tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post760130962101972617..comments2024-03-16T06:23:29.917-07:00Comments on The Reverberate Hills; or The Apotheosis of the Narwhal: fun stuff I may or may not get to: November 2015Patrick J. Vazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09279528648512493917noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post-31715315649134184182015-11-05T06:59:37.162-08:002015-11-05T06:59:37.162-08:00Yes -- to me, comedy needs to be swifter, though N...Yes -- to me, comedy needs to be swifter, though Nozze di Figaro is quite lengthy (but then, it doesn't make me laugh). Hans Sachs is a tricky role, and last time I saw Meistersinger, with James Morris, I can see why you'd call him a bully. He's one of those characters like the Marschallin in Rosenkavalier whose wisdom can come across as snotty condescension unless there's a powerful actor expressing other emotions.<br /><br />I've also spoken to at least one person who was irritated that Eva has to marry whoever wins the contest, no matter what that tenor looks or acts like.Patrick J. Vazhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09279528648512493917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post-74539650365029620322015-11-04T23:22:23.363-08:002015-11-04T23:22:23.363-08:00In truth it's not really the worship of Holy G...In truth it's not really the worship of Holy German Art that puts me off this work, it's the fact that it's an elephantine five-hour-plus oxymoronic German Comedy. And I think Hans Sachs is a bully.Civic Centerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12362422142667230626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post-77585708781429858802015-11-04T21:56:34.041-08:002015-11-04T21:56:34.041-08:00So . . . you'll be there opening night?
I'...So . . . you'll be there opening night?<br /><br />I've read (from some reliable source -- possibly even Fr Lee) that Wagner wanted to cut that "holy German art" number at the end, but that the (non-German) Cosima insisted that he leave it in. I think we also need to remember (though I need to doublecheck the chronology of this) that Germany was not a unified state at the time -- I mean, we're coming at the whole thing from the other side of history.<br /><br />But I can't say I'm disagreeing with your assessment. I'm trying to decide if I should give it another shot.Patrick J. Vazhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09279528648512493917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post-88792682373410967592015-11-04T19:30:59.336-08:002015-11-04T19:30:59.336-08:00Father Owen Lee? I haven't heard that name in ...Father Owen Lee? I haven't heard that name in many years. Just checked Wikipedia and found out he's still alive at age 85. As for "Meistersinger," I've never been so excruciatingly bored by an opera in my entire life and have still not made it through the piece in one sitting. I even appeared once in the 1990s as a supernumerary for the "midnight riot" in the second act and as a happy burgher in the third act, which was F---ING interminable. I thought I was going to pass out and fall asleep on stage, and I was surrounded by the great young Ben Heppner and Karita Mattila, so it wasn't the cast. Of course, I am not as wise as Father Owen Lee, so maybe one day I will understand the genius of this work about High Holy German Art defending itself against all those "foreign" influences.Civic Centerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12362422142667230626noreply@blogger.com