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Tag Archives: Berlioz
High-def Troyens
Seeing Les Troyens at the Met Monday night, Elizabeth Bishop replaced Susan Graham as Dido, which led me to wonder who’d be singing the role in today’s high-definition broadcast. Silly me. While it’s possible Graham was unwell Monday, her performance … Continue reading
Jan 1st Troyens
Francesca Zambello’s production of Berlioz’s Les Troyens has returned to the Metropolitan Opera. When it premiered a decade ago it was Deborah Voigt as Cassandra, Ben Heppner as Aeneas and Lorraine Hunt Lieberson as Dido, conducted by James Levine. A … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews
Tagged Ben Heppner, Berlioz, Bryan Hymel, Elizabeth Bishop, Fabio Luisi, Francesca Zambello, James Levine, Les Troyens, Metropolitan Opera, Susan Graham
1 Comment
A remembered tune: Les Troyens
Melodies are time-machines. I can hear a song and instantly I go back in time. Composers know this. It’s why films often employ compositions we’ve heard before to invoke a whole set of meanings. In Forrest Gump Robert Zemeckis accomplishes … Continue reading
Posted in Personal ruminations
Tagged Aeneid, Berlioz, Forrest Gump, Les Troyens, memory, opera, Shakespeare, Vergil, Wagner
1 Comment
Homesick tenor
Early in the act, we have a plaintive moment. A sailor sings a tune, clearly longing for home and the company he misses there. The quietness of the big orchestra now playing so gently after its earlier savagery seems to … Continue reading
Posted in Essays
Tagged Berlioz, Fliegende Hollander, Hylas, Les Troyens, Steuermann, Wagner
4 Comments
Hurry September
In the middle of a driving rainstorm, my doorbell rang this morning. The mailman, bless his heart, was dropping off a bundle just as the heavens opened to drench the guy, and my mail. Among the wet items was –oh … Continue reading
Risky performance: when it’s not just a metaphor
Will the new Spiderman musical ever open? It’s been prohibitively expensive to marry Julie Taymor‘s vision to the music of Bono & The Edge. I’ve read estimates of $65 million USD: and counting. One wonders how many years of full … Continue reading
Posted in Essays
Tagged aerial, Berlioz, Bono, carnivalesque, circus, Damnation de Faust, Das Rheingold, erwartung, Ex Machina, Julie Taymor, risky, Robert Lepage, Spider Man: Turn Off the Dark, Spiderman, The Edge, Wagner
1 Comment
