tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post9104236054702599130..comments2024-03-29T09:25:44.856-05:00Comments on Althouse: "It is brash, coarse, menacing, ugly — deliberately so."Ann Althousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-61913019095606525922008-04-01T14:27:00.000-05:002008-04-01T14:27:00.000-05:00I didn't know Dostoevsky wrote for Kenny Rogers......I didn't know Dostoevsky wrote for Kenny Rogers...<BR/><BR/>...must be one of those April Fools Day jokes I keep hearing about.BJKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09041496355169219130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-84824290476722547832008-04-01T09:30:00.000-05:002008-04-01T09:30:00.000-05:00"The surprising thing is that more people don't go..."The surprising thing is that more people don't go in for it."<BR/><BR/>Peter Gelb has made it his mission to change that. I think he is succeeding. Marketing has finally come to the Met, and just in time.Richard Dolanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12735773524374061429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-15741631010144008562008-04-01T09:21:00.000-05:002008-04-01T09:21:00.000-05:00At Santa Fe by the time I realized I neglected to ...At Santa Fe by the time I realized I neglected to pack dress shoes it was too late to shop. Friends convinced me my penny loafers were perfectly fine because they were new looking and I was, after all, only twenty and could get away with crap like that, and too, it was, after all, Santa Fe. Quit laughing! -- they were penny-less loafers, the cordovan kind that go with anything. Anyway, I was completely distracted. The opera, <I>The Magic Flute,</I> which is apparently a political statement about the Masons, has a lot of magic in it. I think that's what's supposed to make the staging interesting but I couldn't tell you, my attention was riveted by a fantastic electrical storm occurring in the distance behind the stage. Whence all those opera enthusiasts? Dunno. From all over the U.S. as far as I could tell, in Santa Fe specifically for the opera and for the top restaurants and galleries to be found there.Chip Ahoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12597726289890879627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-36475742076591331252008-04-01T09:18:00.000-05:002008-04-01T09:18:00.000-05:00I own a Dover thrift edition of "The Gambler," but...I own a Dover thrift edition of "The Gambler," but have yet to read it, though I need to, since Dostoevsky is one of my favorite authors and since I've recently come down from a few-year stint as an internet poker addict (an addiction though which happily netted me well over $10k).<BR/><BR/>"Frightening-comic," or grotesquely-absurd," is a label which would apply to much of Dostoevsky's work.John Kindleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13897832130417651667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-88953123773003468322008-04-01T08:08:00.000-05:002008-04-01T08:08:00.000-05:00It's gutsy to put Galouzine in that role because, ...It's gutsy to put Galouzine in that role because, let's be honest, Kenny Rogers just owns it. <BR/><BR/>"I always wonder where opera audiences come from"<BR/><BR/>They're people who can't afford Nextel Cup tickets.Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01695896117685218995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-16048169035571258002008-04-01T08:02:00.000-05:002008-04-01T08:02:00.000-05:00"Lady in a blood-drenched white gown holding a sev..."Lady in a blood-drenched white gown holding a severed head yodeling for a half hour"<BR/><BR/>The "yodeling" is a throbbingly lush musical rendering, by soprano and 100-piece orchestra, of a depraved princess' necrophiliac orgasm. Musically and dramatically it's a knockout.tjlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06162785796605831050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-47211302098442648352008-04-01T07:49:00.000-05:002008-04-01T07:49:00.000-05:00Ever wonder what the opera 'Salome' is about?Imagi...Ever wonder what the opera 'Salome' is about?<BR/><BR/>Imagine the movie "Carrie" onstage. <BR/><BR/>Lady in a blood-drenched white gown holding a severed head yodeling for a half hour.George M. Spencerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07818413936028778734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-72003372245568234322008-04-01T07:38:00.000-05:002008-04-01T07:38:00.000-05:00Hoffnung had a nice cartoon of an opera singer wit...Hoffnung had a nice cartoon of an opera singer with a knob ``wobble'' on his chest, that he was adjusting upwards to 11 probably.<BR/><BR/>I always figured it was because they couldn't sing on key and were hunting for it.<BR/><BR/>Musical it ain't.rhhardinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06901742898653890646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-30342537305109087492008-04-01T07:36:00.000-05:002008-04-01T07:36:00.000-05:00If you want to hear great music played live, with ...If you want to hear great music played live, with live actors on stage in front of you, playing out a story and singing beautifully, with magnificent sets and costumes -- that's opera. It seems to combine many of the things people love. There's also the element of a night out in a very glamorous setting, where you can put on your finest clothes and see other people in their festive get-ups. Core human behavior, I'd say. The surprising thing is that more people don't go in for it.Ann Althousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-19122745950086889992008-04-01T07:23:00.000-05:002008-04-01T07:23:00.000-05:00"I always wonder where opera audiences come from."..."I always wonder where opera audiences come from."<BR/><BR/>Opera audiences come from those who have been exposed to the art form before silly negative preconceptions have had a chance to take hold. The marriage of music and drama creates something richer and deeper than either (when the marriage is working, of course).tjlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06162785796605831050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-12042193587374590592008-04-01T07:05:00.000-05:002008-04-01T07:05:00.000-05:00I always wonder where opera audiences come from.Ma...I always wonder where opera audiences come from.<BR/><BR/>Manuela Hoelterhoff made her name not as an opera reviewer but for doing a review of Disneyland for the WSJ. I think the two are related.rhhardinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06901742898653890646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-82219293946315847242008-04-01T06:44:00.000-05:002008-04-01T06:44:00.000-05:00I only know the suite from "The Gambler" and there...I only know the suite from "The Gambler" and there is a really beautiful theme representing the heroine, but apart from that it is really subpar Prokofiev. But hope you liked it enjoyed yourself.jult52https://www.blogger.com/profile/13833751348979987747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-60839968023837817272008-04-01T03:12:00.000-05:002008-04-01T03:12:00.000-05:00"Peter and the Wolf" is to Prokofiev as Apple is t..."Peter and the Wolf" is to Prokofiev as Apple is to Newton.Simon Hawkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11824329687840449902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-34886910879976518542008-03-31T23:16:00.000-05:002008-03-31T23:16:00.000-05:00"Frightening comic...""Comic", as in comedic? Or a..."Frightening comic..."<BR/><BR/>"Comic", as in comedic? Or as in "comique"? I don't know jack about "The Gambler"; the only Prokofiev work I've ever heard is "Peter and the Wolf".<BR/><BR/>Well wait... that story has got to mean "comic" as in "ha-ha"... the other definition doesn't make any sense in the context of the article.<BR/><BR/>Anyway... "pleasant-comic". It sounds boring, I gotta admit. I've seen enough of "pleasant-comic" opera. It's cute the first time around, but after the 5th or 6th viewing (I used to be a light tech at the university opera house) it just gets annoying (exhibit A: <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpheus_in_the_Underworld" REL="nofollow">Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld</A>). I wouldn't mind seeing some in-your-face "frightening-comic".Tiborehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07360541843865827271noreply@blogger.com