tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post1822600432719050258..comments2024-03-16T06:23:29.917-07:00Comments on The Reverberate Hills; or The Apotheosis of the Narwhal: when this you see remember mePatrick J. Vazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09279528648512493917noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post-53725576420389394562011-09-10T11:05:48.726-07:002011-09-10T11:05:48.726-07:00Thank you for pointing that out, I had not made th...Thank you for pointing that out, I had not made that connection!<br /><br />I did think about which aria would be appropriate: Nessun dorma is frequently pulled out of context and treated as sort of a pop anthem, and many people know it who know nothing else about the opera it's from, so I figured it was the right comparison.Patrick J. Vazhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09279528648512493917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post-53051578527145113742011-09-10T10:52:28.417-07:002011-09-10T10:52:28.417-07:00Funny that you mention Nessun Dorma, which was pre...Funny that you mention Nessun Dorma, which was premiered in 1926 at la scala. Pigeon on the grass was written on 1927-28. So they started from the same spot in the history of opera...Cedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02611663819436917513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post-9850447078293763852011-08-24T08:26:01.204-07:002011-08-24T08:26:01.204-07:00Oh, go ahead and mention all my good points!
One ...Oh, go ahead and mention all my good points!<br /><br />One of my on-going theater complaints is this plague of presenters/directors/conductors needing to delay a performance even more by "introducing" it. They almost always use and set the wrong tone -- generally they're glib and amusing and slightly condescending. We've already paid and we're already sitting there -- what is the point?<br /><br />The laughter I just don't get. When I went to Beowulf last fall some fool chuckled throughout. Apparently I have always missed (and continue to miss) the snappy one-liners in Beowulf.<br />(http://reverberatehills.blogspot.com/2010/10/bagby-does-beowulf-in-berkeley.html)<br /><br />When my cousin from Lisbon was at the SF Ring Cycle, he asked me in puzzlement, "Why is the audience laughing?" Some of it was Zambello's occasionally dopey staging, but things really weren't that funny and I had to tell him I really didn't understand it either. Since he goes to operas all over Europe, I'm starting to wonder if this is some sort of weird American thing.Patrick J. Vazhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09279528648512493917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post-17588208498172156602011-08-23T22:41:46.714-07:002011-08-23T22:41:46.714-07:00Too many good points in your review to mention but...Too many good points in your review to mention but two stand out: the pretentious gabble by those "introducing" the show, esp. the nit-wit from SFMOMA whom I swear I hear every time I preview an art show over there. Then, the other nitwit in the audience laughing hysterically. We had a similar laughing hyena sitting down from us and it was extremely distracting. As you pointed out, parts of the show are witty but not laugh out loud funny.Nancy Ewarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12116290968007398337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post-36989246512759635612011-08-23T09:42:09.108-07:002011-08-23T09:42:09.108-07:00Anyone to tease a saint seriously!Anyone to tease a saint seriously!Patrick J. Vazhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09279528648512493917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post-34348300794619929502011-08-23T09:36:56.118-07:002011-08-23T09:36:56.118-07:00I can definitely name the first saint. That's...I can definitely name the first saint. That's Pat Boone.Ms. Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13829148897581545849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post-32853288900665565602011-08-22T20:26:16.677-07:002011-08-22T20:26:16.677-07:00"Nothing whatever to do with Dan Brown" ..."Nothing whatever to do with Dan Brown" is my general mode of operation.<br /><br />I see what you mean about your fascination, but I don't think it's at all unseemly; St Ignatius, founder of the Jesuits, would be the first to tell you that there are many ways, all legitimate, of coming to the saints. I have no doubt your life has been one of heroic virtues.<br /><br />As someone with poor eyesight, I do indeed appreciate St Lucy!<br /><br />Millions -- is that the Danny Boyle film? There were a couple of others on IMDB with that title but I'm guessing that's the one you mean. I will add it to the queue.Patrick J. Vazhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09279528648512493917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post-60401209727887262192011-08-22T20:05:21.129-07:002011-08-22T20:05:21.129-07:00I was raised vaguely Episcopalian-but-not-really a...I was raised vaguely Episcopalian-but-not-really and came to saints in high school when a docent explained how you could tell which saint was which in renaissance art by the saints' attributes. That there was a code (and this was in about 1977, so nothing whatever to do with Dan Brown) that you could decipher led to years of dropping in at O'Connor's Church Goods on University Ave. in San Diego, buying every saint card, prayer candle and book on saints I could lay hands on. I used to love to scour museums, saint deciphering. The unseemliness of that finally became clear to me. Thus my calling my fascination perverse: the faith/sanctity isn't what draws me in so much as the entree into a hidden-in-plain-sight world. If I got my Pocket Dictionary of Saints off the shelf, I could *maybe* figure out all ten of your saints. I'll try how many I can i.d. later this evening (if I find my glasses). At this very moment I have St. Lucy and St. Dymphna prayer cards in my wallet, just so's you know.<br /><br />Have you seen the film Millions? It's rentable and totally, thoroughly lovely (saints figure prominently). I recommend it highly.Sibylhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01298819489853065976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post-90981135926718920002011-08-22T18:47:42.314-07:002011-08-22T18:47:42.314-07:00Thanks to you both. SFMike missed out on an effect...Thanks to you both. SFMike missed out on an effective career as a silver-faced policeman, I have to say. He would keep order in Civic Center, no doubt!<br /><br />Why do you call a saints fetish perverse? I find them delightful. And we're supposed to be fascinated by them. They are exemplars! (You've read Fifth Business by Robertson Davies, and the story of the disenfranchised saints in his High Spirits?)<br /><br />I'm glad you like the art -- I made sure there were 10 saints, because of Stein's question and answer in the libretto:<br />"How many saints can remember a house which was built before they can remember. Ten saints can."<br /><br />Of course, some of them are repeats. How many can you name? Some are quite obscure, and I don't think even I could get them all (despite a lifetime of saints' stories and altarpieces) unless I had posted them.Patrick J. Vazhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09279528648512493917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post-45488457065304783032011-08-22T17:19:56.553-07:002011-08-22T17:19:56.553-07:00What SFMike said. (And also? I have this really pe...What SFMike said. (And also? I have this really perverse saints fetish--it's a family joke--and I really appreciate the art you've chosen to accompany the what-SFMike-said text).Sibylhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01298819489853065976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post-90504500067453504702011-08-21T18:25:23.886-07:002011-08-21T18:25:23.886-07:00Lovely and smart and observant.Lovely and smart and observant.Civic Centerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12362422142667230626noreply@blogger.com