Various kinds of music
Nov. 1st, 2009 02:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mojosmomFriday night at the opera, first. None of the various people I go with could make it. Jamie was teaching at a seminar in Springfield, and wouldn't get back in time. Beth & Duncan's son was in a soccer tournament. And Jim & Kevin were headed to Michigan on Saturday and so had to change their Newberry Consort tickets to Friday night. Lyric has just opened a restaurant and a bar with food on the premises, so I decided to try the restaurant. They do two seatings: one at 5:00 for those attending the pre-opera lecture and one at 6:00. It's a four-course prix fixe menu, and was very good.
So was the opera. In fact, it was astonishingly wonderful! It was Gounod's Faust, one of those operas I've seen quite a lot (and the same production, too). I can't quite put my finger on it, but it was a performance where everything, singers, orchestra, staging, etc. just clicked perfectly. The soprano, Ana Maria Martinez, has a rich voice and is a good actress, too. I was particularly impressed by her portrayal of Marguerite's insanity in the final act. There was a marvelous bit of stage business in Act 4; when the soldiers return, Valentin gives a folded flag to several war widows. One fainted, one was stoic, and one spit in his face. Excellent work by the chorus members! We had the second cast for the roles of Faust and Mephistopheles, but it turned out not to matter. Though I had been disappointed that I wasn't going to hear René Pape, Kyle Ketelsen did very well, indeed.
Last night, I drove very carefully through hordes of trick-or-treaters to Rockefeller Chapel, for the Newberry Consort's first concert of the season. In a departure from their usual early music fare, this was a program of American music from the mid-nineteenth century, called "Beautiful Dreamer: Music of Lincoln's America", designed to connect with the Newberry Library's current Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition. Still a historically-informed performance, with some period and period-style instruments. They did traditional music, along with Stephen Foster songs and Louis Moreua Gottschalk piano pieces, among other things. All was interspersed with contemporary readings by Canadian actor Paul Hecht. What a voice!
Today, I slept late, despite the time change. Then my morning got thrown off because my newspaper hadn't been delivered! This, however, turned out to be a good thing, because when it was re-delivered and the carrier rang the bell, we discovered that the door buzzer doesn't work. (That's not good, but knowing the problem exists is!) I had thought about going to a vintage clothing show over in the West Loop, but decided not to expose myself to temptation. So I bought groceries instead, and will shortly commence doing my homework for tomorrow's Italian class.
So was the opera. In fact, it was astonishingly wonderful! It was Gounod's Faust, one of those operas I've seen quite a lot (and the same production, too). I can't quite put my finger on it, but it was a performance where everything, singers, orchestra, staging, etc. just clicked perfectly. The soprano, Ana Maria Martinez, has a rich voice and is a good actress, too. I was particularly impressed by her portrayal of Marguerite's insanity in the final act. There was a marvelous bit of stage business in Act 4; when the soldiers return, Valentin gives a folded flag to several war widows. One fainted, one was stoic, and one spit in his face. Excellent work by the chorus members! We had the second cast for the roles of Faust and Mephistopheles, but it turned out not to matter. Though I had been disappointed that I wasn't going to hear René Pape, Kyle Ketelsen did very well, indeed.
Last night, I drove very carefully through hordes of trick-or-treaters to Rockefeller Chapel, for the Newberry Consort's first concert of the season. In a departure from their usual early music fare, this was a program of American music from the mid-nineteenth century, called "Beautiful Dreamer: Music of Lincoln's America", designed to connect with the Newberry Library's current Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition. Still a historically-informed performance, with some period and period-style instruments. They did traditional music, along with Stephen Foster songs and Louis Moreua Gottschalk piano pieces, among other things. All was interspersed with contemporary readings by Canadian actor Paul Hecht. What a voice!
Today, I slept late, despite the time change. Then my morning got thrown off because my newspaper hadn't been delivered! This, however, turned out to be a good thing, because when it was re-delivered and the carrier rang the bell, we discovered that the door buzzer doesn't work. (That's not good, but knowing the problem exists is!) I had thought about going to a vintage clothing show over in the West Loop, but decided not to expose myself to temptation. So I bought groceries instead, and will shortly commence doing my homework for tomorrow's Italian class.
