I will write an opera, even after seeing the greatness of The Magic Flute and Therese Raquin. Never mind the composers, consider the challenge to the performers. The breath control is strenuous. Their diaphram muscles must be well toned. Both productions, The Met's and Dicapo's, exercised creative staging, capturing the tone and content of the operas, content which is made crystal clear through concurrent titles. I like English language titles to supplement not only German but even English language operas. I'm searching my recollection for an exciting moment of music. When did I recently hear one? I do think Adam Green is inspired, with his oratorio style. I saw him last Sunday at SideWalk. His chords supplement his melodies rather than guide them, and of course, melody guides Tobias Picker's opera, and Mozart's as well. Audiences grant opera drama the time needed for exceptional musical moments to develop. I suppose there was a 2nd act Mozart moment when the Mason members were at rest, contemplating wisdom and beauty. Good heavens, there's actually little I remember from that opera except the hazing, and the fact that the wicked queen night witch was the one to provide the magic of flute and chimes, indirectly perhaps, via her three handmaidens. She also provided the three heavenly soprano boys. And with regard to the sun king, our first impression of him is through his prison guard, who did not represent his master's temperence in the kidnapping perpetrated for purposes of getting someone to join the masons. I can be pretty clueless. Let's see what other indiscriminate demonstrations of incomprehension I can display herein.
The Magic Flute: It's a mathemetician's air display by Ms. Taymor. I only THOUGHT I knew the content of that yogic journey, watching the three hour triumph of the spiritual male triumph over the chthunic female, at least until nightfall.
Therese Raquin: The Postman Always Rings Twice with a Place in the Sun/Leave Her to Heaven drowning. I suppose the opportunity to musicalize a paralyzed mother watching justice self-inflicted by and upon her son's murderers is reason enough to musicalize one of the Zola stories exposing the underbelly of the urban middle class.
My third opera came in the form of the score to The Most Happy Fella, which I took from the Performing Arts Library today. Oh, you were looking for it? Yes, it was me. I'll return it on March 10th. Anyway, it's another opera of sorts and a great series of beautiful character songs. The notation is pristinely playable.
Back to the drawing board. I have some corrections to make on my own scores so that through them the first time player will easily breeze.
(I heavily revised the above today, March 3rd. I just returned from John Turturro's actor's actors Spanish Play. The moment I loved was when the couple (Denis O'Hare and Linda Edmond) lay on the floor watching while another of the five characters (Katherine Borowitz) searched her bag for her melodious ringtone celphone. I liked seeing the two of them laying there enjoying what was going on before them (And since CSC is a theatre with seating against three of the four walls, it may have been only my wall saw it.). Robert Thurman reminded us to love others, like a mother loves her child, and keep learning.)
