Joined: 20 Jan 2002 Posts: 2162 Location: Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 8:53 am Post subject: Opera: The Exterminating Angel
My friend is a newcomer to opera. So far, she's been attracted to Italian opera.
She asked me if I thought she would enjoy this Saturday's Met performance of Thomas Adès’ The Exterminating Angel. Since I didn't know anything about it, I told her I would ask here.
Is this an esoteric opera, with modern harmonies, or is this something that sounds like Rossini, Verdi, Mozart, etc?
Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 2450 Location: New York City
Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:16 am Post subject:
Thanks for posting that video.
I saw his version of "The Tempest" a few years back. I did not enjoy it. It was very modern and I thought the music was punishing to the listener.
"The Exterminating Angel" seems much better! I'll probably get out to see it at the Met. _________________ Yamaha 8310Z trumpet
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Curry 3.
Joined: 23 Mar 2003 Posts: 9013 Location: Hawai`i - Texas
Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 10:11 am Post subject:
The implication of your question is a bit oxymoronic.
Why not show her that video and then, if you've got the money and are game, why not go to the opera. It can be surprising, sometimes, what someone will like when you think they won't. _________________ "If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Bird
I've heard a few excerpts (which I enjoyed), and they sounded like 21st-century music, not a throwback to centuries past. I did not feel punished in any way. _________________ '75 Bach Strad 180ML/37
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Joined: 27 Feb 2003 Posts: 2734 Location: Los Angeles
Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 10:43 am Post subject:
poochie wrote:
It ranks as the most challenging thing I've had to play in 23 years here .
Sounds like Adès’. Difficult music made even more so by unnecessarily complex rhythmic notation. _________________ Jim Wilt
LA Philharmonic
Colburn School
Joined: 20 Jan 2002 Posts: 2162 Location: Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 10:57 am Post subject:
Follow-up: I shared this information with my friend. She asked, "Is this toe-tapping music? Will I come away humming any of the melodies? Or is this purely an intellectual experience?"
What should I tell her?
Thanks.
Joined: 25 May 2013 Posts: 2123 Location: Atlanta GA
Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 1:26 pm Post subject:
Jerry wrote:
Follow-up: I shared this information with my friend. She asked, "Is this toe-tapping music? Will I come away humming any of the melodies? Or is this purely an intellectual experience?"
What should I tell her?
Thanks.
I haven't seen the opera, but watching and listening to the trailer, it sounds like the music is modern but accessible. However, it doesn't sound like a feel-good Disney movie, so there might not be much toe-tapping and humming. The story and music seem surreal, bizarre, avant-garde, macabre... Lots of powerful drama meant to illicit an emotional reaction. It isn't a purely intellectual experience. It's dramatic musical theater.
I'd definitely go see it. I think my family would like it. But deciding whether to recommend that your friend go see it requires knowing her tastes and openness to something like this. I'd show her the trailer and see what she thinks.
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