|
July 2008 - Posts
-
Operas take place in many different locales and time periods, ranging from ancient Egypt to the present day. Wagner's monumental Ring Cycle takes place in an inaginary world of German gods, goddesses, dwarves, giants, water nixies and valkyries etc In opera you can travel back to Russia at the time of Ivan the terrible, see quaint Sicilian villages, observe the amorous intrigues of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, Queen Elizabeth the first, French . Spanish, and other European kings and the aristocracy, and much, much more.
Sounds like fun, doesn't it ? Maybe, but many who direct operas and design the sets in productions today have different ideas. It's become commonplace, especially in Europe, for some reason, to set productions of operas which take place in the past in the present day, with modern costumes. It's a gimmick, and sometimes it's interesting and dramatically effective, but too often it's just plain weird. Directors often add all manner of arbitrary gimmicks to productions.
Verdi's early opera Nabucco is a story of the Jews of the Bible during the Babylonian captivity. Nabucco is short for the legendary king Nebachudnezzar. One production of this opera actually transfered the action to modern day Iraq, and Nabucco was none other than the late, unlamented Saddam Hussein ! And it gets weirder ! Mozart's Marriage of Figaro , which takes place in the elegant castle of an 18th century Spanish aristocrat, has actually been tranferred to the Trump tower in Manhattan. Figaro is the valet to a count; here he's the chauffeur of a very wealthy man ! Boris Godunov, which deals with the torments of a Tsar 400 years ago, and political intrigue, has been updated to present day Moscow.
The 1976 production of Wagner's Ring at the Bayreuth festival which comemorated the centennial of the first Ring production there, set the cycle in Wagner's 19th century Germany, and the gods were Industrial plutocrats ! The Rhine nixens were prostitutes at a hydroelectric dam. Many were outraged, but the production actually achieved considerable success, and you can get it on DVD, as well as the Metropolitan's much more traditional production. These stagings are called Eurotrsh productions, or as the Germans call it Regietheater, or productions in which the director's "concept" is the main attraction.
The recent Met production of Verdi's Macbeth set it in the present day, but fortunately did not use any ridiculous arbitrary gimmicks, and the PBS telecast worked for me, at least. But one Spanish director known for his gross stagings opened a Verdi opera in a men's room with members of the chorus sitting on toilet seats, and that is far from the grossest thing he's done.
Although American productions do update productions, truly loony stagings seem to be much less common here. Many of the wacky stagings can be seen on DVD, but there are relatively traditional one, too. Perhaps you should try the normal ones, and then check the weird ones out. Decide for yourself. The reviews at websites such as classicstoday.com and classicalcdreview.com describe the productions well , so you can be forewarned.
|
-
Is classical music "superior" or "higher" than other kinds of music ? Or is it an elitist art form created by dead white males for wealthy snobs ? Or are only other kinds of music valid ? These are loaded questions. The answer is that no kind of music is superior or inferior to others. One kind of music does not invalidate another.
Different people have different preferences, period. There's nothing wrong with that. My preference happens to be for classical music. Do you have any problem with that ? I hope not. Some people are jazz fans, others are Rock fans, others love Country Western, and so on. That's fine with me.
But unfortunately, snobbism in music preference exists, and it's not confined to lovers of classical music. Can't we all just get along ? Some years ago, I saw a debate on PBS between an opera singer, a Jazz critic and others about whether the government should support opera and classical music. The Jazz critic was adamantly opposed. Why ? He claimed that opera is not an "American" form of music, and that audiences for it don't go for the music, but only to see and be seen, and to show off their furs and jewelry etc. If this wasn't snobbism, I don't know what snobbism is. This critic was totally ignorant of opera, and blindly accepted stereotypical , distorted views of it. He obviously was ignorant of the fact that European opera was popular in America long before Jazz even existed.
And also, he must have been unaware of all the operas by American composers that have been written and successfully performed here. And Jazz has many fans all over Europe, and Jazz festivals are very popular there.
I may be a passionate lover of classical music, but I have absolutely nothing against other kinds of music. And at least I've actually heard other kinds of music. I've probably heard more Jazz and Rock etc than fans of other kinds of music have heard classical music. As the old saying goes, don't knock it if you haven't tried it.
|
-
It's interesting how many operas have been made out of Shakespeare's plays. It's hard to know how many, and a number of them are quite popular.
Probably the most famous are by Giuseppe Verdi (1813- 19010.) He was a great admirer of the plays , which he knew from Italian translations only. The earliest is Macbeth, or Macbetto, which dates from the 1840s and exists in an original and revised version. It follows the original fairly closely, which not all Shakespearean operas do, and can be very exciting to hear. It contains two juicy roles for a soprano as Lady Macbeth, and a baritone as Macbeth. Verdi did not want a conventionally beautiful voice for lady Macbeth, but one that was harsh and sinister-sounding. The sleepwalking scene is really spooky. The Metropolitan opera did a new production of Macbeth this past season, and it could be seen at High Definition movie theater broadcsts, PBS and heard over the radio. Look for it on DVD when it comes out.
Otello (Othello ), is Verdi's next to last opera, and one of the most powerful and compelling operas ever written. It was premiered at the famous La Scala opera in Milan in 1887. Verdi and his librettist Arrigo Boito(who also composed the opera Mefistofele ) omit Shakespeare's first act and begin the opera with a tumultuous storm in which Otello's ship arrives in Cyprus after defeating the Ottoman navy in battle. The role of Otello is one of the most demanding tenor roles in opera, and has long been a signature role of the great Spanish tenor Placido Domingo and other famous tenors of the 20th century. Check out the Franco Zefirrelli film version with Domingo, and the live DVD from the Met.
Verdi's final opera is Falstaff, based on The Merry Wives of Windsor. He had written only one comic opera before early in his career , which is almost never performed today. The role of the fat, jolly, boozing rogue Falstaff is one of the great baritone roles. Verdi is famous for tragic operas like La Traviata, Rigoletto, and others, but Falstaff is unlike anything else by this composer. It's full of wit and enchantment. There are a number of DVD versions available.
Some lesser known but worthwhile operas based on Shakespeare are "Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor" , by the German composer Otto Nicolai (1810- 1849 ) , which is basically the same as the Merry Wives of Windsor. It's in German, and as far as I know there are no DVD versions, but it has been recorded. If not as great as Verdi's Falstaff, it's quite charming and tuneful.
Verdi wanted to write an operatic version of King Lear but never got around to it, but the contemporary German composer Aribert Reimann has written an interesting if musically very complex and difficult one , premiered in Munich in in 1978 and written for the great German baritone Dietrich Fischer -Dieskau (1925-), now retired. The live recording of the world premiere recording has recently been reissued on Deutsche Grammophon records. It's anything but easy listening, but worth getting to know.
The gifted young English composer Thomas Ades (A-dess) (1971), has written very recent version of the Tempest, which I have not heard. The composer conducted the world premiere at the Royal opera in London a few years ago, and the Metropolitan opera is scheduled to do it in a couple of years or so. It sounds interesting.
The French composer Ambroise Thomas , an almost exact contemporary of Verdi, is little known today, but his operatic version of Hamlet was once very popular. Unfortunately, the opera takes many liberties with Shakespeare's plotline. I have heard the EMI recording with the famous American baritone Thomas Hampson, but this may not be availabe at the time. Check arkivmusic.com. I believe there is at least one DVD version. If not one of the greatest operas, it's very entertaining.
|
-
Recently, I had a conversation with someone I know slightly, a man in his early 50s, around my age , who knows about my advocay of classical music. He made some comments knocking this kind of music, saying that it just wasn't for normal people, or something to that effect. He just doesn't like it. He mentioned that when he was growing up, his father , who enjoyed classical music, often played classical LPs, and that he couldn't stand listening to them.
Well, I guess there's just no arguing over taste. But I asked him this question ; do you think that if some people would just give classical music a chance, they might really enjoy it ? He said, possibly they would. That's right. Many people just aren't willing to give classical music a chance. They've heard that it's stuffy, boring and "elitist", whatever that means. Perhaps they have a mental image of pianists with long white hair, and fat sopranos in ridiculous costumes.
But what if they would set aside such negative stereotypes and get some classical Cds of music by Beethoven, Bach and Mozart etc. And read the liner notes, or do a google search on these composers and find some information about them on the internet ? They might come to realize that this kind of music is terrific, and be curious to try other composers, too.
When I was about 13, I started to to investigate classical Lps in my public library out of curiosity, and I got hooked for life on this kind of music. It may have been by chance, but I have never regretted it. I didn't have any preconceived notions about what kind of music I was supposed to like. I began devouring every book or magazine on classical music I could find in the library. I had already been playing the French horn for some time and was playing in the school band, and went on to play in as many groups as I could over the years.
It's vital to debunk the myths about classical music, and to show people that they can obtain a lifetime of listening enjoyment from it. But how I'd like to explore the possibilities in later posts.
|
-
If you read commentary by classical music critics , composers and others today, you will notice a great deal of nostalgia on their part for the "Good Old Days" of classical music, when everything was so much better. Supposedly, things were so much better in the past because "all or most music was new at the time ".
This may be true to some extent, but this statement needs some clarification. These commentators seem to be upset with the current classical music scene because there is so much music from the past being performed. They say we ought to hear much more new music. The repertoire of classical music is "ossified". The established "canon" of classical repertoire rules at concerts and opera. Surely there is something wrong with musical life today.
But consider these facts. In the heyday of such great composers as Haydn , Mozart and Beethoven, which lasted from circa 1750- 1825 , the symphony orchestra as we know it was a relatively new thing. They just did not have the amount and variety of music for orchestra we have today.
And performances were much scarcer. There was no such thing as a public orchestra, resident at one concert hall all year playing a different program each week with a chief conductor and guest conductors. This is the norm today. In the past, some wealthy music-loving members of the aristocracy in Europe had their own private small orchestras and paid composers to write music for them. Joseph Haydn, (1732- 1809) , was the Kapellmeister, or music director to a Hungarian count who loved music. Haydn was literally a servant in livery who provided music for the count and his guests, and led the count's small orchestra and led opera performances. The famous Haydn was a feather in the count's cap.
In the last years of Mozart's life in Vienna, 1781- 1791, he was a freelance composer and pianist who put on his own concerts, and hired and paid the musicians. Beethoven was also a famous pianist until deafness forced him to abandon performing
But today, things are very different. There are infinitely more orchestras, opera companies , chamber ensembles and solo instrumentalists than ever before. Yes, music from the past is still popular, but there is absolutely no lack of new music. Every year, orchestras commission composers to write new works, and those works are played , even if audiences and critics don't always like them. The same is true of opera companies. There are ensembles which specialize in music from the renaissance and medieval periods, and use replicas of ancient instruments, and there are ensembles which specialize in new music. Orchestras play music by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Scubert and Brahms etc, and they also play the latest works by living composers. Certain famous works have remained lastingly popular, and many interesting works that had been long neglected are revived every year.
In sum, we have an infinitely greater variety of classical music available to us than ever before. How can this be bad ?
|
-
Richard Wagner, the visionary genius who revolutionized opera (see my earlier post on him ), founded a unique music festival devoted to performances of his operas in 1876 in the small northern Bavarian town of Bayreuth (pronounced buy- royt ), and the world of opera has never been the same. The festival has continues to this day, run by his descendants and has just opened with a new production of his final work, the mystical "Parsifal", about the guardians of the holy grail in medieval northern Spain.
For the festival, Wagner had a special theater built , known as the Festspielhaus, or festival house. This is no ordinary opera house. It's constructed as an amphitheater with no box seats, and has a sunken orchestra pit in which the conductor and orchestra are out of view of the audience. The string instruments are on top, and the brass instruments are on a slope far below the stage. This makes it virtually impossible for the orchestra to drown out the singers. I haven't been there (but would love to go ), and the acoustics are supposed to be amazing.
Every July and August, world famous singers and conductors have come to Bayreuth to perform. The festival orchestra is made of of some of the finest musicians from the top German orchestras. The pay is not great, but there is enormous prestige in being invited to sing or conduct there. Many of the world's greatest conductors have appeared there, such as Toscanini, Furtwangler, and other legendary maestros of the past, and eminent living ones such as James Levine, Daniel Barenboim, etc, as well as such great Wagner singers as Kirsten Flagstad, Birgot Nilsson, Lauritz Melchior from the past, and leading singers of today.
Tickets are unbelievably hard to come by. It's easier to get an audience with the Pope. You have to get on a waiting list and wait several years !
The festival opened in 1876 with the first complete performance of the monumental Ring cycle of four music dramas based on Norse and German mythology, and the cycle has been repeated there many times, staged, designed and conducted by many individuals. The opening was attended by many eminent composers, critics and even kings and emperors of Europe and South America ! Unfortunately, Hitler , who was a crazed Wagnerite, was closely associated with the festival in the 30s and 40s. There were intermittant closings during WW2, but the festival reopened in 1951, run by Wagner's two grandsons, Wieland and Wolfgang, who staged performances there. Wolfgang Wagner is still alive and almost 90, and in failing health. There has been some struggle over who will succeed him, but Wagner's great granddaughters will be doing so. Prior to this, the festival had been run by Wagner's widow, Cosima, daughter of Franz Liszt, and his son Siegfried, who was also an opera composer and conductor.
Every summer, Wagner fans and others make the pilgramedge to Bayreuth, it's supposed to be a unique, unforgettable experience.. Some radio stations from Europe offer radio broadcasts of performances, and now the computer enables people to hear performances. There are many Bayreuth performances captured at performances on CD; Decca records has just released a special 33 CD set of all the Wagner operas that are performed at Bayreuth (his early, immature ones are not ), and this can easily be ordered, although it's selling so briskly stocks are now low. Bu it's a great bargain. Frederic Spotts has written a fascinating history of the festival which can easily be ordered from amazon.com. It's a must read.
|
-
Long ago, before movies , Opera was a spectacular form of entertainment where people flocked to hear their favortite singers show of their spectacular voices, and see the fantastic special effects on stage. The most popular opera singers , and the rock stars of the day were actually men who had been castrated before pubery. They retained the high female range of singing and portrayed women on stage. The greatest had spectacular voices with incredible breath control, and audiences went wild. George Frideric Handel (1685- 1759 ), whose operas are still performed today, and other once famous composers wrote operas for them.
If a young boy showed real talent as a singer, his parents would often arrange to have the surgical operation done on him in the hopes that he would become rich and famous. Of course, not all did, and some sang in church choirs, including the prestigious on of the Vatican.
Women sought out the most famous castrati to have affairs with them, knowing they could not become pregnant. It seems that groupies are nothing new ! Perhaps the most famous was Farinelli , born Carlo Broschi. Several years ago, there was a film about him which I haven't seen, but it may be available on DVD. Other famous castrati went by a single name, such as Senesino, Pacchierotti, and Caffarelli. The last active one in opera, Giovanni Battista Velluti , lived as late as 1861. By that time, castration had become illegal in Italy.
In Italy, audiences, cheering famous castrati after a brilliantly executed aria , would shout "Evviva Il Coltello !" , meaning "hurrah for the knife" !
Castrati continued to sing in the Vatican choir until 1913, when the last one, Alessandro Moreschi, retired He lived until 1922, and was the only one to make recordings. Of course, these recordings are of an older man no longer in his vocal prime, so only a vague impression of what these legendary singers were like survives. Wouldn't it be terrific if we had a time machine and could hear these fascinating singers ?
|
-
Being a major opera star may seem like a glamorous lifestyle where you're idolized by the opera-going public, but it's a definitely a tough life. You're under constant pressure to be at your best. There's always the worry about getting sick for this or that ailment, and you always worry if you're going to be in good form.
And singing opera is infinitely more difficult than singing Rock or Pop. The music is just technically much more difficult. And you don't have the luxury of a microphone, although body mikes have occaisionally been used in opera, mainly in opera houses where the acoustics are not so good.
Than there's the orchestra you have to sing over. They vary in size from rather small in Mozart to enormous in Wagner and Richard Strauss, 100 players or so ! So you have to have a voice capable of projecting over an orchestra into the auditorium of a large opera house. They vary in size from the Met in Lincoln center, the world's largest opera house, seating 3,800, to considerably smaller in Europe. Unfortunately, conductors sometimes let the orchestra drown out the singers. And you have to sing softly, too, when the music calls for it.
It takes years of training to become an opera singer. It's necessary to find a good teacher or teachers to teach vocal technique, which is anything but easy to learn, if you are fortunate to be born with a fine voice and raw potential. Aspiring opera singers go to Juilliard and other top music schools, and often go on to graduate work in opera training programs. They learn not only vocal technique, but interpretation, languages, acting, and music theory. Many famous opera stars teach voice when they retire from singing.
Then, the singers go through the difficult process of auditioning, and not every one makes it. Many start off singing small roles , and gradually progress to leading roles. Some of the top opera singers today are sopranos Renee Fleming, Deborah Voigt, Natalie Dessay, Anna Netrebko, Diana Damrau, Mezzo-sopranos Denyce Graves, Susan Graham, Magdalena Kozena, Olga Borodina, Tenors Placido Domingo, Juan Diego Florez, Ben Heppner, Roberto Alagna, Ramon Vargas, Marcello Giordani, baritones Thomas Hampson, Bryn Terfel, Simon Keenlyside, and basses Rene Pape and Matti Salminen, to name only a handful. You can hear them on many CDs and DVDs.
|
-
Pity the poor viola, butt of so many jokes. It's similar to the violin, but slightly larger and can reach notes slightly below the violin. In the hands of a first-rate player, the viola can sound very beautiful, with a distinctive , slightly dusky timbre. The great JS Bach , who was not only a great organist but an accomplished violinist, is said to have greatly enjoyed playing the viola, and the same is true of Mozart.
The prolific German composer Paul Hindemith (1895- 1963 ), was not only a composer , teacher ,and theorist but one of the leading violists of the 20th century. He started out as a violinist, like many violists, and is said to have been able to play every instrument in the orchestra to some degree !
Other well-known violists have been England's Lionel Tertis (1776- 1975 ), the Scotsman William Primrose (1904- 1882 ), Rebecca Clarke of England, also a composer. Some famous contemporary violists are Ukrainian Yuri Bashmet , Kim Kashkashian, and Israeli Rivka Golani.
The world renowned violionist and conductor Pinchas Zukerman (!949-, has also performed as a violist, as did Yehudi Menhin (1916- 1999 ), and the legendary violinist and composer Niccolo Paganini (1782- 1841 ).
The viola does not have as large a solo repertoire as the violin, but it is larger than most realize. Probably the most famous is the programmatic symphony by Berlioz "Harold in Italy", based on the epic poem by Byron. It is a description of a young English aristocrat and his adventures in Italy, and was commissioned by none other than Paganini, who wanted to show his prowess on the viola. The work is not really a concerto or a regular symphony, and Paganini was said to have been dissapointed that the viola part was not as prominent or showy as he wanted. Some notable recordings are conducted by Colin Davis, Leonard Bernstein, Charles Munch, Charles Dutoit and Arturo Toscanini.
The great Hungarian composer Bela Bartok, famous for his Concerto for Orchestra and other works, left a viola concerto unfinished at his death in 1945, and another composer finished it. "Der Schwanendreher"( The Swan Turner ), is a concerto for viola and small orchestra based on medieval German songs. The odd title comes from an old German song about a cook whose job was to turn roasting swans on the spit.
The Swiss-Jewish composer Ernest Bloch (1880- 1959 ), wrote a suite for viola and orchestra. Other viola concertos have been written by Englishman William Walton, and Americans Morton Gould and Walter Piston. The eccentric avant-garde American composer Morton Feldman (1926- 1987 ), wrote a large scale work called "The Viola In MY Life ". Don't underestimate the viola !
|
-
Just as there are all kinds of music, Classical, Pop, Rock, Country Western, Folk, World Music, Jazz, etc, there are many kinds of food.
We have our choice of | |
|