Silverlake Blvd.

David Daniels @ Disney

 

At first, last night, The English Concert seemed a regression to the bad old days. Their Bach Suite #1 was tepid stuff. But fortunately David Daniels was there to save the day, and roused them to fire and drama. There was a moment in Schlummert ein from Cantata #83, with just his voice, the cello and the lute that was heart-stopping.

 

Actually the instrument Paula Chateauneuf played was a therobo, a lute with a second peg-box. It’s bizarre-looking, and barely audible, but when you do hear it, it stings.

 

The second half was all Handel, at which everybody on stage was completely at home with, resulting in a glorious uproar.

 

Singing is strange enough, and then for a man to sing so high .... But then the history of opera is partially a history of castrati. Even so, simply to listen for the beauty of the voice now requires undoing a lifetime of conventional expectations. 

 

Unmistakable is DD’s gift for drama, and the dramatic aspect of Handel. I'm grateful L.A. Opera is doing Tamerlano next year, but isn't it time to do an all-Baroque season at the opera?

Boccherini, de Falla, & Mariza

It’s been very busy recently. Last night we were at Disney for Mariza.

Just the night before—St. Patrick’s Day—we had been at Disney for the Chamber Music Society concert, which had been fantastic and rich: a full-on evening of Baroque virtuoso pieces starting with Boccherini Flute Quintet and ending with De Falla’s Harpsichord Concerto, with Kate Royal singing Handel in between. The whole evening was like the flame of civilization shining against the darkness. Plus, instead of the usual pre-concert lecture that night, Gallo had provided a free open bar for subscribers, ….

So were not overly thrilled about going out again, but it was worth it. Mariza’s PR presents her as a Euro pop star who’s trying a bit too hard. But that’s not how she is at all; she doesn’t stain a bit. She’s about the most elegant person I’ve ever seen perform. I would pay money to see Mariza walk out on stage and sit in a chair. She’s so graceful and expressive, and so comfortable on stage, and so striking-looking that she’s fascinating just to watch.

And then she sings …. She detonates little bombs of fado that leave the audience destroyed.

At the end of the concert she and two guitarists dispensed with the amplification (which was sometimes annoying) and riveted the audience without any apparent effort.

Then, for an encore, she sang “Cry Me a River,” demonstrating that she doesn’t depend on exoticism, or even need the support of fado, to make a song unforgettable. It wasn’t the blues, it wasn’t a clever pop anecdote, it was a cry of defiance, and expression of the dignity which people in straits can, with heroism, display.

Irish made simple

 

PHRASE: Ta athas/bron/fearg/ocras/tart orm 

PRONOUNCED: taw aw-iss/broin/farg/ock-ros/tart urr-im 

MEANING: I am happy/sorry/angry/hungry/thirsty

PHRASE: Ta tu mall/go luath/go halainn/ard/go tapaidh

PRONOUNCED: taw two moll/guh loo-ah/guh hall-inn/ard/guh top-igg 

MEANING: You are late/early/beautiful/tall/fast

Germany, land of ideas

That darn Gebühreneinzugszentrale is at it again. The German TV fee collection agency that got into the news last October for sending overdue notices to 19^th century poet Friedrick Schiller, now is after mathematician Adam Ries, who died 450 years ago. “Deutschland, Land der Ideen” indeed, especially the idea of getting celebrity slackers to their fair share.

Noah & Pippin downtown

Last weekend we saw 2 medieval pagents--not that I realized it until afterwards.

The production of Briten's Noye’s Fludde on Saturday at Our Lady Cathedral was one of the best things I’ve seen L.A. Opera do. We arrived lateish and the ushers shoved us up into the third row to get us out of the way. There was an army of people around the altar: besides 2 soloists and instrumentalists from the Opera, there were 2 student orchestras and 5 children’s choirs and 2 adult choirs. The cathedral was packed with family and friends. It was a real community project, and terrific fun.

Lisa Stone’s hand-held sets were evocative and witty. As in the Rhinegold, they used waving fabric to represent water, but with about 10,000 times the effect. Director Eli Villanueva set people running up and down the aisles, and in from the sides. It was animated and it never got confused. The kids—some of them quite small—were given fun tasks: most wore animal caps or carried simple animal figures. They were the real stars, and were tremendous.

AD and I saw this piece performed 11 years ago at Notre-Dame, and I remember it was a complete disaster: the forces of the piece totally unsuitable for that cathedral's eccentric acoustics, which made every dry scrape a soupy blur. Here the soloists were amplified, and the sound was sharp and clear. 

The second medieval mystery play of the weekend was Pippin, across the street at the Mark Taper. There was a protagonist, whose vices were all externalized as characters, who led him on disastrous adventures that made up the play. The Vegas/magic-act/vaudeville references, and the late-60s Broadway/pop music are just additional fun. 

And if that wasn’t enough going on, this was a co-production with Deaf West Theatre, so Pippin and Charlemagne were played by a speaking/singing actor and a signing actor. Other performers did both, some just signed. 

They did a very beautiful and funny sign for a not enthusiastic affirmation like “uh-huh,”: a fist knocking. They also had disembodied hands poking up out of the stage floor, assisting the actors with signing. Then in the battle scene, there was a dialog with a cut-off head, as limbs rained down. 

It ends with a "No more games" message which is not exactly a laugh riot, but nevertheless a ray of hope. Topical.

The Rhine Gold @ Dorothy Chandler

The music & singing were first-rate. Achim Meyer's staging was alternately interesting & annoying: imagine a vintage Jim Dine happening with sets by Cocteau and De Chirico. But this is a bizarre opera, with no human characters, so we'll see how things evolve in the next installments.

Research Guides

The nice people in the SCI-Arc publications office have enabled me to put all my architecture research guides back on-line.

Frozen River

 

Still recovering from seeing Frozen River last night. Ella Taylor called it a "socialist-realist thriller," which I suppose is a put-down; actually it's accurate. There are many improbabilities, but the peculiar gloom of the northern rural places is realized with devastating completeness. Don't watch it alone.

Dallapicola in NYC

 

Lucky New Yorkers got to attend concert performances of 2 of Luigi Dallapicola's min-operas last week. See the Times and a very impressed blogger. Can some nice patron of the arts bring these ultra-novelties to L.A.?