tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13593902.post3628329698136607155..comments2024-02-11T09:55:50.468-08:00Comments on The Eastside View: Two operas: Orphée; Nixon in ChinaCharles Sherehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10480432901356490235noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13593902.post-85651144365373008432011-03-22T19:25:07.500-07:002011-03-22T19:25:07.500-07:00Thanks. I have a Lot Of Respect for you supers; th...<i>Thanks. I have a </i>Lot Of Respect<i> for you supers; thanks very much for all you contribute.</i>Charles Sherehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10480432901356490235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13593902.post-16828131415609652782011-03-22T14:35:05.147-07:002011-03-22T14:35:05.147-07:00These are great essays.
I went to the San Francis...These are great essays.<br /><br />I went to the San Francisco Opera telecast of "Madama Butterfly" at a movie theatre, because I was a supernumerary in the production and wanted to see it from the house, but the sound was unspeakable, especially after I'd heard it live where it was exquisite.<br /><br />Had the great opportunity to be an extra in the "Orphee" production you saw as one of the underworld circus people, and your kind review gets it just right. Thanks.<br /><br />Oh, and that Dan Schneider Cocteau bashing link was really (unintentionally) funny.Civic Centerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12362422142667230626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13593902.post-41720209552446124622011-03-03T15:10:37.160-08:002011-03-03T15:10:37.160-08:00"Near universal madness"!
Well, my good..."Near universal madness"!<br /><br />Well, my goodness!<br /><br />I've never worn a baseball cap, preferring instead, from about age 40 onwards, to dry my hair with a professional hair dryer, and "style" it after a fashion--which, I believe, has saved me now almost two decades of "bad hair" in public. I haven't seen a professional barber in at least 15 years, and am, I'm sure, the better for it. And a lot richer!--given what they charge nowadays. <br /><br />I've only heard one Philip Glass performance live. It was the music for a ballet at Zellerbach about 20 years ago. A very dramatic sweeping choreography, albeit a bit repetitive, like Glass's music. A lot of weird swinging, sawing in the strings, as if he couldn't think of anything better to do to stir up some physical prompting for the dancers. There was something "compelling" about it, but it certainly lacked variation and color. Perhaps it was grey?Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13593902.post-77963627214075107732011-03-03T10:48:01.473-08:002011-03-03T10:48:01.473-08:00John Whiting is a sound engineer, and knows what h...<i>John Whiting is a sound engineer, and knows what he's talking about. John Adams, as I understand it, requires body mikes on his performers in </i>Nixon in China.<i> <br /><br />The whole question of thrown-off acoustical perspectives, resulting from selective amplification in this case, is extremely interesting. We old-timers are perhaps uniquely affected by this; those who grew up in the headphone era (not to mention the earbud era) may well be unaffected — or unaware of the effects. I think it's one more contributor, along with the internal-combustion engine, the back-beat, and the wearing of baseball caps, to the near-universal madness of our times.</i>Charles Sherehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10480432901356490235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13593902.post-20769781137161310342011-03-03T01:43:39.521-08:002011-03-03T01:43:39.521-08:00I'm unable to comment on the Nixon in China in...I'm unable to comment on the Nixon in China interval features -- I left at the first opportunity. The opera is largely a series of intimate dialogs and the total incompatibility between the close-up photography and the distant ambiance of the vocal sound was so upsetting I couldn't bear it. There is absolutely no excuse for not radio miking the singers as the ENO in London did. <br /><br />When I got home and listened to the BBC transmission, which I'd recorded, the voices were equally off in the middle distance. The Met sound engineers are still buried back somewhere in the 30s when they first started their radio b/cs.John Whitinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16170335248108710190noreply@blogger.com