The Nose at the Metropolitan Opera

For my first Opera experience, The Nose was an odd choice. It was a no brainer for me because of the involvement of William Kentridge. His direction and set design created a visual experience that would have been incredible without the Opera itself. I say this knowing full well how sacrilegious that sounds, but the artist has been known for his solo performances and animations for many years.

I spent 3 weeks prior to the Nose listening to the music and to some other Opera. I quickly understood how this modern Russian Opera taken from Gogol’s short story of the same name was different from “traditional” Opera. I do enjoy the music but mostly one Act at a time. Two hours of the Nose was a lot for me and my friends, all Opera virgins. Shostakovitch shows off, but really doesn't leave much room for joy for the listener. The story is not really enough to fill out an entire Opera. We loved the sets, the projections and the overall design. There was so much to see it almost didn’t matter that our seats were basically at Yankee Stadium.

The music is just tough. It comes in fits and spurts and rushes to uproarious moments of climax that are somewhat painful. There are laughs, there are small moments of sadness, and there are big moments that fall flat.

I know it sounds like I didn’t enjoy myself but I did! The Nose will be my first Opera, not my last!

Wanda Landowska Plays Bach

As a follow up to Jeremy's post, I wanted to let you that Wanda Landowska Plays Bach is available on Singers-Saints.

T-Minus 2 days until The Nose at the Met.

The New York Times has done no fewer than 10 articles related to "The Nose" and William Kentridge.

Feel free to follow along HERE for a review

and here for vaious blog posts on ArtsBeat

Opera : All I ever knew was Elmer Fudd

In preparation to see Shostakovich’s The Nose at the Metroplitan Opera with set designs by William Kentridge (There are some good links on the met site relating to Kentridge), I have been listening to the music as conducted by Valery Gergiev. I have enjoyed it, but I know that this is not “traditional” opera so to speak.

The Merola Opera Program was kind enough to send me their Merola 50th Anniversary CD. I want to thank them for this kind contribution to the yearofclassical project. It has given me a nice primer for a variety of operas and styles, but man will I need more help. I will listen to any and all suggestions from the peanut gallery. Please educate me.

I am finding myself enjoying the music far more than I thought I would. Yogi Berra references aside, I am looking forward to hearing the fat lady (or man) sing.

Brahms for sale and The Nose

This week I received two great leads:

1) William Kentridge’s set design for the Shostakovich Opera “The Nose” will be at The Metropolitan Opera in February
2) Amazon.com was having a sale on a collection called “The 99 Most Essential Brahms Masterpieces” for 1.99 (Now that it is OFF sale it is a bank-breaking $5.99)

I have already lined up nearly the worst seats in the house for a performance of The Nose. I know that the $20 dollar tickets aren’t ideal, but this is my first Opera experience and I am excited for it!

The Brahms collection is actually excellent. At 6 dollars I think it is still a very smart buy! The more I listen the more I find themes that I have heard throughout my life. After Beethoven, it is a welcome change to have the broad sweeping romantic tones of Brahms.

Having started with Bach, then to Beethoven now Brahms, I now feel like I am getting at least a broad sense of the lineage of these towering figures.

Day 2, 3 & 4- Thoughts on Film and Wascally Wabbits

The role that classical music has played in my life up until now has been to score films, cartoons and television (shows/ads). At times, I have clearly remembered these snippets of music but never sought them out.
I hope to extract the music like Rambo would some do-gooder missionaries and take it somewhere safe and far from Elmer Fudd. Ok, I am mixing my examples a bit.
My father loves Disney's Fantasia. Walt Disney wanted to bring the kids some classical music and sell some tickets to their parents as well. It was a good idea and mostly became famous for the Sorcerer's Apprentice. To me, it was and is a wondrous example of film and music together but in my mind there is still none greater than Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Now don't think I want to go out and banish John Williams. He has taken orchestral music to places few composers could have, a truly mass audience. I love what he and other composers do to create a rich world in film (and rarely, TV). But for me, I need to be able to hear the music and not see the closing credits to Rocky.

Last night I saw An Education, in which a young cellist becomes entwined in an affair with an older man. They go to see a performance of Ravel and I thought "Ah Ha, an opportunity to learn!" So I spent some time with Maurice Ravel. I found a beautiful performance of A.B. Michelangeli playing the Adagio of Ravel's Piano Concerto.
I let Pandora dance me through some things as well. Pandora is a free service on the web (as long as you listen less than 40hrs per month) that allows you to name a song or artist or several of each and then it builds you a "station" of music. It gave me Debussy (very recognizable from Film), Prokofiev and Shostakovich to start with. I think with Pandora you get a variety and if you use it's functions well, get a strong grouping of music.
So, that is a long winded way of saying I hope to find inspiration in life for new avenues to approach Classical music...I will let you know how it goes.