition altogether, were more likely the final death throes of that mid-century moment when the classical tradition found itself grafted wholesale onto the emerging modern media universe. And besides, its not at all clear that the net gain in classical enthusiasts hasn't been positive--it stands to reason that more people have heard Brahms 3rd in the past decade than heard anything by the man while he was alive.
If the gains don't seem to be keeping pace with the total universe of music listeners, or don't live up to some mythical period when 'everyone' listened to serious music, then so be it. But its time to start thinking about this process as moving toward some sort of natural rate of engagement rather than a descent into oblivion. Partisans and Sandows of the world alike need to realize that "the music isn't for everyone" doesn't mean its elitist, or that everyone should know better, or that its suffering from some massive and elusive failure in appeal. To a large degree, those are just the breaks for an art form built for personal experience trying to make it on a planet which has figured out ingenious ways to circumvent the personal experience.
So what is to be done? As far as changing attendance patterns, concert formats, programming, etc., I don't think there's terribly much we really can "do". We can innovate and try to tinker here and there, but in the end the serious music tradition will be based on whatever it has always been based on in one form or another, and there's just no way around it. It will evolve in whatever way its adherents decide is most conducive to that experience.
In thinking about how to make a functional rather than value driven distinction between the classical and modern pop tradition, I keep coming back to the idea of expropriating the term "slow culture". I like the analogy with the 'slow food' phenomenon, and its distinction between food production as it has been more or less throughout history and food production as it is in the modern era of industrial agriculture and mass processing; you can extrapolate a lot of positive and negative conclusions from there, but the fundamental point is purely about the mechanism of production.
And that's where the slow culture idea comes in handy. As Matthew's post points out, while most sensible people have figured out that arguing aesthetic value is a dead end, we're still trying to wage proxy debates about value using circumstantial evidence and half-baked economics to figure out what is 'in demand'. Slow culture makes the simple point that 'demand' for art is a relative quantity in an information landscape where different art forms operate on wildly different scales.
Update: Since I got called out on "there are clearly some broad differences in the character of the listening experience and the nature of intellectual engagement entailed in classical and, say, the blues" above, I feel like elaborating a bit. To be honest, I never understand why such a sentiment is so problematic. I'm not denying that there are true experts and devotees for music genres besides classical, nor am I denying that any one of these traditions involves opportunities for intellectual depth as rich as one wants it to be. Either of those claims can be disproved instantly. But that's why I said broad and not absolute differences.
There are good reasons why copious program notes at a punk show would injure the experience rather than enhance it (not that anyone's clamoring for punk to change its performance practices, despite its slide from relevance), just as there are good reasons why those notes are now deemed a welcome and essential addition to the modern classical concert. And there are reasons why people like to listen to Beethoven in as close to dead silence as possible, while people generally like to listen to blues in a crowded bar, and listening to it in some antiseptic concert hall just feels weird.
"Intellectual", which I suspect is the word which causes the real offense here, isn't supposed to be a sneaky value judgment. It denotes a specific kind of artistic experience, and in some contexts it has its place more than others. I mean seriously...does the intellectual wing of popular music really believe people want to experience it in the same way that people want to experience Beethoven? So sue me, but I think the primordial appeal of popular music is precisely its immediacy, its power to effortlessly evoke memories and emotions, its ability to tell stories. That's its folk heritage. By contrast, art music's primordial appeal is its range of ambiguity, its perfectly contrived effects, its technical depth. Yeah, of course there are exceptions, and people do what they want, but why is it a crime to say there's some kind of general distinction here? That way of thinking seems to go against everything in front of our eyes, and everything we know about the motivations of artists who actually created the music in question. Am I missing something?
Monday, August 13, 2007
Classical Music Triumphalism (!)
Well, well. Looks like boring moldy ol' opera is nearly as big as American football, admissions wise (ht: ACD).
I'm thinking some billboards along the lines of:
"Opera: Like Football for Sensitive People"
...might win some converts. At least you don't have to worry about rooting for dog-torturers.
I'm thinking some billboards along the lines of:
"Opera: Like Football for Sensitive People"
...might win some converts. At least you don't have to worry about rooting for dog-torturers.
For the record
Caught the Pat Racette Buddahfly at Ravinia this weekend. Pat was in glorious form--I never really noticed how sweet her voice is in the middle regions and the slash and burn stuff was as thrilling as hoped for. Having the CSO for the band was also a luxury--the perfect antidote to the usual sinking feeling that opera orchestras are phoning it in on this one.
I thought rookie James Valenti, the Peenkertone standing in for Frank Lopardo was a real highlight, though John von Rhein thought he was a lightweight up top, which I may have chalked up to the vagaries of the amplification system out on the lawn. I also can't quite decide if he is really really good looking or merely opera hot, to revive an old term. His little black and white picture in the program argued strongly for the former, but this might indicate the latter...
I thought rookie James Valenti, the Peenkertone standing in for Frank Lopardo was a real highlight, though John von Rhein thought he was a lightweight up top, which I may have chalked up to the vagaries of the amplification system out on the lawn. I also can't quite decide if he is really really good looking or merely opera hot, to revive an old term. His little black and white picture in the program argued strongly for the former, but this might indicate the latter...
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Well played: Renee
Splendid show by Renee Fleming at the Proms the other day: first up is some of the Berg she does so well...this time its the Seven Early Songs. After the interval she dominates on two barnburner Korngold arias from some of the lesser known (to me at least) works. It's on the proms page for a week or something. Her first set is 30 minutes or so in.
P.S. Not to rub snark on an otherwise unabashedly positive recommendation, but even on good behavior she still has to do that little slide up to the note thing that I think she thinks is part of the trademark BV sound. OMG that is so bothersome.
P.S. Not to rub snark on an otherwise unabashedly positive recommendation, but even on good behavior she still has to do that little slide up to the note thing that I think she thinks is part of the trademark BV sound. OMG that is so bothersome.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Last Dance: Parsifal
A: this gurnemanz is kind of a chore
J: yeah I have it on fairly softly
J: I have been listening to so much Ring I keep waiting for like the Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla motiv
A: yeah
A: that would confuse things a bit
J: it would
A: Wotan is all "what, the cup is a god? Weak"
A: deine mutter ist tod!
J: Greg has a friend in Austin who refers to the Liebestod as the "Love Frog"
A: hah
A: that's great
A: so
A: I was taking notes for this conference the other day
A: and got kind of sleepy for a bit
A: and am now trying to go back through that part
A: it is not good
A: the conference was about responsible credit use
J: oh man
A: I wrote "Australian mammal feelings…"
A: at some point
J: hahaha
A: Grail Knight #8 (trans.): whispers. You have got to be shitting me. That guy is still back there?!? Sick...
A: here's another good one:
A: "Good reason to think that those arranged it wielly wowou"
J: hahah
J: were you falling asleep?
A: little bit
A: it was like 5 minutes out of 8 hrs of meetings
A: but it was this really dense presentation
A: I think its going to be over soon
A: wish it had happened during some of the crap they had the next day, tho
A: arg
J: oh lovely Parsifal
A: yes
A: did Adam Fischer do the Met ones we saw?
J: I don't think so
A: he did something year before last
J: Peter Schneider conducted the ones we saw
J: are you thinking of Asher Fisch?
A: dur
A: yes
J: he condcted Rigoletto in 05-06
A: right
A: well, Adam Fischer is nice
A: good tempi
J: he had a short little Met career in the mid-90's
A: did someone yell something out there?
J: oh man I turned it down for a phone call
J: is this the dead bunny Parsifal?
A: that it is
A: totes Häschen
A: or maybe totes Kaninchen
A: for rabbit
A: rather than bunny
J: I like bunny
A: ooh
A: rotting bunny is Verrottenhäschen
J: NICE
A: thank you deustch
A: Parsifal, mit Verrottenhäschen
A: um
A: I think maybe this parsifal is crap
J: I have sort of not been paying attention
A: the parsifal himself
J: was there a Kundry problem?
J: ah ok
A: I'm kind of stoked about her
J: she seems great, yeah
A: definitely one of those sock you in the gut Kundrys
A: that was a good noise Flowermaidens
J: that was an insane noise
A: I kind of love her
A: it's not priddy by any means
A: but still awesome
A: that was a hott note
J: fucccck I had to turn it down
A: her low down note before the makeout
A: was extra smokey
J: has the crazy high note happened yet?
A: no
A: almost
J: mexcellent
J: woo!
A: huzzah!
J: yeaaah!
A: she hit that shit fo reals
A: little trail off at the end
A: but all good
J: god she's awesome
A: "Evelyn Herlitzius"
A: "bad-ass"
A: *chills*
A: bra-fing-va
J: yeah I have it on fairly softly
J: I have been listening to so much Ring I keep waiting for like the Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla motiv
A: yeah
A: that would confuse things a bit
J: it would
A: Wotan is all "what, the cup is a god? Weak"
A: deine mutter ist tod!
J: Greg has a friend in Austin who refers to the Liebestod as the "Love Frog"
A: hah
A: that's great
A: so
A: I was taking notes for this conference the other day
A: and got kind of sleepy for a bit
A: and am now trying to go back through that part
A: it is not good
A: the conference was about responsible credit use
J: oh man
A: I wrote "Australian mammal feelings…"
A: at some point
J: hahaha
A: Grail Knight #8 (trans.): whispers. You have got to be shitting me. That guy is still back there?!? Sick...
A: here's another good one:
A: "Good reason to think that those arranged it wielly wowou"
J: hahah
J: were you falling asleep?
A: little bit
A: it was like 5 minutes out of 8 hrs of meetings
A: but it was this really dense presentation
A: I think its going to be over soon
A: wish it had happened during some of the crap they had the next day, tho
A: arg
J: oh lovely Parsifal
A: yes
A: did Adam Fischer do the Met ones we saw?
J: I don't think so
A: he did something year before last
J: Peter Schneider conducted the ones we saw
J: are you thinking of Asher Fisch?
A: dur
A: yes
J: he condcted Rigoletto in 05-06
A: right
A: well, Adam Fischer is nice
A: good tempi
J: he had a short little Met career in the mid-90's
A: did someone yell something out there?
J: oh man I turned it down for a phone call
J: is this the dead bunny Parsifal?
A: that it is
A: totes Häschen
A: or maybe totes Kaninchen
A: for rabbit
A: rather than bunny
J: I like bunny
A: ooh
A: rotting bunny is Verrottenhäschen
J: NICE
A: thank you deustch
A: Parsifal, mit Verrottenhäschen
A: um
A: I think maybe this parsifal is crap
J: I have sort of not been paying attention
A: the parsifal himself
J: was there a Kundry problem?
J: ah ok
A: I'm kind of stoked about her
J: she seems great, yeah
A: definitely one of those sock you in the gut Kundrys
A: that was a good noise Flowermaidens
J: that was an insane noise
A: I kind of love her
A: it's not priddy by any means
A: but still awesome
A: that was a hott note
J: fucccck I had to turn it down
A: her low down note before the makeout
A: was extra smokey
J: has the crazy high note happened yet?
A: no
A: almost
J: mexcellent
J: woo!
A: huzzah!
J: yeaaah!
A: she hit that shit fo reals
A: little trail off at the end
A: but all good
J: god she's awesome
A: "Evelyn Herlitzius"
A: "bad-ass"
A: *chills*
A: bra-fing-va
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Watson brings her A-game
J: oh CRUD!
J: I forgot about G Dams
A: me too til just now
J: well, I didn't want to hear L-Wats sing that diet anyway
J: duet
A: the end of Siegfried was nicht gut I take it
J: oh man
J: her last note especially
J: was a mess
J: like, not even in the ballpark
J: just some random note
A: gah
A: she needs serious warm up time
A: I feel an oath coming on
A: while listening to the bcasts I sometimes have these sudden moments of realization about just how nutso what's happening on stage right now could be
A: like Hagen could be in a bunny suit for all we know
J: yeah! I think about that too
J: I mean, esp after the Meistersinger stuff
J: like, it's all nice pretty Meistersinger
J: but their cocks are out
A: i suppose it makes directing kind of straightforward
A: ok...let's do a run through...who's turn is it to take their pants off?
J: hah
A: um
A: there is a comic strip about bayreuth
J: ahhh!
A: dang
A: I wish that site had an english version
A: uh oh
A: looks like someone is not about to be out-oathed
J: hah
A: sounds like gould's getting a little tired
A: it sucks how everyone gets burnt out before the nice Act III bidness
J: yeah that sucks
A: Brunnhilde (trans.): "Know what? Fuck him. You heard it. Brunhild don't play like that, bitch."
J: at which point she tries to ride off triumphantly on her flying horse, only to hit the ground with the glorious thud of mortality
A: d'oh
J: act 2 is short
A: 'tis
A: this is handy
A: the length of siegfried act 3 is surprising
A: those Meistersinger times must be with cuts
A: in Act 2
J: and also Siegfried was shorter than G-dams by like 20 mins when I saw it
J: confusing
A: there's now way that last act is 100 minutes
A: no
A: I just ate the nastiest piece of cheap birthday cake and am about 15 minutes from a severe sugar crash
J: ew
A: brutal
J: he didn't quite nail that
A: arg
A: I am in a meeting and can't listen
J: did you hear?
J: urg
J: Gould's woodbird stuff is fairly bad
A: yeah
A: nuts
J: are you listening again?
A: its only a meeting with my co-intern
J: ah
A: so I turned it on
A: I haven't quite explained it to her yet
A: oh man
A: he's suffering
J: poor guy
J: well
J: the end is near
J: it's a good thing he's about done
A: valiant efort tho
J: yes
J: I mean he made it
A: I am pro Gould
J: I am mixed, but impressed he can sing it
A: I think a recording made with him singing one act on different days would be swell
J: yeah
J: that makes sense
A: get that spear ready, Hagen
A: save it Guturne
J: god damn that is so hard
A: lwats saved some gas
J: yeah
A: well done
A: do people sound wierdly underwhelmed?
A: not for the Wats i guess
A: she really brought it there
J: yeah I wonder what the problem is
J: I forgot about G Dams
A: me too til just now
J: well, I didn't want to hear L-Wats sing that diet anyway
J: duet
A: the end of Siegfried was nicht gut I take it
J: oh man
J: her last note especially
J: was a mess
J: like, not even in the ballpark
J: just some random note
A: gah
A: she needs serious warm up time
A: I feel an oath coming on
A: while listening to the bcasts I sometimes have these sudden moments of realization about just how nutso what's happening on stage right now could be
A: like Hagen could be in a bunny suit for all we know
J: yeah! I think about that too
J: I mean, esp after the Meistersinger stuff
J: like, it's all nice pretty Meistersinger
J: but their cocks are out
A: i suppose it makes directing kind of straightforward
A: ok...let's do a run through...who's turn is it to take their pants off?
J: hah
A: um
A: there is a comic strip about bayreuth
J: ahhh!
A: dang
A: I wish that site had an english version
A: uh oh
A: looks like someone is not about to be out-oathed
J: hah
A: sounds like gould's getting a little tired
A: it sucks how everyone gets burnt out before the nice Act III bidness
J: yeah that sucks
A: Brunnhilde (trans.): "Know what? Fuck him. You heard it. Brunhild don't play like that, bitch."
J: at which point she tries to ride off triumphantly on her flying horse, only to hit the ground with the glorious thud of mortality
A: d'oh
J: act 2 is short
A: 'tis
A: this is handy
A: the length of siegfried act 3 is surprising
A: those Meistersinger times must be with cuts
A: in Act 2
J: and also Siegfried was shorter than G-dams by like 20 mins when I saw it
J: confusing
A: there's now way that last act is 100 minutes
A: no
A: I just ate the nastiest piece of cheap birthday cake and am about 15 minutes from a severe sugar crash
J: ew
A: brutal
J: he didn't quite nail that
A: arg
A: I am in a meeting and can't listen
J: did you hear?
J: urg
J: Gould's woodbird stuff is fairly bad
A: yeah
A: nuts
J: are you listening again?
A: its only a meeting with my co-intern
J: ah
A: so I turned it on
A: I haven't quite explained it to her yet
A: oh man
A: he's suffering
J: poor guy
J: well
J: the end is near
J: it's a good thing he's about done
A: valiant efort tho
J: yes
J: I mean he made it
A: I am pro Gould
J: I am mixed, but impressed he can sing it
A: I think a recording made with him singing one act on different days would be swell
J: yeah
J: that makes sense
A: get that spear ready, Hagen
A: save it Guturne
J: god damn that is so hard
A: lwats saved some gas
J: yeah
A: well done
A: do people sound wierdly underwhelmed?
A: not for the Wats i guess
A: she really brought it there
J: yeah I wonder what the problem is
Monday, July 30, 2007
Walkure: no seating til the first intermission...
J: are you going to listen to the 1045 one?
A: i guess so
A: is the early one in intermission?
J: I think so
A: i turned it on at like 10:10
J: I woke up too late
J: but I will do the 11:45EST one
A: I am a bit worried
A: there is a polish call in show on the station now
A: and this woman is not shutting up
A: whoa
A: i have both the polish stations playing at same time
A: it is a cacophany of poles
A: one of them just said bayreuth
A: cool
J: I hope it wasn't a typo
J: I am now fearing we missed act one
A: dang
A: one of the poles is giving a synopsis I think
A: shit
A: he just said brunnhilde
A: maybe it is for act II
A: balls
A: that is totally Act II horns
A: yikes
A: hojoto-no
J: cuh-rud
J: well, we'll have to hear the act 1 rebroadcast
J: there is something to be appreciated about L-Wats. Like, she's not awful.
A: for sure
J: there's a Ring in January in Berlin
A: neat
A: whoa
A: luana devol is the gotterdammerung brunhilde
A: they have stephen gould for the siegfried siegfried
J: wait LD is B-hilds in Berlin?
A: yeah
J: whoa
J: that could be, well, troublesome
A: no doubt
A: but it is awfully intriguing
J: there's also one in Dresden
J: but it would require being in Dresden for like all of January
A: they have a children's show running concurrently called "Klein-Siegfried"
J: that is sort of fucked up
A: ha
A: yeah
A: I don't have a sense of how cold it is in Berlin in the winter
J: oh huh
A: that production looks kind of neat
J: oh it does
J: I met Kevin Bacon in his boxers last night
J: what are you thinking of this?
J: the opera, not KB
A: oops
A: I fell asleep for a bit
J: hah
J: well, it was pretty decent I think
A: Pizhonka?
J: good I think---though harder to tell from act 2
A: yeah
J: Watson's coming off pretty well today
A: yeah
J: a little pitchy here and there
A: oof
A: way to jinx her
J: seriously
A: so hard to figure her out
A: there's a really amazing 'power' for lack of a better word
A: but then she goes and makes some really unpleasant noise and puts one back on the fence
J: yeah
J: I overall lean toward liking her
A: OK Theilemann
A: bring it home
J: they didn't go as crazy with the intermissions on this one. it'll come in at like 5:45
A: indeed
A: funny
A: on a related note, I do like this Albert Dohmen
J: yes
J: he sounds a tad old-ish but he still has it
A: as long as they can still realy spin the full lines, I think I like that in a Wotan
A: a reason I worry about whether I'll like Bryn Terfel's Wotan
A: it may be too smooth
J: huh
A: I think a Wotan should have a crust on it
J: then you may have not liked the Kirov Wotan
J: he was silky smoov
A: Wotan (trans.): "check out meine speer"
A: "it is big and scary"
A: that's the ballgame
J: well, the audience seems happy enough
J: and scene
J: ok, off to a potluck in Bayridge
A: I need to go listen to some Wintersturme
J: closest thing to Bayreuth I could get
A: ha
A: enjoy
A: i guess so
A: is the early one in intermission?
J: I think so
A: i turned it on at like 10:10
J: I woke up too late
J: but I will do the 11:45EST one
A: I am a bit worried
A: there is a polish call in show on the station now
A: and this woman is not shutting up
A: whoa
A: i have both the polish stations playing at same time
A: it is a cacophany of poles
A: one of them just said bayreuth
A: cool
J: I hope it wasn't a typo
J: I am now fearing we missed act one
A: dang
A: one of the poles is giving a synopsis I think
A: shit
A: he just said brunnhilde
A: maybe it is for act II
A: balls
A: that is totally Act II horns
A: yikes
A: hojoto-no
J: cuh-rud
J: well, we'll have to hear the act 1 rebroadcast
J: there is something to be appreciated about L-Wats. Like, she's not awful.
A: for sure
J: there's a Ring in January in Berlin
A: neat
A: whoa
A: luana devol is the gotterdammerung brunhilde
A: they have stephen gould for the siegfried siegfried
J: wait LD is B-hilds in Berlin?
A: yeah
J: whoa
J: that could be, well, troublesome
A: no doubt
A: but it is awfully intriguing
J: there's also one in Dresden
J: but it would require being in Dresden for like all of January
A: they have a children's show running concurrently called "Klein-Siegfried"
J: that is sort of fucked up
A: ha
A: yeah
A: I don't have a sense of how cold it is in Berlin in the winter
J: oh huh
A: that production looks kind of neat
J: oh it does
J: I met Kevin Bacon in his boxers last night
J: what are you thinking of this?
J: the opera, not KB
A: oops
A: I fell asleep for a bit
J: hah
J: well, it was pretty decent I think
A: Pizhonka?
J: good I think---though harder to tell from act 2
A: yeah
J: Watson's coming off pretty well today
A: yeah
J: a little pitchy here and there
A: oof
A: way to jinx her
J: seriously
A: so hard to figure her out
A: there's a really amazing 'power' for lack of a better word
A: but then she goes and makes some really unpleasant noise and puts one back on the fence
J: yeah
J: I overall lean toward liking her
A: OK Theilemann
A: bring it home
J: they didn't go as crazy with the intermissions on this one. it'll come in at like 5:45
A: indeed
A: funny
A: on a related note, I do like this Albert Dohmen
J: yes
J: he sounds a tad old-ish but he still has it
A: as long as they can still realy spin the full lines, I think I like that in a Wotan
A: a reason I worry about whether I'll like Bryn Terfel's Wotan
A: it may be too smooth
J: huh
A: I think a Wotan should have a crust on it
J: then you may have not liked the Kirov Wotan
J: he was silky smoov
A: Wotan (trans.): "check out meine speer"
A: "it is big and scary"
A: that's the ballgame
J: well, the audience seems happy enough
J: and scene
J: ok, off to a potluck in Bayridge
A: I need to go listen to some Wintersturme
J: closest thing to Bayreuth I could get
A: ha
A: enjoy
Yowza
That Glyndebourne Cosi looks very hott indeed.
What a great idea to make the Albanian prince get ups louche and sexy rather than louche and buffoonish. Maybe you lose a handful of cheap laughs but at least no one is scratching their heads about how they could fall for two doofuses. Instead its everything they liked in their lovers but more dangerous--same silly/intriguing/disturbing suspension of disbelief problem, but at least now it flows in the same direction as the subtext.
What a great idea to make the Albanian prince get ups louche and sexy rather than louche and buffoonish. Maybe you lose a handful of cheap laughs but at least no one is scratching their heads about how they could fall for two doofuses. Instead its everything they liked in their lovers but more dangerous--same silly/intriguing/disturbing suspension of disbelief problem, but at least now it flows in the same direction as the subtext.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Shorter Rhinegold
A: where's the R-Gold?
A: is there an intermission or something?
J: no it starts later because it's short
A: ahhh
A: sweet
J: so it starts at 10:55 your time
A: crud
J: ?
A: I have to go to a lunch thing at 11:30
A: arg
J: blah
A: this isn't working out. I think I may need to request some time off
J: it's really true. stupid summer job.
A: HP5=awesome
J: oh you saw it!
J: yeah it's great
A: I should really stop listening to Polish talk radio
A: oh
A: dur
A: I was clicking the links for yesterday
J: ah
J: total dur
A: I was hoping for a bit more crazy Helena Bonham Carter tho
A: its really only a matter of time until Emma Watson shows up in Maxim
J: she is Hermione?
J: it's true
A: she is 17 tho
J: crud
A: born in 1990
A: DR was 1989
A: so that's all good
J: awesome
A: his wand is fair game
J: not sure it's the wand I'm after
A: hehe
J: which station are you going to do?
A: I'm going to try Bayern Klassik
A: I trust Germans for Internet Radio
J: yeah me too
J: though the Bartok MP3 was coming in nice and clear just now.
J: the Bayern seems solid
A: I might give the Poles a chance...this has been ok, though I have only heard talking as of yet
A: there's another country which must have some mixed feelings about Wagner
J: true
J: the 256K Bartok mp3 is playing through iTunes and has like a real radio sound
J: I am going to go with that for a bit
A: dang it
A: windows does everything possible to fuck with itunes
A: I think it might have put a hit out on my Firefox, too
J: the Bayreuth orch rocks
A: seriously
J: which Rheinmaiden do you think is the sluttiest?
J: I am going with Flosshilde, for sure
J: WHOOPS
A: I might have to go with Wellgunde
A: Woglinde needs to step closer to the mic
A: http://www.rwagner.net/libretti/rheingold/e-rhein-s1.html
A: its definitely not this one
A: she's the downer rheinmaiden
J: yeah
J: Woglinde says "Does he want to play with us?"
J: which is pretty slutty
J: bye, gold
A: auf wiedersehn
J: Tschuss, Gold
A: scheiss
A: i have to go
A: this sounds really good
A: I want to hear more Thielemann
J: yeah
J: went idle at 11:54:21 AM.
J: returned at 12:10:28 PM.
J: good Nibelungen squeal
J: earlier
J: went idle at 1:10:34 PM.
J: returned at 1:32:52 PM.
A: and I'm back just in time for the applause
A: crud
A: how was it
J: I missed a bunch of it
J: had to do some errands and we all had lunch in the editors room
J: but what I heard was great
J: the orchestra was like amazing
J: and the singing was all around solid I thought
J: the reaction is sounding positive
A: is there an intermission or something?
J: no it starts later because it's short
A: ahhh
A: sweet
J: so it starts at 10:55 your time
A: crud
J: ?
A: I have to go to a lunch thing at 11:30
A: arg
J: blah
A: this isn't working out. I think I may need to request some time off
J: it's really true. stupid summer job.
A: HP5=awesome
J: oh you saw it!
J: yeah it's great
A: I should really stop listening to Polish talk radio
A: oh
A: dur
A: I was clicking the links for yesterday
J: ah
J: total dur
A: I was hoping for a bit more crazy Helena Bonham Carter tho
A: its really only a matter of time until Emma Watson shows up in Maxim
J: she is Hermione?
J: it's true
A: she is 17 tho
J: crud
A: born in 1990
A: DR was 1989
A: so that's all good
J: awesome
A: his wand is fair game
J: not sure it's the wand I'm after
A: hehe
J: which station are you going to do?
A: I'm going to try Bayern Klassik
A: I trust Germans for Internet Radio
J: yeah me too
J: though the Bartok MP3 was coming in nice and clear just now.
J: the Bayern seems solid
A: I might give the Poles a chance...this has been ok, though I have only heard talking as of yet
A: there's another country which must have some mixed feelings about Wagner
J: true
J: the 256K Bartok mp3 is playing through iTunes and has like a real radio sound
J: I am going to go with that for a bit
A: dang it
A: windows does everything possible to fuck with itunes
A: I think it might have put a hit out on my Firefox, too
J: the Bayreuth orch rocks
A: seriously
J: which Rheinmaiden do you think is the sluttiest?
J: I am going with Flosshilde, for sure
J: WHOOPS
A: I might have to go with Wellgunde
A: Woglinde needs to step closer to the mic
A: http://www.rwagner.net/libretti/rheingold/e-rhein-s1.html
A: its definitely not this one
A: she's the downer rheinmaiden
J: yeah
J: Woglinde says "Does he want to play with us?"
J: which is pretty slutty
J: bye, gold
A: auf wiedersehn
J: Tschuss, Gold
A: scheiss
A: i have to go
A: this sounds really good
A: I want to hear more Thielemann
J: yeah
J: went idle at 11:54:21 AM.
J: returned at 12:10:28 PM.
J: good Nibelungen squeal
J: earlier
J: went idle at 1:10:34 PM.
J: returned at 1:32:52 PM.
A: and I'm back just in time for the applause
A: crud
A: how was it
J: I missed a bunch of it
J: had to do some errands and we all had lunch in the editors room
J: but what I heard was great
J: the orchestra was like amazing
J: and the singing was all around solid I thought
J: the reaction is sounding positive
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Green Hill 2: Back to the Hill
A: hey
J: hello
J: streams are not as good today
A: yeah
J: right now I have the wmv from Bartok which seems to be doing OK
A: I think I have the m3u from them
A: there is some popping
J: yeah
J: I wish NDR Kultur would do it every day
A: such a fan of NDR Kultur
J: pop-frei, buffer-frei internet radio
J: I once again downloaded the Wagner Society application
A: what do you have to do to get some of their tix?
J: hopefully nothing too nasty
A: they have the goofiest web page
J: I know
J: it's dumb
A: um
A: have you read the reviews of yesterday?
J: no are they insane?
A: here
A: or
A: "Some Wagner enthusiasts were won over by the bold staging, which saw the singing troupe running around the stage adorned with outsized genetalia."
J: um it sounds insane. the boo-ing sounds aweomse
J: they boo'ed Hans Sachs and Eva!
A: she kept coming back for more?!?
A: damn you NDR Kultur
A: "At one point, sports shoes rained down on the stage."
J: wow
A: from the guy who replaced the dove at the end of Parsifal with a decaying rabbit corpse: " The enfant terrible of German theatre, Christoph Schlingensief, delivered a harsh verdict on Deutschland Radio, saying it felt like she had set the opera in a "fitness studio or a porn shop"."
A: Mad props for the Colonel, tho
J: act one of Pantyhäuser is awfully short
J: followed by an hour intermission
A: must be good revenue for whatever the Bayreuth equivalent of the Revlon Bar is
J: for serious
J: "I'll have a brownie and a decaf. And a sausage."
A: tasty
J: es schmeckt gut
A: I hope this Elisabeth is ok
A: maybe instead of finding someone to run it who can put on crazy naked productions they should get someone who can hire good singers
J: yeah that might be a thing to try
A: interesting opera-L bit on the poor singing:
A: and hoops
A: hm
A: I think I prefer a little more honey on my Elizabeth, but I can be down with this
J: that was pretty OK though the Elizabeth is a hair too dramatico
A: Chorus (trans.): Everybody come on down to the Halle, we're gonna have ourselves a sangin' contest!
A: I think I would like to see a Tannhauser production with a back country of Appalachia theme
A: the Venusberg would be like the cathouse in town
A: Elisabeth would be the buxom mountain girl
A: everyone would have banjos
A: eek
A: did T-hauser just blow a pipe?
J: I was away
J: damn
J: um is it on intermission?
A: yeah
A: are you getting the a capella Hungarian woman?
J: yes
A: we're not in Deustchland any more, Toto
J: damn NDR
A: this is absurd
A: the musical values have really gone downhill in this opera, huh
A: Tannhauser, as interpreted by 100 year old Slavic women
J: this is so horrible
J: stop buzzing, Hungarian people
A: maybe this is the background music the play on the lawn during intermission
J: UGH
J: enough!
A: dude
A: they should broadcast this on loudspeakers to get cults to surrender in standoffs
J: unless you are Muslim and praying, your singing is not allowed to sound like this
A: sweet lord
A: finally
J: they take like hour intermissions
J: during Tannhäuser
J: not that long an opera, folks
J: during which all of Hungary evidently starts wailing
A: some nice pics here, tho none of the meistercocks
J: huh
J: the video on that page makes me want to be in Bayreuth
A: Angela Merkel is so cute
J: it's all red carpet and mobbed
J: yay
J: I like this part
A: uh-oh
A: I think Liz may be tot
A: Wolfram (trans.): Um...wait. What exactly did she die of?
J: heh
J: see, I don't really know T-häus well enough for that game, which bums me out, cause it's so priddy
A: she dies of a broken heart or some BS
J: natch
A: then he sings this song about how nice she was
A: Then the Haus comes back
J: she expires a la Elsa, Gutrune,
A: wait--Gutrune dies?
J: she expired in this production
J: but like for no reason
J: she's just really bummed about everything
A: Bummers: The Silent Killer
J: Gutrune's like "I bet if I died you wouldn't even notice"
J: and I actually didn't
J: I thought she was Hagen as they were dressed the same
J: and I was confused
J: for the rest of the opera
J: knowing he had to also die at the end
A: ha
J: that character sucks
J: she obviously doesn't say the thing about no one noticing if she died
J: but she's sort of desperate for attention like that
A: its kind of unique among Wagner characters, no?
A: the super pathetic type?
A: you almost don't know what to do with her
A: it's like "look, Brunnhilde is going to be here in an hour and I think you might piss her off"
J: I think I am projecting some of the lameness on her
J: I think she just had the fewest unique character traits so I think of her as sort of pathetic and lame. And also, she uses a potion to get a man
J: who is not hers
A: the orch really sounds great
J: yes
A: then T threatens go to go back to Venus
A: and she shows up
A: and then he changes his mind
A: and dies
J: dies of indecision
A: more or less
A: then the pilgrims from Rome show up with the Pope's staff
A: which has blossomed
A: meaning that he has been forgiven
A: but it is a tad bittersweet, since both he and his woman are tot
J: wait, go to sfopera.com and click on "Macbeth" for a really kick-ass picture of Thomas Hampson
A: haha
J: isn't that awesome?
A: amazing
A: maybe she dies out of embarassment than Tannhauser keeps insinuating that she is a really, really bad lay
A: "we could have perfect holy love and my soul would be redeemend for eternity but...I'm sorry, baby, sex with you would just be SOOO weak"
J: is that basically how it goes?
A: more or less
J: hello
J: streams are not as good today
A: yeah
J: right now I have the wmv from Bartok which seems to be doing OK
A: I think I have the m3u from them
A: there is some popping
J: yeah
J: I wish NDR Kultur would do it every day
A: such a fan of NDR Kultur
J: pop-frei, buffer-frei internet radio
J: I once again downloaded the Wagner Society application
A: what do you have to do to get some of their tix?
J: hopefully nothing too nasty
A: they have the goofiest web page
J: I know
J: it's dumb
A: um
A: have you read the reviews of yesterday?
J: no are they insane?
A: here
A: or
A: "Some Wagner enthusiasts were won over by the bold staging, which saw the singing troupe running around the stage adorned with outsized genetalia."
J: um it sounds insane. the boo-ing sounds aweomse
J: they boo'ed Hans Sachs and Eva!
A: she kept coming back for more?!?
A: damn you NDR Kultur
A: "At one point, sports shoes rained down on the stage."
J: wow
A: from the guy who replaced the dove at the end of Parsifal with a decaying rabbit corpse: " The enfant terrible of German theatre, Christoph Schlingensief, delivered a harsh verdict on Deutschland Radio, saying it felt like she had set the opera in a "fitness studio or a porn shop"."
A: Mad props for the Colonel, tho
J: act one of Pantyhäuser is awfully short
J: followed by an hour intermission
A: must be good revenue for whatever the Bayreuth equivalent of the Revlon Bar is
J: for serious
J: "I'll have a brownie and a decaf. And a sausage."
A: tasty
J: es schmeckt gut
A: I hope this Elisabeth is ok
A: maybe instead of finding someone to run it who can put on crazy naked productions they should get someone who can hire good singers
J: yeah that might be a thing to try
A: interesting opera-L bit on the poor singing:
A: and hoops
A: hm
A: I think I prefer a little more honey on my Elizabeth, but I can be down with this
J: that was pretty OK though the Elizabeth is a hair too dramatico
A: Chorus (trans.): Everybody come on down to the Halle, we're gonna have ourselves a sangin' contest!
A: I think I would like to see a Tannhauser production with a back country of Appalachia theme
A: the Venusberg would be like the cathouse in town
A: Elisabeth would be the buxom mountain girl
A: everyone would have banjos
A: eek
A: did T-hauser just blow a pipe?
J: I was away
J: damn
J: um is it on intermission?
A: yeah
A: are you getting the a capella Hungarian woman?
J: yes
A: we're not in Deustchland any more, Toto
J: damn NDR
A: this is absurd
A: the musical values have really gone downhill in this opera, huh
A: Tannhauser, as interpreted by 100 year old Slavic women
J: this is so horrible
J: stop buzzing, Hungarian people
A: maybe this is the background music the play on the lawn during intermission
J: UGH
J: enough!
A: dude
A: they should broadcast this on loudspeakers to get cults to surrender in standoffs
J: unless you are Muslim and praying, your singing is not allowed to sound like this
A: sweet lord
A: finally
J: they take like hour intermissions
J: during Tannhäuser
J: not that long an opera, folks
J: during which all of Hungary evidently starts wailing
A: some nice pics here, tho none of the meistercocks
J: huh
J: the video on that page makes me want to be in Bayreuth
A: Angela Merkel is so cute
J: it's all red carpet and mobbed
J: yay
J: I like this part
A: uh-oh
A: I think Liz may be tot
A: Wolfram (trans.): Um...wait. What exactly did she die of?
J: heh
J: see, I don't really know T-häus well enough for that game, which bums me out, cause it's so priddy
A: she dies of a broken heart or some BS
J: natch
A: then he sings this song about how nice she was
A: Then the Haus comes back
J: she expires a la Elsa, Gutrune,
A: wait--Gutrune dies?
J: she expired in this production
J: but like for no reason
J: she's just really bummed about everything
A: Bummers: The Silent Killer
J: Gutrune's like "I bet if I died you wouldn't even notice"
J: and I actually didn't
J: I thought she was Hagen as they were dressed the same
J: and I was confused
J: for the rest of the opera
J: knowing he had to also die at the end
A: ha
J: that character sucks
J: she obviously doesn't say the thing about no one noticing if she died
J: but she's sort of desperate for attention like that
A: its kind of unique among Wagner characters, no?
A: the super pathetic type?
A: you almost don't know what to do with her
A: it's like "look, Brunnhilde is going to be here in an hour and I think you might piss her off"
J: I think I am projecting some of the lameness on her
J: I think she just had the fewest unique character traits so I think of her as sort of pathetic and lame. And also, she uses a potion to get a man
J: who is not hers
A: the orch really sounds great
J: yes
A: then T threatens go to go back to Venus
A: and she shows up
A: and then he changes his mind
A: and dies
J: dies of indecision
A: more or less
A: then the pilgrims from Rome show up with the Pope's staff
A: which has blossomed
A: meaning that he has been forgiven
A: but it is a tad bittersweet, since both he and his woman are tot
J: wait, go to sfopera.com and click on "Macbeth" for a really kick-ass picture of Thomas Hampson
A: haha
J: isn't that awesome?
A: amazing
A: maybe she dies out of embarassment than Tannhauser keeps insinuating that she is a really, really bad lay
A: "we could have perfect holy love and my soul would be redeemend for eternity but...I'm sorry, baby, sex with you would just be SOOO weak"
J: is that basically how it goes?
A: more or less
Opening Day
A: i feel like the Bayreuth intermission show is going to turn into "Sprockets" at any moment
J: oh the b-casts are on?!
A: Act II is starting now
A: http://vibik.blogspot.com/2007/07/wet-cats.html
J: Act II of what?
A: Meistersinger
J: who's in it?
A: a bunch of people I don't know
A: and Klaus Florian Vogt
J: woo!
J: I may need to turn that on
J: hm Linda Watson is the Bayreuth Brunnhilde again
A: yeah
A: I don't know how I feel about that
J: yeah I am leaning toward disappointed
J: it's weird that real A-listers don't sing at Bayreuth athat much
J: like, there's no Mattila Eva or Voigt Sieglinde at Bayreuth
J: oh sweet little Klaus
A: it's awfully nice
A: I don't know why the lack of a-lsiters
A: I think I read in a voigt interview about how she wanted to but they were going to make her jump through all these hoops and she was like whatever
J: I wonder what sort of hoops
J: these streams come through nicely
A: which are listening to?
J: NDR
A: me too
J: keepin' it real mit dem deutschen radio
A: some of the others are not so god
A: good
J: this makes me feel like I am in Deutschland
J: the chit chat
A: dang it
J: what?
A: boss came over to talk to me and I missed the riot
J: suck
J: I see a Frau Ohne Schatten/Doctor Atomic weekend in our future
A: um
A: I have been listening to this interview in german for like a half hour now
J: me too!
J: I mean, I don't understand it
A: she has such a great voice
J: I know
J: all gravely
A: oh man
A: that's the 29 yr old chick who's going to take it over
J: wait what?
A: she's the 29 yr old great (or great great) granddaughter who is supposed to get the torch
J: oh wow
A: unless the Bayreuth board bucks Wieland Wagner's wishes and goes with her mother or cousin
A: who are both older
J: why does it go to her and not her mother?
J: is her mother not a descendant?
A: it's not like a right of succession, I don't think
A: he wants to give it to her to ensure it will be kept in the family longer
J: ah
J: ok
A: 29 vs. 66
J: and Wieland is what, a great grandchild?
A: I think so
A: tho maybe he is just grandson
A: He's pretty old
J: when Did Wagner die?
A: 1883 A: but his child with Cosima, Siegfried, was fairly late I think
J: so wait, it's Wolfgang Wagner who's in charge right?
A: right...
A: Wieland was the other one
A: maybe that was the grandson
A: wolfgang is the great grandson
J: Wieland and Wolfgang are the sons of Winifred and Siegfried
J: I mean, per Wikipedia
J: Wieland ist tot
J: Wolfgang is the father of Katarina, the 29 year old
A: did he do the famous minimalist postwar productions?
A: yes
A: wow, so the current Wagner family's Nazi connections were indeed pretty tight
A: like Wolfgang's mom was all buddies with Hitler
A: ah
A: right
A: Winifred the Nazi
J: exactly
A: I think there are damning pictures of Hitler playing with the children or something
J: oh with Wolfgang and Wieland?
A: yeah
J: http://solomonsmusic.net/wagners.gif
A: lovely
J: Wolfgang will be 88 at the end of August
A: must be fun when they discuss old times
A: was that the summer we stayed at the beach or the one with Hitler?
J: haha
J:"no that year was Christmas at the Hitlers."
J:"the year before we went to that Hannukah thing at the Rosenbergs"
J: they take serious intermission at the 'reuth
A: yeah
A: I'm thinking there is some really nice summer sausage being consumed right now
J: oh totally
J:I'd ove to hear KFV do that part in G-dams right before Siegfried's death when he sings all the wood bird music
J: I'd love to hear, rather
A: oh word
A: it's funny when David sounds crustier than Walther
J: hah
J: yes
A: bring it KFV
A: what do you think therapy is like for Wolfgang?
A: "tell me about your mother"
A: "well, she was kind of judgmental...also, she was a big fucking Nazi"
J: hah
J:"ugh, she was like a total Nazi"
A: haha
J: "you mean, she was controlling?"
J: "no..."
J: "I mean, she made us sit on Hitler's lap"
A: haha
A: next door computer left
A: now I can giggle in peace
A: awesome
J: sweet
J: is that Jar Jar?
A: no
A: he's behind a wall
J: ah
J: and yet
A: there's this random computer next to me that people take once in a while
J: oh so priddy
A: super total priddy
J: do it again!
A: ha
A: yes!
J: haha
A: um
A: KFV needs to seriously never grow this stache again
J: ew!
A: delicious
J: yum
A: this part where Beckmesser comes back is such a chore
A: me and this Eva are no longer friends
A: uh...that's not the pitch, honey
J: I missed it
J: what'd she do?
A: she was shrill
A: and that was dicey
A: just there
J: yeah she is pretty mediocre
A: KFV's blending skillz are incredible
A: so
A: I realized the other weekend
A: there is a casino like a half hour away from me
A: in Indiana
J: oh man
J: yeah I found one in Yonkers
J: the slot machine thing with me is bad
J: have you gone?
A: no
A: not yet
A: but I've been reading about slot machines
J: oh?
A: not that you can do that much
J: right
A: but stuff like they try to confuse you about which the high percentage machines really
A: are
J: oh wow
A: and you have to read the fine print to make sure
A: and stuff about maximum coin machines
J: what are those?
J: like, $2 machines
J: ?
A: where you have a choice
J: oh right
A: not on all, but on some of them you should always play the maximum coin allotment to increase the probability
A: They are programmed to give higher percentages
J: yeah I read that too
J: funny we both did internet research on slot machines
A: yes
A: omg
A: someone is vacuuming in here
A: this better freaking end before the P-lied
J: um yes
J: it better
J: the Prettylied
A: Hans!
A: Sachs!
J: that was a nice note there
J: oh I do like the KFV
J: Kentucky Fried Vogt
A: Walther (trans.): the meisters can kiss my ass, now excuse me while I go do it with that guy's daughter
J: hah
J: which is fine coming from Vogt. Less fine coming from Botha.
A: true
J: "First I will locate my penis under the rolls. Then we will read the bible. THEN we will do it."
A: haha
A: apparently on stage right now for the "honor your Germant masters" bit, gigantic Nazi style busts of Goethe and Schiller are disintegrating into the stage
J: whoa
A: should make for some nice booing
A: this ending chorus is v. nice
J: it so is
J: whoa good booing already
A: damn
A: I hope that's for the Colonel
J: which
A: the first big applause
J: I wish they'd put the microphone back in there
A: seriously...the production people are going to come soon
J: that is sort of tepid for someone
A: don't cut out!
J: ah!
J: let us hear the boo-ing!
A: noooo!
J: neeeeeiiin!
J: is this a new production?
A: yeah
A: by Katharina Wagner
J: heh
A: nuts
J: I can't tell what was going on
A: wow
A: that entertained me for the entire day
J: that is excellent
J: I have had it on for 3 hrs 45 mins
A: I'm at 6:21
J: this is nice, it's sort of like the old TCF days
J: wow
A: I missed the first half hr or so
J: so, Tannhäuser tomorrow?
A: back to the hill!
A: I'll bring the wurst, you bring the wine
J: das klingt ganz perfeckt
J: oh the b-casts are on?!
A: Act II is starting now
A: http://vibik.blogspot.com/2007/07/wet-cats.html
J: Act II of what?
A: Meistersinger
J: who's in it?
A: a bunch of people I don't know
A: and Klaus Florian Vogt
J: woo!
J: I may need to turn that on
J: hm Linda Watson is the Bayreuth Brunnhilde again
A: yeah
A: I don't know how I feel about that
J: yeah I am leaning toward disappointed
J: it's weird that real A-listers don't sing at Bayreuth athat much
J: like, there's no Mattila Eva or Voigt Sieglinde at Bayreuth
J: oh sweet little Klaus
A: it's awfully nice
A: I don't know why the lack of a-lsiters
A: I think I read in a voigt interview about how she wanted to but they were going to make her jump through all these hoops and she was like whatever
J: I wonder what sort of hoops
J: these streams come through nicely
A: which are listening to?
J: NDR
A: me too
J: keepin' it real mit dem deutschen radio
A: some of the others are not so god
A: good
J: this makes me feel like I am in Deutschland
J: the chit chat
A: dang it
J: what?
A: boss came over to talk to me and I missed the riot
J: suck
J: I see a Frau Ohne Schatten/Doctor Atomic weekend in our future
A: um
A: I have been listening to this interview in german for like a half hour now
J: me too!
J: I mean, I don't understand it
A: she has such a great voice
J: I know
J: all gravely
A: oh man
A: that's the 29 yr old chick who's going to take it over
J: wait what?
A: she's the 29 yr old great (or great great) granddaughter who is supposed to get the torch
J: oh wow
A: unless the Bayreuth board bucks Wieland Wagner's wishes and goes with her mother or cousin
A: who are both older
J: why does it go to her and not her mother?
J: is her mother not a descendant?
A: it's not like a right of succession, I don't think
A: he wants to give it to her to ensure it will be kept in the family longer
J: ah
J: ok
A: 29 vs. 66
J: and Wieland is what, a great grandchild?
A: I think so
A: tho maybe he is just grandson
A: He's pretty old
J: when Did Wagner die?
A: 1883 A: but his child with Cosima, Siegfried, was fairly late I think
J: so wait, it's Wolfgang Wagner who's in charge right?
A: right...
A: Wieland was the other one
A: maybe that was the grandson
A: wolfgang is the great grandson
J: Wieland and Wolfgang are the sons of Winifred and Siegfried
J: I mean, per Wikipedia
J: Wieland ist tot
J: Wolfgang is the father of Katarina, the 29 year old
A: did he do the famous minimalist postwar productions?
A: yes
A: wow, so the current Wagner family's Nazi connections were indeed pretty tight
A: like Wolfgang's mom was all buddies with Hitler
A: ah
A: right
A: Winifred the Nazi
J: exactly
A: I think there are damning pictures of Hitler playing with the children or something
J: oh with Wolfgang and Wieland?
A: yeah
J: http://solomonsmusic.net/wagners.gif
A: lovely
J: Wolfgang will be 88 at the end of August
A: must be fun when they discuss old times
A: was that the summer we stayed at the beach or the one with Hitler?
J: haha
J:"no that year was Christmas at the Hitlers."
J:"the year before we went to that Hannukah thing at the Rosenbergs"
J: they take serious intermission at the 'reuth
A: yeah
A: I'm thinking there is some really nice summer sausage being consumed right now
J: oh totally
J:I'd ove to hear KFV do that part in G-dams right before Siegfried's death when he sings all the wood bird music
J: I'd love to hear, rather
A: oh word
A: it's funny when David sounds crustier than Walther
J: hah
J: yes
A: bring it KFV
A: what do you think therapy is like for Wolfgang?
A: "tell me about your mother"
A: "well, she was kind of judgmental...also, she was a big fucking Nazi"
J: hah
J:"ugh, she was like a total Nazi"
A: haha
J: "you mean, she was controlling?"
J: "no..."
J: "I mean, she made us sit on Hitler's lap"
A: haha
A: next door computer left
A: now I can giggle in peace
A: awesome
J: sweet
J: is that Jar Jar?
A: no
A: he's behind a wall
J: ah
J: and yet
A: there's this random computer next to me that people take once in a while
J: oh so priddy
A: super total priddy
J: do it again!
A: ha
A: yes!
J: haha
A: um
A: KFV needs to seriously never grow this stache again
J: ew!
A: delicious
J: yum
A: this part where Beckmesser comes back is such a chore
A: me and this Eva are no longer friends
A: uh...that's not the pitch, honey
J: I missed it
J: what'd she do?
A: she was shrill
A: and that was dicey
A: just there
J: yeah she is pretty mediocre
A: KFV's blending skillz are incredible
A: so
A: I realized the other weekend
A: there is a casino like a half hour away from me
A: in Indiana
J: oh man
J: yeah I found one in Yonkers
J: the slot machine thing with me is bad
J: have you gone?
A: no
A: not yet
A: but I've been reading about slot machines
J: oh?
A: not that you can do that much
J: right
A: but stuff like they try to confuse you about which the high percentage machines really
A: are
J: oh wow
A: and you have to read the fine print to make sure
A: and stuff about maximum coin machines
J: what are those?
J: like, $2 machines
J: ?
A: where you have a choice
J: oh right
A: not on all, but on some of them you should always play the maximum coin allotment to increase the probability
A: They are programmed to give higher percentages
J: yeah I read that too
J: funny we both did internet research on slot machines
A: yes
A: omg
A: someone is vacuuming in here
A: this better freaking end before the P-lied
J: um yes
J: it better
J: the Prettylied
A: Hans!
A: Sachs!
J: that was a nice note there
J: oh I do like the KFV
J: Kentucky Fried Vogt
A: Walther (trans.): the meisters can kiss my ass, now excuse me while I go do it with that guy's daughter
J: hah
J: which is fine coming from Vogt. Less fine coming from Botha.
A: true
J: "First I will locate my penis under the rolls. Then we will read the bible. THEN we will do it."
A: haha
A: apparently on stage right now for the "honor your Germant masters" bit, gigantic Nazi style busts of Goethe and Schiller are disintegrating into the stage
J: whoa
A: should make for some nice booing
A: this ending chorus is v. nice
J: it so is
J: whoa good booing already
A: damn
A: I hope that's for the Colonel
J: which
A: the first big applause
J: I wish they'd put the microphone back in there
A: seriously...the production people are going to come soon
J: that is sort of tepid for someone
A: don't cut out!
J: ah!
J: let us hear the boo-ing!
A: noooo!
J: neeeeeiiin!
J: is this a new production?
A: yeah
A: by Katharina Wagner
J: heh
A: nuts
J: I can't tell what was going on
A: wow
A: that entertained me for the entire day
J: that is excellent
J: I have had it on for 3 hrs 45 mins
A: I'm at 6:21
J: this is nice, it's sort of like the old TCF days
J: wow
A: I missed the first half hr or so
J: so, Tannhäuser tomorrow?
A: back to the hill!
A: I'll bring the wurst, you bring the wine
J: das klingt ganz perfeckt
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Tonight on Leno
'Sphere perennial Straussmonster adds some interesting thoughts on Kirov G'rung to Maury's over at his place. Ah, opera...where one can get excited about new reviews of shows one is virtually guaranteed to never see.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Mark Twain at Bayreuth, 1891
This is fun:
If you are living in New York or San Francisco or Chicago or anywhere else in America, and you conclude, by the middle of May, that you would like to attend the Bayreuth opera two months and a half later, you must use the cable and get about it immediately or you will get no seats, and you must cable for lodgings, too. Then if you are lucky you will get seats in the last row and lodgings in the fringe of the town. If you stop to write you will get nothing. There were plenty of people in Nuremberg when we passed through who had come on pilgrimage without first securing seats and lodgings. They had found neither in Bayreuth; they had walked Bayreuth streets a while in sorrow, then had gone to Nuremberg and found neither beds nor standing room, and had walked those quaint streets all night, waiting for the hotels to open and empty their guests into trains, and so make room for these, their defeated brethren and sisters in the faith. They had endured from thirty to forty hours' railroading on the continent of Europe--with all which that implies of worry, fatigue, and financial impoverishment--and all they had got and all they were to get for it was handiness and accuracy in kicking themselves, acquired by practice in the back streets of the two towns when other people were in bed; for back they must go over that unspeakable journey with their pious mission unfulfilled. These humiliated outcasts had the frowsy and unbrushed and apologetic look of wet cats, and their eyes were glazed with drowsiness, their bodies were adroop from crown to sole, and all kind-hearted people refrained from asking them if they had been to Bayreuth and failed to connect, as knowing they would lie.And perhaps the finest burn on Gurnemanz ever put to paper:
An ignorant person gets tired of listening to gymnastic intervals in the long run, no matter how pleasant they may be. In "Parsifal" there is a hermit named Gurnemanz who stands on the stage in one spot and practices by the hour, while first one and then another character of the cast endures what he can of it and then retires to die.And this is very nice, too:
Yesterday the opera was "Tristan and Isolde." I have seen all sorts of audiences--at theaters, operas, concerts, lectures, sermons, funerals--but none which was twin to the Wagner audience of Bayreuth for fixed and reverential attention. Absolute attention and petrified retention to the end of an act of the attitude assumed at the beginning of it. You detect no movement in the solid mass of heads and shoulders. You seem to sit with the dead in the gloom of a tomb. You know that they are being stirred to their profoundest depths; that there are times when they want to rise and wave handkerchiefs and shout their approbation, and times when tears are running down their faces, and it would be a relief to free their pent emotions in sobs or screams; yet you hear not one utterance till the curtain swings together and the closing strains have slowly faded out and died; then the dead rise with one impulse and shake the building with their applause. Every seat is full in the first act; there is not a vacant one in the last. If a man would be conspicuous, let him come here and retire from the house in the midst of an act. It would make him celebrated.T-minus 23 hrs 'til Meistersinger...
Friday, July 20, 2007
Is that a schwert in your pocket...
A: did you get to see any of the explosion thing in midtown?
J: not live
J: it looked fairly neat
A: it really did
A: arg
A: I am so anti-work right now
J: ugh
J: I know
J: me too
A: I wish the Bayreuth b-casts had already started
A: Looks like Klaus Florian Vogt is in Meistersinger
A: that will be neat
J: oh awesome
A: K. Flo. Vo.
A: did you see how that NYT reviewer kind of did a spoiler review of the Harry Potter book?
J: no!
A: isn't that evil?
J: horrible
A: apparently there is nothing super explicit, but it definitely crosses the line
J: it's like "someone dies, and it rhymes with Mary Trotter"
A: ha
J: I saw HP5 last night
J: I really liked it
A: oh sweet
A: I have to do that
A: Hermione takes off her shirt, right?
J: and jiggles her tits, yes
J: seriously though
J: it's good that Radcliffe is 18
J: because he has become really hot
J: and it would lead to lots of confused guilty feelings among certain viewers otherwise
A: it was dicey there for a bit
J: it really was
J: after the last one Laura P was like
J: "so...it it WRONG that I find him hot?"
A: "if wanting to fuck Harry Potter is wrong, I don't want to be right"
J: haha
A: I think that might make a great bumper sticker
J: with like a suggestive flying broomstick on it
A: haha
A: yes
J: Nothung is awfully phallic in this rung
J: ring
J: did you see the video clips on the NY Times website?
A: ooh
J: there is a pretty great Walküre montage
A: no
J: half way down the page
A: oh my
A: that is a big sword
A: nice mullet, Siegmund
J: I know
J: he sounds good though
A: definitely
A: hrmph
A: I am jealous
J: it definitely trumps what we saw in DC
J: except for Domingus
A: nice
A: man
A: gergiev really has a heinous combover
J: not a goodlooking man
J: I was mixed on Sergeeva the other night
J: we'll see if she can pull off G-dams
J: I can't stop eating handfuls of almonds/raisins/blueberries
J: I have stocked the office with healthy snackage
J: but I can't seem to stop
A: it's kind of amazing how much trail mix one has to eat before one gets sick of it
J: I know
J: neat
A: dress code for Glyndebourne is black tie
J: no way
J: wow
A: I think that's probably #2 on the list of wet dream opera vacations, after Bayreuth
J: yeah that seems right
A: jeez
A: its appallingly expensive
A: 125 pounds for the cheap seats
A: wait--maybe 60
J: still
A: Bayreuth may be less expensive on balance
J: Bayreuth tix themselves are not a fortune
J: it's just the whole getting them thing
J: and the flying to Germany
A: and Bavaria has to be cheaper than anything within a stone's throw of London
J: true
A: where USD go to die
J: GBP kicks USD's ass
A: for reals
J: not live
J: it looked fairly neat
A: it really did
A: arg
A: I am so anti-work right now
J: ugh
J: I know
J: me too
A: I wish the Bayreuth b-casts had already started
A: Looks like Klaus Florian Vogt is in Meistersinger
A: that will be neat
J: oh awesome
A: K. Flo. Vo.
A: did you see how that NYT reviewer kind of did a spoiler review of the Harry Potter book?
J: no!
A: isn't that evil?
J: horrible
A: apparently there is nothing super explicit, but it definitely crosses the line
J: it's like "someone dies, and it rhymes with Mary Trotter"
A: ha
J: I saw HP5 last night
J: I really liked it
A: oh sweet
A: I have to do that
A: Hermione takes off her shirt, right?
J: and jiggles her tits, yes
J: seriously though
J: it's good that Radcliffe is 18
J: because he has become really hot
J: and it would lead to lots of confused guilty feelings among certain viewers otherwise
A: it was dicey there for a bit
J: it really was
J: after the last one Laura P was like
J: "so...it it WRONG that I find him hot?"
A: "if wanting to fuck Harry Potter is wrong, I don't want to be right"
J: haha
A: I think that might make a great bumper sticker
J: with like a suggestive flying broomstick on it
A: haha
A: yes
J: Nothung is awfully phallic in this rung
J: ring
J: did you see the video clips on the NY Times website?
A: ooh
J: there is a pretty great Walküre montage
A: no
J: half way down the page
A: oh my
A: that is a big sword
A: nice mullet, Siegmund
J: I know
J: he sounds good though
A: definitely
A: hrmph
A: I am jealous
J: it definitely trumps what we saw in DC
J: except for Domingus
A: nice
A: man
A: gergiev really has a heinous combover
J: not a goodlooking man
J: I was mixed on Sergeeva the other night
J: we'll see if she can pull off G-dams
J: I can't stop eating handfuls of almonds/raisins/blueberries
J: I have stocked the office with healthy snackage
J: but I can't seem to stop
A: it's kind of amazing how much trail mix one has to eat before one gets sick of it
J: I know
J: neat
A: dress code for Glyndebourne is black tie
J: no way
J: wow
A: I think that's probably #2 on the list of wet dream opera vacations, after Bayreuth
J: yeah that seems right
A: jeez
A: its appallingly expensive
A: 125 pounds for the cheap seats
A: wait--maybe 60
J: still
A: Bayreuth may be less expensive on balance
J: Bayreuth tix themselves are not a fortune
J: it's just the whole getting them thing
J: and the flying to Germany
A: and Bavaria has to be cheaper than anything within a stone's throw of London
J: true
A: where USD go to die
J: GBP kicks USD's ass
A: for reals
Friday, July 13, 2007
Rach 2
Had my second outing of the year to Ravinia last night(the Midwestern Tanglewood and summer home of the CSO for you unicoastal people). The first excursion included the exquisite Pinchas Zukerman playing Mozart and a bang up Mahler 5 (incidentally, the same thing I saw the last time I was at Ravinia the summer after sophomore year in college). But last night was unfortunately a little underwhelming.
One Olga Kern was the soloist for the Rachmaninoff, a huge sentimental favorite of mine. No doubt, she created some marvelous colors in the softer moments, nailing that sort of cavalier melancholy that runs throughout. But there were serious power problems in the fire n' brimstone sections, and that's really sort of a prerequisite for a good showing, no? The Rachmaninoff piano needs to cut through the strings like Brunnhilde through a 150-piece pit--no matter how nice your tone, the effect just doesn't work if the balance isn't right.
The Rachmaninoff was paired with the woefully uninspired choice of Rimsky Korsakov's Scheherezade suite. I mean seriously. You have an hour of Russian orchestral music to program and the best you can come up with is some kitsch showpiece? The Rachmaninoff isn't crowd pleaser enough? Not to hate on the symphony and its need to program for the stodgy, but this is one of those pieces that really ought to be retired to 33's with minaret drawings on the jacket. Sure, that theme is pretty the first 10 times. But after that its just torture. Look alive, CSO.
On an unrelated note, a coworker alerted me to a nice interview with Beverly Sills replayed on Fresh Air here.
One Olga Kern was the soloist for the Rachmaninoff, a huge sentimental favorite of mine. No doubt, she created some marvelous colors in the softer moments, nailing that sort of cavalier melancholy that runs throughout. But there were serious power problems in the fire n' brimstone sections, and that's really sort of a prerequisite for a good showing, no? The Rachmaninoff piano needs to cut through the strings like Brunnhilde through a 150-piece pit--no matter how nice your tone, the effect just doesn't work if the balance isn't right.
The Rachmaninoff was paired with the woefully uninspired choice of Rimsky Korsakov's Scheherezade suite. I mean seriously. You have an hour of Russian orchestral music to program and the best you can come up with is some kitsch showpiece? The Rachmaninoff isn't crowd pleaser enough? Not to hate on the symphony and its need to program for the stodgy, but this is one of those pieces that really ought to be retired to 33's with minaret drawings on the jacket. Sure, that theme is pretty the first 10 times. But after that its just torture. Look alive, CSO.
On an unrelated note, a coworker alerted me to a nice interview with Beverly Sills replayed on Fresh Air here.
Monday, July 09, 2007
Belated Sills Tribute
As a relative latecomer, I don't really have any of those primordial childhood memories of her which so many seem to share. For my part, she's always embodied something very specific about New York and New York culture's peculiar place on the American continent and in the national imagination, and I wonder whether its really understood amidst the "people's diva" epitaphs thrust into our obsession with 'elitist' culture.
Because it's not so much that she 'brought opera to the people', but rather that she carried the banner of that special mid-century moment when people understood and celebrated the possibilities of a decidedly American national artistic culture. When the country and New York City, notwithstanding its European deviance, could carry out a love affair that had nothing to do with terrible tragedy. It was a remarkable achievement in American democracy and national cohesion--and Sills, an extraordinary artist, unabashedly American, unabashedly New York, was undoubtedly one of its finest spokespeople.
Anyhow. Here are some tracks--nothing too special, just two from her Roberto Deveraux which I have a great affection for, and that Traviata Maury wanted to hear again. Wow. That Traviata is a heartbreaker.
RD1
RD2
Trav1
Trav2
Trav3
Trav4
Trav5
Because it's not so much that she 'brought opera to the people', but rather that she carried the banner of that special mid-century moment when people understood and celebrated the possibilities of a decidedly American national artistic culture. When the country and New York City, notwithstanding its European deviance, could carry out a love affair that had nothing to do with terrible tragedy. It was a remarkable achievement in American democracy and national cohesion--and Sills, an extraordinary artist, unabashedly American, unabashedly New York, was undoubtedly one of its finest spokespeople.
Anyhow. Here are some tracks--nothing too special, just two from her Roberto Deveraux which I have a great affection for, and that Traviata Maury wanted to hear again. Wow. That Traviata is a heartbreaker.
RD1
RD2
Trav1
Trav2
Trav3
Trav4
Trav5
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Blast!
They're playing a tape of Lyric's Cosi from this season (which I did not attend out of extreme lameness) and it sounds kick ass. I guess Erin Wall's 'Come Scoglio' sounded a tad out of control at points (and whose doesn't), but the 'Per Pieta' was phat...like Babs-Frittoli-memory-inducing-phat.
The real knife turning is coming from Eric Cutler's very very hott sounding Ferrando. If I were part of a fantasy opera league (and I'm not sure why such a thing doesn't exist) I think I would be devoting a sizeable chunk of my salary cap for up n' comers to drafting him for all my 08-09 Mozart tenor slots.
I'm not listening to the orch so much, but I will note that the Lyric horns nailed that nasty little exposed figure in 'Per Pieta' that everyone always manages to f up.
Speaking of Cosi, I came to a revelation the other day that I don't really like the main one I listen to: the benchmark Bohm/Schwarzkopf/Ludwig/Kraus/Taddei show. I mean, it's objectively good and all, but just runs contrary to my Cosi tastes on a bunch of levels: Kraus' Ferrando sounds effortful, Schwarzkopf's Fiordiligi sounds kind of icy and abrasive, the tempi get ploddy in places, etc.
The recording that really made me fall in love with Cosi, which I've mentioned before, is this set on L'oiseau Lyre which I have on (deteriorating) tapes. It seemed to be out of print for a while, though it looks like it's been reissued on the ArkivMusic private label. Way to be.
Anyhow, methinks I need to do some serious homework on Cosi discs. The wishlist goes something like this: an outrageously honey voiced Ferrando who sounds like he's about 19, a Fiordiligi who milks her big songs for all they're worth, an orchestra with some of that light and fast period flava, a Don Alfonso who doesn't sound too elderly, and solid people filling out the rest of the cast. Is that really so much to ask?
The real knife turning is coming from Eric Cutler's very very hott sounding Ferrando. If I were part of a fantasy opera league (and I'm not sure why such a thing doesn't exist) I think I would be devoting a sizeable chunk of my salary cap for up n' comers to drafting him for all my 08-09 Mozart tenor slots.
I'm not listening to the orch so much, but I will note that the Lyric horns nailed that nasty little exposed figure in 'Per Pieta' that everyone always manages to f up.
Speaking of Cosi, I came to a revelation the other day that I don't really like the main one I listen to: the benchmark Bohm/Schwarzkopf/Ludwig/Kraus/Taddei show. I mean, it's objectively good and all, but just runs contrary to my Cosi tastes on a bunch of levels: Kraus' Ferrando sounds effortful, Schwarzkopf's Fiordiligi sounds kind of icy and abrasive, the tempi get ploddy in places, etc.
The recording that really made me fall in love with Cosi, which I've mentioned before, is this set on L'oiseau Lyre which I have on (deteriorating) tapes. It seemed to be out of print for a while, though it looks like it's been reissued on the ArkivMusic private label. Way to be.
Anyhow, methinks I need to do some serious homework on Cosi discs. The wishlist goes something like this: an outrageously honey voiced Ferrando who sounds like he's about 19, a Fiordiligi who milks her big songs for all they're worth, an orchestra with some of that light and fast period flava, a Don Alfonso who doesn't sound too elderly, and solid people filling out the rest of the cast. Is that really so much to ask?
Friday, June 22, 2007
Pork and Destiny
J: oh, pork in pork gravy
A: porkity porkity pork
J: it's a little like eating in Southern Illinois
J: like, Pork with white gravy
J: and a chicken/potato/mayonnaise casserole
J: it's actually sort of awesome
A: you should try to explain to the Latvians about Carbondale
J: hah
J: or that I ate something similar in a place called Palestine.
J: hmm, I got a bottle of wine but I have no opener. duh.
A: ha
A: the wine thing is unfortunate
A: what sort of a place are you staying in?
J: it's decent. it has a nice-ish restaurant
J: maybe I will ask reception
A: is latvia more cost effective than Sweden?
J: wine mission accomplished
J: latvia is more cost effective
A: oh good
J: they were very nice about the wine
J: which is good cause the minibar wine would have been really hard to drink while my cheap liquor store wine was sitting there staring at me
A: seriously
A: FYI
A: in Texas, its against the law to have liquor in the minibar
J: jesus
A: how gay is that
J: total gay
J: I won my dinner money from a slot machine tonight
A: way to go!
J: it is such a good thing there is not gambling in New York
J: I freaking love slot machines
A: I was about to say
A: there's a reason we don't have such things lying around in this country
J: tomorrow....Helsinki
A: it's like your date with destiny
A: did you see there's a jenufa in st. petersburg on sunday?
J: arggh
A: the Andrei from one version of the Mazeppa casts is in it
A: Oleg Balashov
A: wait--is that the crappy guy we saw?
J: oh maybe
A: indeed it is
A: weak
A: porkity porkity pork
J: it's a little like eating in Southern Illinois
J: like, Pork with white gravy
J: and a chicken/potato/mayonnaise casserole
J: it's actually sort of awesome
A: you should try to explain to the Latvians about Carbondale
J: hah
J: or that I ate something similar in a place called Palestine.
J: hmm, I got a bottle of wine but I have no opener. duh.
A: ha
A: the wine thing is unfortunate
A: what sort of a place are you staying in?
J: it's decent. it has a nice-ish restaurant
J: maybe I will ask reception
A: is latvia more cost effective than Sweden?
J: wine mission accomplished
J: latvia is more cost effective
A: oh good
J: they were very nice about the wine
J: which is good cause the minibar wine would have been really hard to drink while my cheap liquor store wine was sitting there staring at me
A: seriously
A: FYI
A: in Texas, its against the law to have liquor in the minibar
J: jesus
A: how gay is that
J: total gay
J: I won my dinner money from a slot machine tonight
A: way to go!
J: it is such a good thing there is not gambling in New York
J: I freaking love slot machines
A: I was about to say
A: there's a reason we don't have such things lying around in this country
J: tomorrow....Helsinki
A: it's like your date with destiny
A: did you see there's a jenufa in st. petersburg on sunday?
J: arggh
A: the Andrei from one version of the Mazeppa casts is in it
A: Oleg Balashov
A: wait--is that the crappy guy we saw?
J: oh maybe
A: indeed it is
A: weak
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Latvia!
J: Latvia!
A: awesome!
J signed off at 9:48:06 AM.
J is offline and will receive your IMs when signing back in.
J signed on at 12:27:05 PM.
J: Riga is neat. let's maybe move here.
A: are the people good looking?
A: I feel like Latvians are good looking
J: they are actually
J: the men moreso than the women
A: huh
A: they aren't really Slavs, nor are they Scandanavians
A: Scandoslavians
J: hah
J: Slandovanicans
A: that makes them sound like Satan worshippers
J: I just ate at this restaurant that was like an Epcot version of Latvia....but in actual Latvia
A: dude
A: how is Latvian food?
A: I am picturing like reindeer kielbasa
J: it's like a lot of pork and stuff. and I had borscht
A: tasty
J: there are little casinos all over here
A: are they gross?
J: I can't tell. They're small-scale
J: but I think I may attend one
J: there is a note in the bathroom in my hotel room about conserving water and it says "please help us save the nature"
A: awesome!
J signed off at 9:48:06 AM.
J is offline and will receive your IMs when signing back in.
J signed on at 12:27:05 PM.
J: Riga is neat. let's maybe move here.
A: are the people good looking?
A: I feel like Latvians are good looking
J: they are actually
J: the men moreso than the women
A: huh
A: they aren't really Slavs, nor are they Scandanavians
A: Scandoslavians
J: hah
J: Slandovanicans
A: that makes them sound like Satan worshippers
J: I just ate at this restaurant that was like an Epcot version of Latvia....but in actual Latvia
A: dude
A: how is Latvian food?
A: I am picturing like reindeer kielbasa
J: it's like a lot of pork and stuff. and I had borscht
A: tasty
J: there are little casinos all over here
A: are they gross?
J: I can't tell. They're small-scale
J: but I think I may attend one
J: there is a note in the bathroom in my hotel room about conserving water and it says "please help us save the nature"
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Stockholm Syndrome
A: dude
J: dude.
A: there is this foreign guy over the cubicle wall from me who sounds exactly like Jar-jar binks
J: haha
J: is he black and gay?
A: no
A: maybe gay
A: I have no idea where this accent is from
A: but white somewhere
J: huh
A: where are you now?
J: still in Stockholm
J: I just took a long nap
J: I have sort of slept half the time
J: but oh well
A: so it goes
A: maybe you will be adjusted for the rest
J: I went to a good Rigoletto the other night
A: bonus
A: what's the opera house sich there?
J: it's really old and pretty
J: a king of some sort was killed there
A: ooh
J: I'm not sure how many it seats
A: is that what Ballo is based on?
J: but I am gonna go for like huge broadway house....1900 people maybe?
J: Ballo is based on the killing of some Swedish king, but he was actually killed at a masked ball
J: I think
A: I mean, it's plausible that more than one Swedish king was assassinated
A: despite that seeming a little too malicious for Swedes
J: oh wait
J: I think you're right
J: maybe the Ball was at the opera house?
J: ok same king
J: some accounts say opera
J: some say maske ball
J: all say Gustav III
A: actually having it at an opera might have been a little too complicated staging wise
J: hah
J: let's say he was at a masked ball they were holding AT the opera house.
A: the librettist is all, so we should do it at the opera?
A: Verdi: "Nah, too meta. Let's make it a masked ball"
A: off to meeting
J: hah
J: enjoy
J: dude.
A: there is this foreign guy over the cubicle wall from me who sounds exactly like Jar-jar binks
J: haha
J: is he black and gay?
A: no
A: maybe gay
A: I have no idea where this accent is from
A: but white somewhere
J: huh
A: where are you now?
J: still in Stockholm
J: I just took a long nap
J: I have sort of slept half the time
J: but oh well
A: so it goes
A: maybe you will be adjusted for the rest
J: I went to a good Rigoletto the other night
A: bonus
A: what's the opera house sich there?
J: it's really old and pretty
J: a king of some sort was killed there
A: ooh
J: I'm not sure how many it seats
A: is that what Ballo is based on?
J: but I am gonna go for like huge broadway house....1900 people maybe?
J: Ballo is based on the killing of some Swedish king, but he was actually killed at a masked ball
J: I think
A: I mean, it's plausible that more than one Swedish king was assassinated
A: despite that seeming a little too malicious for Swedes
J: oh wait
J: I think you're right
J: maybe the Ball was at the opera house?
J: ok same king
J: some accounts say opera
J: some say maske ball
J: all say Gustav III
A: actually having it at an opera might have been a little too complicated staging wise
J: hah
J: let's say he was at a masked ball they were holding AT the opera house.
A: the librettist is all, so we should do it at the opera?
A: Verdi: "Nah, too meta. Let's make it a masked ball"
A: off to meeting
J: hah
J: enjoy
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Friday, June 01, 2007
'06 - '07 Reviews
- Butterfly (Ravinia)
- Il Trittico (Met)
- Walkure (WNO)
- Barber (Met)
- Ägyptische Helena (Met)
- Carmelites (Lyric)
- Onegin (Met)
- Jenufa (Met)
- First Emperor (Met)
- Trovatore (Lyric)
- Idomeneo 2 (Met)
- Don Carlo (Met)
- Butterfly 2 (Met)
- Salome A/J (Lyric)
- Gioconda (Met)
- Idomeneo (Met)
- Die Tote Stadt (NYCO)
- Iphigenie (Lyric)
- Butterfly (Met)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)