WSC Music Making them Sing Again

Flashcards: https://quizlet.com/786129951/making-them-sing-again-operas-second-act-flash-cards/?i=267emb&x=1jqY

\ The origins of opera \n Opera is a form of theater in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. \n Who wrote the first opera? In Florence, a small group known as the Florentine Camerata decided to recreate the storytelling of Greek drama through music. Jacopo Peri composed Dafne (1597), which many consider to be the first opera. From that beginning, two types of opera began to emerge: opera seria, formal and dignified pieces for royalty, and opera buffa, or comedies. so opera had taken Europe by storm. This period also saw the rise of castrati—male singers who were castrated as boys to preserve their soprano voices. After that came the classical era of Opera due to the "Enlightenment", it presented more realistic plots. The ultimate Classical opera composer was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Who wrote "The Marriage of Figaro". And then came the Romantic period, which gave stage to the likes of Gioachino Rossini who had a particular talent for ebullient comedy and unforgettable melodies. composers often made their heroines go mad via a thwarted love affair. \n The best-known opera of the 19th century—and possibly the most popular of all time—is French composer Georges Bizet’s "Carmen". It’s for good reason—the story of a Gypsy woman who values her free-spirited life above all, and the soldier who becomes obsessed with her. The late 19th century was dominated by two giants of opera: Italian Giuseppe Verdi and German Richard Wagner.

\ Cheap opera tickets for young people \n People aged 18 to 25 can purchase tickets for the Milanese opera house  “La Scala” at the unbelievably low price of 2 euros. The minister made the announcement after meeting with La Scala Superintendent Alexander Pereira has gone on record saying  "it's an initiative aimed at the new generations who often consider culture with skepticism” “…is not a solution but it can help".The plan has been proposed to Italy's other 14 opera foundations and they have all accepted, he said.

\ Multimedia opera “Somnium” \n The premiere of the multimedia opera Somnium in Hong Kong was relatively slick, except for when the “out of battery” sign flashed and the video projection screens went dark for about an hour. But otherwise, it went really well. It was described as part-installation, part-opera and part-trance. The (incredibly complicated) story tells of a single mother in Iceland called Fiolxhildis, who sells herbal talismans to seafarers for a living, is reunited with her son, who had been missing for five years. She calls forth a supernatural daemon to take them on a journey to the moon. They are joined by a father and daughter in the Hong Kong of today, struggling over the rather familiar question of  “should I stay or should I go?” \n The audience has three hours to freely walk in and out of two separate spaces. \n The first one includes recorded videos of performers. Inside there are Six stations made up of transparent screens which are activated by a team of lunar-rover-like robotic projectors on wheels. These roam about in the dark, dodging around members of the audience and pausing to project videos of five different characters whose stories are conveyed through monologues of song and spoken word. The daemon (Steve Hui, also known as Nerve, the composer, in heavy disguise) appears periodically in person to say his piece, looking very otherworldly in a full mask and his voice altered. \n Due to the rather feeble speakers dangling by each bank of screens ( the dialog and music is mostly in English, although one character speaks in Cantonese, and not subtitled) sometimes the audio is hard to make out, especially on the occasions when multiple characters appear at the same time. But thankfully the polished screen performances in Somnium are compelling and Hui’s music is accomplished and accessible melodic. \n The other room, designed by artist Kenny Wong, is bathed in a silvery light with a large sphere (the moon) suspended in the middle. In this room audiences are encouraged to relax as they are given face masks and the room is full of beanbags and pillows. This is supposed to replicate the effects of a 1960s Dreamachine, which can make you feel as if you’re dreaming while wide awake. Although sometimes the sounds are too loud for relaxation. But on the whole, Somnium delivers on its creative ambitions.  

\ Multimedia Performance of ’Rigoletto’ \n Novi Sad, future European Capital of Culture, offered its citizens a multimedia performance of the ’Rigoletto’ opera in the open, as to avoid covid spread ,it was performed  in front of the Czech Magazine, a cultural monument of the historical heritage of the city’. The opera was performed to the online masses as well via online streaming. It was directed by Aleksandar Nikolić. This event marked the end of the 4-day opening of the Kaleidoscope of Culture. Which is a program from Novi Sad dedicated to bringing artists together. After Maribor (2012) and Rijeka (2020), Novi Sad is the third city from the former Yugoslavia to be designated European Capital of Culture. This title is not important only for the city that bears it, but it represents a project of national importance and the platform for building strong connections between cities on both regional and European level.

\ Yuval Sharon \n Aka founder and co-Artistic Director of The Industry in Los Angeles and the Gary L. Wasserman Artistic Director of Detroit Opera. Sharon made his debut with Detroit Opera in 2020 with Twilight: Gods. Sharon has directed and produced new operas in moving vehicles, operating train stations, Hollywood sound stages, and various “non-spaces” such as warehouses, parking lots, and escalator corridors. Sharon also collaborated with the LA Philharmonic, creating nine projects that included newly commissioned works. Sharon was also invited to work in Bayreuth, where he made a boldly progressive adaptation of Lohengrin (medieval German romance) in 2018, using subtle dramatic direction to completely overhaul the opera into a critique of entrenched power structures. In 2017, Sharon was honored with a MacArthur Fellowship and a Foundation for Contemporary Art grant for theater.

\ Twilight: Gods \n Yuval Sharon’s radical drive-through adaptation of Wagner’s “Gotterdammerung” for Lyric Opera of Chicago. The art of Twilight: Gods comes from the limitations set by the Covid pandemic, the work is consumed entirely from inside a car. At each of the five destinations, the driver stops in a precise spot. Then A passenger finds a radio station on the FM dial. Thereafter, the live singing of, say, Catherine Martin (Waltraute) or Christine Goerke (Brünnhilde) fills the cabin, as accompanied by musicians located in various parts of the garage. The experience was designed by Jason H. Thompson and Kaitlyn Pietras, and produced by the Michigan Opera Theatre, (which might explain the dominance of cars, especially since the MOT owns its own parking garage in Detroit). The lighting is also very atmospheric. The entire run time of the opera is 70 minutes, but a good chunk of it is moving from place to place in your car . although  the necessary truncation is mitigated by an original narration, performed in Chicago by avery r. young.

\ why we need to talk about what female classical performers wear \n pianist and scholar Dr Samantha Ege gave a recital of famous works. What none mentioned, though, was Ege’s outfit. she described it as “a muted red fishtail dress, influenced by west African styles.” The outfits are an important part of ones performance. Saxophonist Jess Gillam also has a distinctive concert style. Surprisingly, Discussing clothing is something of a taboo in classical music. as the 19th-century critic ETA Hoffmann put it: “The genuine artist lives only for the work … He does not make his personality count in any way.” Unfortunately musicians who tend to step out of the norm when it comes to clothing are heavily criticized as they are blamed for “dumbing down” the genre of opera. This problem is especially prevalent with women as they are often sexualized. pianist Yuja Wang betrays this double standard, as she shows people she can dress however she wants (you go girl). And critics keep throwing stuff at her while they are the ones viewing her in a sexual manner. Perhaps part of the issue is that Opera critics aren’t master fashionistas and they immediately flinch whenever fashion is brought up. Norman Lebrecht, an extremely stupid critic, described Wang’s outfit as “a micro-dress cut an inch below the butt.” The notion that what we see might “distract from” music, rather than shape our experience of it, stems from a centuries-old division of body and mind, physicality and rationality, that claims classical music performances as purely audible. This outright shaming of female attire isn’t anything new in the concert hall, as in 1944, Ruth Gipps turned up to a concert wearing a brightly colored evening dress. She was put down by critics, and she did NOT like that. Later stating “What sort of place was this, that expected a woman to be ashamed to wear a beautiful dress?” (*muscle emoji*) \n The criticism of Wang’s dress also feeds into racist stereotypes around the submissiveness and inexpressiveness of both women and classical musicians of Asian descent. \n Conclusion: We need to find ways of talking about women’s clothes that respect them as artistic choices, and integral to performance. Moreover, social media has made classical music “so much more visual” says Maxine Kwok, as people are sharing clips of performances they visited all over the internet.

\ Philadelphia Orchestra Announces New Onstage Dress Code \n Historically, orchestra dress reflected present-day audiences of the time. When classical music reigned as most popular, musicians wore attire that emulated those of the audience. white tie and tails became the standard formal wear for men in the mid-19th century (as tried to imitate cool Europeans, very elitist). Now in the 21 century performers tend to strike a slightly different attire. This new look is about strengthening the connection between the audience and the music and the musicians. The New York Philharmonic have adopted black collared shirts, jackets, no ties, and black mid-calf or floor-length skirts, dresses, or pants with formal long-sleeved tops. (Pants for NY Phil’s female musicians were a recent amendment). A guy called Robin Mitchell-Boyask doesn’t like the change! (maybe it matters). But Stanford Thompson does! (also might matter).

\ Lady Gaga dresses to kill! (animals) \n Lady Gaga's iconic meat dress took the internet by storm. When Gaga stepped on the MTV Music Awards runway in 2010 wearing nothing but steaks and heels, people found it quite divisive. The people were split - animal rights activists condemned it, but Time magazine crowned it the top fashion statement of 2010. Gaga explained the dress: “If we don't stand up for what we believe in and if we don't fight for our rights, pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our bones.” So we're left to consider, what's the difference between this dress and a full authentic leather outfit? There didn't seem to be any change in people's perception of her music, however, her image has surely been altered. People view this dress in a more positive, “iconic” light nowadays rather than critiquing the questionable fashion choice.

\ Classic FM \n Classic FM is a British channel meant for gen Z teenagers, it has retooled classics of the opera genre into 30-second animated shorts for quick and easy consumption. The one that is shown in the curriculum is of the opera Carmen, and everything is fast paced.

\ Opera in cinemas \n The Royal Opera and Ballet have been streaming performances to movie theaters. The benefits of this are that they’re cheaper than in person tickets, provide more money to the theaters as they’re more expensive than regular movie tickets and can bring people in mid-week, let people who don’t live in places with performances see them, and have better and closer camera angles than the people actually there. As the CEO of the Royal Opera House, Alex Beard says, it’s not a replacement, but rather a compliment to being there in person and lets people feel like they’re taking place in an “extraordinary moment” all over the world as people can see through things like social media. Some people, such as leading opera critic Rupert Christiansen says it poses a threat to opera’s financial viability as nobody’s been able to make a considerable profit from it and because it increases piracy. The Metropolitan Opera’s (aka the Met) general manager Peter Gelb says its ease and convenience is a good way to increase the dwindling audience for opera.

\ Orfeo reimagined (Orpheus) \n Orpheus is a reimagining of Monteverdi’s 1607 opera Orfeo that melds the original western music with new, Indian inspired music by composer and sitar player Jasdeep Singh Degun. There’s not really much I can say about this that hasn’t been said by them in the curriculum itself so just read that.

\ Trump on Show \n Trump on Show is a Cantonese opera by celebrity feng-shui master Li Kui-Ming, who also does a lot of other things that he advertises at the show. It was performed for 4 days in 2019 in Hong Kong. The opera is an over-the-top comedy about Donald Trump and also Mao and also Kim Jong Un is there somewhere? idk really. According to Li, he only used current political figures to grab the audience’s attention and doesn’t intend to be serious. Like in the west, Chinese opera has also been facing a similar demographic problem which Trump on Show seemingly solves, with audiences packed and much younger than the usual for operas. Some people, however, say that it’s mere sensationalism without substance.

\ CNN Operas

A CNN opera is a term used to insultingly describe contemporary opera taking news

events as a theme, or a classical opera transposed to a contemporary setting.

\ X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X

Malcolm X was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. The Detroit Opera's production of ‘Malcolm X' is a timely and haunting retelling of the life of the civil rights leader. The play is said to showcase Malcolm X's political evolution and his growth as a leader, telling his story from childhood as a black kid to imprisonment. Overall, the production is described as thought-provoking and impactful.

"Jones is not your name” is a song from the musical that likely references the scene in which Malcolm X, whose birth name was Malcolm Little, changes his last name from "Little" to "X" to symbolize his rejection of his family's slave name and his embrace of his African heritage. The song might express Malcolm X's desire to break away from his past and forge his own identity, and could explore the themes of self-discovery, cultural heritage, and resistance to oppression. The lyrics repeat, “Allah does not teach us to fight the white man’s war… To stay a slave..” and mentions multiple slave names (either given by white slave owners or inherited from enslaved ancestors, which is more likely in this context): “Jones/Smith is not your name… It's a slave name”.

\ Songs For The End of Time Vol. 1

Recently “Founders”, an NYC band, released Songs for the End of Time Vol. 1- which includes a composition for Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, a piece he made during his imprisonment in a German nazi camp he was captured as a part of WW2. the premiere of this piece also took place in the mentioned camp, performed by

fellow prisoners who were also musicians. He was inspired to write the piece by a quote from the new testament's “book of revelations”. The group has a long history with the piece, dating back to their first album, where they combined parts of the piece into their own pieces. They hope that with this new composition, adding the sound of jazz, rock and other non-classical styles into the masterpiece more people will want to give it a listen and get to know it.