Based on Herman Melville’s unfinished Billy Budd, the opera reveals the drama of the Royal Navy (1797); a young, charismatic, innocent, orphaned seaman accused of mutiny; and the court-martial panel. I’ll let you guess how it ends….or you can read/see for yourself! I’m hoping the Met puts it On Demand pronto, it’s been a long time waiting!
The New York Times review by Tommasini claims that Britten
presents a piercing psychological study of good and evil, innocence and twisted envy, and the ambiguity of attraction…
and that the crew
deserved every moment of the huge ovation they received
Thomas Ades wrote this masterpiece of an opera (commisioned by the Royal Opera House) that debuted in 2004. The libretto, by Meredith Oakes, is based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
I love comparing composers’ interpretations of the same myths, stories, histories…but first wanted to impress that Ades’ Ariel is my favorite. I’m far from a music critic, but the eerie, mystical, sprightly, unpredictable intonations & inflections are just like I’d imagine a little spirit like Ariel to be. Here’s what German critic, Spinola, had to say about the opera after it’s debut in Germany: (article)
‘Sein „Sturm“ lohnt den Opernbesuch.’
Frankfurter Allgemeine (Julia Spinola), 12 January 2010
and translated:
His “storm” is worth the trip to the opera.
I’ll definitely brave that storm if I have the chance. Looks like the Met will premiere it in November 2012- might have to take my chances!
it’s an exciting day for me to get to share my first official music video
it’s amazing to see what creativity & technology can do with new & old ideas. my love for art, grace, and friendship have deepened immensely through this process.
According to research, humans innately prefer consonance over dissonance, with dissonance possibly causing a slight “pain” in the ear as the two tones vibrate either too closely together or out of phase. (see research of Sacks, Levitin, Fink, Kagan, and Zentner; AMAZING STUFF). Some of these studies were done on infants, which means I don’t have to add that to my list of curiosities; we innately DO prefer consonance.
The Greek modes, upon further research, may have been used much differently than some early musicologists proposed. Fink (The Origin of Music,1970) reports that perhaps the tonality preferences aren’t so much about the individual tones or consonance/dissonance but actually about the transition of one to the other; he compares this to an analogy of a still frame of a bird vs the bird’s action in reality: flight, thus referencing music as a process, not just some reductionistic/objective interpretation of intervals (my words). So, although the research is slightly inconclusive, it seems that we prefer consonance and that we also prefer a transition from dissonance to consonance; resolution.
This is quite beautifully uplifting, (pun intended), however, the Greeks may have used their favorite mode (The Dorian) in a downward pattern, where the transition of the leading tone produced the same affect of the leading tone in our major scale, but in the opposite direction. This find was indeed a highlight of my weekend
Here’s a little sample of Phillip Glass’ Opera, “Einstein on the Beach” which uses numerics and solfege syllables more than actual “text” for the libretto. It seemed appropriate for this discussion of process over reductionism.
Jupiter's Moons, image courtesy of NASA Io, Europa, Ganymede, & Callisto
so my three new fish, tiny little rainbow guppies, are named bubbles, pika, and “moon of Jupiter,” specifically, “Callisto,” however, when I can’t remember the proper name, I refer to him as “moon of Jupiter.” This apparently fits right in with 20th century thinking as several of Jupiter’s other moons are simply numbered with roman numerals. Jupiter V definitely has a ring to it
As a confused deconstructionist meets romantic, I often falter between postmodernly thinking that something like a name means absolutely nothing more than what’s been assigned by some who’ve attained power in our culture to crying over the romantic beauty of tradition involved in building meaning from the roots of language. I can’t even really say why I named one of the smallest fish (guppy) after something as large as a moon, but at the time, it seemed all-together naturally fitting needless to say, to curb my over-analytical tendencies, i’ve been spending a lot of time enjoying things without words; my fish, nature, orchestral movements, and silent films.
some up-coming blogs will touch on the following:
listening to music- often sequences are perceived as a series of notes that have been repeated before and have gathered cultural value, and then there’s the curiosity of what’s occurred culturally to allow the perception and beauty of all the musical modalities that the Greeks once considered evil and unacceptable because they were used by tribes that they didn’t like/trust. when and how quickly did this occur and was there notated evidence that other tribes felt the same? was there other documentation?(note to self: I’d love to run a neonatal ethnomusicology study on perception of modes)
my mirror neurons seem to still be firing and know what it is to feel alive, breathing, aching…..i seem to find the most entertainment from animals that are showing social/nurturing activity and I’ve started a new preference for trees that are blooming (a few years ago, bare trees were all the rage. LOVED bare branches) nothing like wildlife to create a sure sensation of being human, talking about setting up conscious objectivity, hahah- us vs them.
lastly, i’ve been indulging in silent films, some of which I’m not sure I understand, others that have abstractly moved me beyond, but all of which have reminded me that expression is part of human nature in a way that I am not sure nature does consciously, though I recognize nature expresses through evolutionary trends of defense, attraction, and instinct. (please share your debates on this issue)
thank God for a good comic relief of a shipwreck story, putting my every wondering mind to rest for a few minutes, thanks to Charlie Chaplin without any spoken dialogue, this film is able to convey what we share as human in our expression: humor, attraction, denial, protection, deceit, and a slue of other…….WORDS. (note to reader; yes, i’m well aware that Izard has not defined any of these as the 7 universal emotions- this will inevitably come up in another blog) in the meantime, enjoy the silence and I hope you enjoy the film http://archive.org/details/CC_1915_10_04_CharlieShanghaied
p.s. when typing my title to this ranting, raving blog, I realized I would be remiss to not include Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence” as a post script
sometimes it’s necessary to claim “who you are”. sometimes this claim includes others and the Other claiming YOU. we all live this story. however, this story of adventure, identity, and community is hard to compare to andrew mcauley’s attempt to cross the Tasman Sea in 2007. Here he is in his one-man kayak…as his community purports, he crossed Tasman…..both he and his community believed in his dream and what a beautiful dream that was….God Bless you, Andrew, and your family and friends…knowing that the dream was realized to those who supported you You are a hero and an inspiration to us all
Here’s a short clip from Andrew’s memory card that was found
sigh… i love how respighi grasps at the edge of my mood… i can be “on the fence” and “defiant” …..and, there it is…calling me to change…
of change, of the trasient beings that we are called to be and that we proclaim to be…this is the beauty of art
it’s my birthday weekend and i have the luxury of enjoying the Pittsburgh Symphony present these glorious selections of transience in proximity to their premiere anniversary: Fountains of Rome and Pines of Rome...
looking forward to some time a foot in Rome (SOME DAY!!) when there is nothing to cause an effete effort in my art, vacation, or spirit
Here’s the first movement of Pines of Rome:
… which exudes radiance and accomplishment. I like to imagine the height of the pines when listening to this. the other movements are readily available on Youtube.
Here’s the first movement of the Fountains of Rome:
(this one has best sound quality and intonation out of 7 samples I tried on youtube.)
Enjoy!! The other movements are readily available. I love how ethereal this piece is; it’s relaxing, like water often is- and it is often sporadically climactic- like a bursting fountain hard to express in words. Hope you enjoy, I know I will be appreciating it this weekend.
It’s such a great reminder of how transition and transformation appear in art, in nature, in our percept of “nature”….the courage to create, knowing that it may be ridiculed, demolished, and/or promulgated- a range of contemplation and/or contention. so, for what it’s worth….:)
Euripides meets Jung. this is an amazing depiction of light, dark, storm, shipwreck, Trojan War exploration….meets dissociation, shock, love, integration, communication, revelation….
If you have time to enjoy the whole opera, here it is, at your fingertips. beware, this dramatic performance is ridiculously evocative, really crossing the genres of Greek theatre meets Jung reference. Awesome, awesome, awesome!
ah. Idomeneo….Act 2, Scene 7 – The Cretans are terrified by the storm and wonder why it is raging against them. The opening vocal chord is probably the best part of this entire chorus.
