Tag Archives: Venus in Furs

Pickle Theatre staged reading of Venus in Fur

As M John Kennedy explained it to me before the show, they had to fill in a space on the application form they completed for their production of David Ives’ Venus in Fur, identifying the name of their company. “Pickle … Continue reading

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Thinking about Richard Strauss’s death in 1949

On September 8, 1949 composer and conductor Richard Strauss died after a long productive life. I think of him as a romantic composer carrying on the stylistic traditions of Richard Wagner. In Salome and Elektra he was the modernist pushing … Continue reading

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Pushing our buttons 2: pornographic musings on Actéon and Venus

Ten days ago I posted something about erotic opera, especially as it pertains to Actéon, an opera that is to be presented again by Opera Atelier beginning Thursday October 25th at the Elgin Theatre. Near the end of that post … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, domestic & wild, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Psychology and perception, University life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pushing our buttons: Hadrian, Actéon, Pygmalion and erotic opera

Before there was pornography, there was always opera. Slavoj Zizek spoke of opera as redundant once we had psychiatrists, which is how he explains the decline in opera in the 20th century. But maybe there are other reasons opera wasn’t … Continue reading

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