Dear Disney,
From before I was born, you have been a master at manipulating my emotions. From Mufasa, to Bambi's mom, to The Fox and the Hound, with its deeply dissatisfying ending and surprising nuance that was totally lost on me as a child, you have been toying with my feelings. And don't even get me started on the beginning of Up (I'm not crying YOU'RE crying). I've loved it. I've grown up on your ideals of who I should be as a woman, I've always played princess. I owned a beautiful collection of VHS tapes as a child, and still watch your new releases. When you merged with Pixar I was ecstatic that two amazing powerhouses were joining artistic forces, and you did not disappoint. However, you have begun one type of emotional manipulation that I do not appreciate, cannot stand, and will not accept: queerbaiting. I was going to see your new live-action Beauty and the Beast. That was my absolute favorite movie as a young child. As an extremely nerdy brunette, who always had at least two fiction books in my backpack and another six under my pillow, who was shunted to the fringes of the cool kids' social circles, I totally identified with Belle. I still get chills and tear up when I watch the gorgeous opening sequence. This movie means a lot to me. Then, it came out that one of the characters was gay. "Finally," I thought, "Cogsworth will have his day." Haha nope. It turns out that LeFou is the gay one. "Okay," I thought, "that could make sense. I wish it wasn't one of the villains, though." As more and more details and statements leaked, I became more skeptical. Vague statements about a "moment" were circulating. A "moment" is about the smallest amount of time one can devote to a subject, so that was the biggest red flag, and the terminology surrounding the whole thing did not make me feel better, since "gay moment" is an actual trope. Queer people have been seeking out "moments" in entertainment since time immemorial, so that's a pretty minimal commitment, since the community was bound to find a gay moment anyway (for example in the original, when Gaston talks about his DEEEEcorAAAting, or any glance between Kirk and Spock in the Star Trek franchise). Then the movie actually came out. Everyone who saw it said that the moment was literally a moment, and that the gayness was cliche. I was so disappointed. I knew the hype was for publicity, but I was hoping to be proved wrong. I still might see this film, but I'm no longer in any hurry. I don't expect you to be progressive on this front; I know better than that. But please don't pretend. Sincerely, Me
0 Comments
I have a confession: there are a buttload of operas, some of them standard, some of them obscure, that I haven't seen in their entirety. Like, a helluva lot. I've listened to some of them, but the magic of opera is in the Gesamtkunstwerk. Most of them, I'm just not particularly interested because there aren't any good mezzo roles in them (unfortunate truth). Like, I hadn't seen Boheme in its entirety until the summer of '16. SO. I'm going to track my list of operas I want to watch in this post. I'll update it as I think of them and move them to the list at the bottom as I check them off. If you have recommendations for certain operas or productions, lay 'em on me! I'll let you know if I've already seen it, but I've seen so many operas that I don't feel like torturing myself trying to list them all here. Maybe I'll start adding ones I've seen as I feel like it/remember. I've seen so much, but there is SO MUCH MORE. GUYS, THERE'S SO MUCH OPERA. :D
Baroque Ariodante (Händel) Partenope Dido and Aeneas Orlando Classical Mitridate (Mozart) Abduction from the Seraglio (Mozart) Der Schauspieldirektor (Mozart) Romantic L'étoile (Chabrier) Cherubin (Massenet) Orpheus in the Underworld (Offenbach) Werther (Massenet) Fidelio (Beethoven) Eugene Onegin (Tchaik) The Maid of Orleans (Tchaik) Pique Dame (Tchaik) Otello (Verdi) Nabucco (Verdi) Aida (Verdi) Die Freischutz (Weber) Herodiade (Massenet) Late Romantic The Ring Cycle (Wagner) Arabella (R. Strauss) Capriccio (R. Strauss) Die Frau ohne Schatten Salome - LIVE (I've seen it on film) Tristan und Isolde Modern Lulu Peter Grimes Turn of the screw Midsummer Wozzeck The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny Contemporary Dead Man Walking (Heggie) Vanessa (Barber) Little Women (Adamo) Dr. Atomic (Adams) Einstein on the Beach (Glass) Hamlet (Ades) Prince of Players (Floyd) Fantastic Mr. Fox (Picker) Frankenstein (Libby Larsen) Things I've seen (hella incomplete, don't judge me yet): Ainadamar (Gjelo) Albert Herring Alcina L'amour de Loin Ariadne auf Naxos Baby Shower (Bruce Trinkley) Il Barbiere di Siviglia La Boheme Breaking the Waves (Mazzoli) Brokeback Mountain I Capuleti e i Montecchi Carmen Cendrillon Cenerentola La Clemenza di Tito Le Comte Ory Les contes d'Hoffmann Così fan tutte Dolores Claiborne Don Giovanni Elektra L'elisir d'amore L'enfant et les sortileges Falstaff (WITH BRYN TERFEL!!!) La Fanciulla del West La finta giardiniera (Mozart) Die Fledermaus The Flying Dutchman Flight (Dove) Gianni Schicchi Giulio Cesare Higglety Pigglety Pop! Hydrogen Jukebox (Phillip Glass) Idomeneo Iolanthe L'isola disabitata L'Italiana in Algeri Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk The Little Prince Lohengrin Macbeth (Verdi) Madama BUTTerfly Mahagonny Songspiel Les mamelles des Tiresias Manon Manon Lescaut Maria Stuarda (Donizetti) Die Meistersinger von Nurenberg The Merry Widow (sexist) Nixon in China Le nozze di Figaro L'orfeo (Monteverdi) Orfeo ed Euridice Otello (Rossini) Pelleas et Melisande Pirates of Penzance Poliuto (Donizetti) Princess Ida The Rape of Lucretia Das Rheingold Rigoletto Roberto Devereux (amazing!) Romeo et Juliette Der Rosenkavalier Sir John in Love La Sonnambula The Sorcerer Suor Angelica Susannah Sweets by Kate (Griffin Candey) Tannhauser Tosca La Traviata The Wake World (David Herzenberg) Xerxes Die Zauberflöte (my first! I had a friend asleep on each shoulder by 10 minutes in) Die Zigeunerbaron Your vote is important.
Yes, if you live in a staunchly red or blue state your vote will probably not affect the outcome. But you know what it will affect? Demographic statistics. You know who pays attention to those? Elected politicians at every level. You know what happens when your demographic makes a good showing? They cater to you. You showing up makes it easier for those who lobby for your interests full-time to get things done. Please show up and vote. This election is important. This is the election where we stop the globally-rising tide of neo-conservatism, of hate, of discrimination and exclusion, of radical reactionaries. This is where we counter the Boris Johnsons and Rodrigo Dutertes of the world and make a stand for equality, love, and inclusion on our own soil. This is where we look forward, to a future where our children and grandchildren have quality education and socioeconomic mobility. To a future where every American is healthy. To a future where minorities no longer live in fear. This election is revealing. When you vote for Trump, you are telling those around you what you think of them. You may tell yourself that you're voting for him because he's better than Clinton, he's not in Wall Street's pocket, he tells it like it is, he's a revolutionary coming in from outside the corrupt political system to fix it, he fights for the American Way, he'll bring jobs back to middle America, he's the working-class choice, he'll let you keep your guns, he has your best interests at heart. However, what other people hear is that you don't care about those around you, especially those who are different from you. You don't care about women, racial minorities, religious minorities, poor people, or the LGBT+/Queer Community. You are telling those people that they are second-class citizens, that their basic right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is not important. You are telling them you do not hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal. This view seems extreme, I know. You love these people. You have friends among these groups. You've cried with them, laughed with them, hugged them. That's why they find it so shocking and hurtful that you would elect someone to the highest office in the U.S. who does not believe they deserve the consideration and love you've shown them. That person you're voting for is not like you. Why would you identify with him? It baffles those who know you best, and makes them question what your true beliefs are. Although many elections are decided on the basis of specific policies, this election has devolved into an ideological debate, due to the polarized nature of the candidates and rhetoric. This time, your ideology is on trial. It's harsh, and maybe you like Trump's economic policy or something, but that's not what those around you hear. They hear that economics are more important to you than civil rights. When you don't vote, you are telling these people the same thing. You may say you're protesting because there's no winning with candidates like these, that they're "equally horrible", but that's not the point. If you wait for the perfect candidate to come along, whose views and policies exactly align with yours, you better get your ass into politics because that's the only way that's going to happen. Also, they're not equally horrible. You know better than that. Come on. I love each and every one of you, and I'm looking forward to moving towards an indivisible nation with liberty and justice for all. My day job is at a financial firm. It's quite old-school, socially. The majority of high-level employees are white males. The entirety of the admin staff is female. However, there is a ray of hope...
I sit near two young analysts. One of them is putting together a recruitment dinner. He's insisting on having a female analyst join them. He's been reaching out to literally every woman on his team. For one reason or another, none of the women can join, but it's really great to hear this finance bro really making a concerted, deliberate effort to put together a diverse group. It gives me hope for the future. David McVicar directed a production of Händel's Giulio Cesare at Glyndebourne in 2005. It starred Sarah Connolly and Danielle de Niese, and was set in 19th-century colonial Egypt. Some kind soul uploaded a complete version of it to YouTube, although it has since been taken down. A while back, I watched the entire opera, absolutely loved it, then proceeded to read the comments. I recently rediscovered a document where I had recorded some of those comments. While there were many many positive comments, there were a few people who wrote that the "absurd modern production" was "a disaster" and the opera was "spoilt".
I honestly don't empathize with their objections. I understand what they are driving at: they want opera productions to be historically accurate and serve the composer's music first and foremost. These traditionalists are necessary because they constantly challenge new choices, which encourages the innovators to really think through their choices and make sure they make sense instead of doing something just for the sake of being the first person to do it. They are a valuable part of the artistic and historical dialogue in the opera world. However, I despise the immediate dismissal of anything that attempts to approach a work in a new way. They have a bad habit of using the fact that something isn't historically accurate to justify their personal dislike for a production. They have a resistance to just saying, "this didn't speak to me," possibly for fear of seeming uncultured. It is fine to dislike a production, or even an opera. Operas span hundreds of years; there is bound to be at least one era or composer that rubs you the wrong way, in the same way that one of the hundreds of stagings of a repertory opera will not work for you. Some of them are truly bizarre. That is all fine. But don't invalidate someone else's approach. This Cesare was not even close to the most ridiculous production I've seen. Hardly any of the choices detracted from the opera and many enhanced it. Go pick on the one where Cecilia Bartoli sings "V'adoro, pupille" astride a missile like everyone else. Have the women in your life ever told you of their experiences shopping for bras? Every woman has many stories about this and they are all different. Some women have had traumatic experiences. Others have had lots of fun. The stories vary from instance to instance and woman to woman, but it is a universal experience.
While your female acquaintance was telling you this story, what did you do? Did you interrupt her to tell her that bra didn’t mean to cut into her shoulders? Did you point out that she should have chosen a different cup size when she told you about one that was too big? Probably not, because you know she is aware of these things. Did you tell her she didn’t hate bra-shopping at all, that she secretly liked it? Probably not, because you trust her to know her own feelings. Maybe you asked questions about parts of her story to gain a better frame of reference. How are bras sized? Why is one brand better than another? How much do bras even cost? Why do you need them in different colors and styles? I’m guessing that mostly you listened to her story and interjected sympathetic noises or comments in the appropriate places, because this is a thing you really have no personal experience with. You can think about it all you want, but the specific realities probably elude you. Perhaps you have gone bra shopping with a woman. You have a better grasp of what happens than most men. However, you do not know the whole story. Perhaps you sat right outside her dressing room, hearing her make various noises and comments, possibly having her poke her head out and go ‘oh my god, look at this one!’ You were not with her in the stall though. More likely, you sat outside on a couch especially for waiting, playing on your phone. You watched her walk in with fifteen bras and emerge victorious with two, unaware of the process she went through in order for that to happen. Maybe you had the amazing opportunity to be in the dressing room with her, watching her take bras on and off and watching her experience and thought process. You are a very lucky man (for more than the obvious reasons) and you have a very intimate view of what she goes through. However, your experience is still fundamentally different because it’s NOT YOUR BRA. You observed and now you have a much better understanding. Hopefully you empathize. You can now tell men the secret struggles and joys. Congratulations. Remember that most men do not have your perspective and you have an opportunity educate them on the (in this case awesome and probably titillating) reality. Your story, however, will still be different than the woman’s. Let her tell hers. Men, when you hear a woman talking about feminism or being a woman, please listen and remember it’s not your bra. I am currently polishing the aria "Nobles seigneurs, salut!" from Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots. In true French Grand Opera style, the aria is flashy, with good amounts of coloratura. One passage defeated me when I first approached this aria. This one: It isn't very long and it goes by very quickly. Hearing other people sing it, I never noticed it sounding particularly difficult, but when I was learning it, it made no sense to me. I had a very hard time getting it in my voice. I practiced that one passage over and over again, slowly, then breaking it apart and singing only certain notes. I analyzed the crap out of it. Every interval, every possible imaginary chord underneath (the orchestra drops out on this cadenza), every way I could possibly dissect it. I put in the work and felt like I was getting nowhere.
After working on that cadenza every day for a week, I let it go. I walked away from it. I practiced the other parts of the aria and left that passage alone. Then I went into my lesson a week or two later. We sang through the aria, and I was so concentrated on implementing a new idea I didn't realize the passage was coming. I sang it perfectly. I got to the end of the cadenza and thought, "Oh wow, that just happened. Holy shit, I did it!" I listened to the recording later; it sounded easy. What I'm trying to say, chickadees, is: Put in the work, then walk away for a bit. Beat yourself up all you want during the difficult parts, but trust that your self-flagellation is not in vain. You will learn it. Do your homework and give yourself time. I do not listen to as much instrumental music as I would like and when I do listen, I often have it on as background while I do something else. This makes me miss out on actually appreciating the music. I have wanted to listen to all of Beethoven's symphonies in order for a while now. What better way than to exercise to them? Since many musicologists, who are far more academically qualified than I, have analyzed these masterful symphonies, I shall give you, dear reader, my general and exercise-related impressions.
I listened to Bernstein and the NY Phil again, because why not. The artistry is amazing and the interpretation feels so clean and natural. The first movement starts slowly but changes to a bright, quick tempo about three minutes in, which was perfect for my warm-up walk into my jog. I found myself jogging in time with the music, which set a very swift pace. I was halfway done with my jogging route by the time the first movement ended. I highly recommend this movement for a workout if you were a marching band kid who has a habit of walking in time with music. The second movement is also fairly upbeat, but too slow for my stride. Very genteel and refreshing, it somehow pulls at the heartstrings. The third movement is short and adorable. Not a good tempo for me, but it made me smile. The fourth movement is perfect for a long jog. It has fantastic energy and the tempo is great for a comfortable jogging speed. I recommend the first and fourth movements for a workout playlist. Stats: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 36 I. Adagio molto - Allegro con brio (12:37) II. Larghetto (11:41) III. Scherzo: Allegro (3:23) IV. Allegro molto (6:09) Total time: 33:50 Verdict: Two fabulous movements to exercise to: mezzo-forte. I do not listen to as much instrumental music as I would like and when I do listen, I often have it on as background while I do something else. This makes me miss out on actually appreciating the music. I have wanted to listen to all of Beethoven's symphonies in order for a while now. What better way than to exercise to them? Since many musicologists, who are far more academically qualified than I, have analyzed these masterful symphonies, I shall give you, dear reader, my general and exercise-related impressions.
The particular rendition I listened to is Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic. I chose it because Bernstein's interpretations are legendary, as is the New York Phil. Also, it is easy to find on Spotify. The first movement has a lot of energy, but the beat was too fast to match to my jogging pace. The terraced dynamics make for interesting listening, but didn't help my energy. On a side note, I love the unsettling opening chords. It really got my attention from the beginning, especially since I was expecting a pompous "PAY ATTENTION RIGHT NOW! THE PIECE IS STARTING AND HERE'S YOUR HEART ATTACK FOR TODAY" tonic chord. The second movement created this buoyant, lovely atmosphere that made for a scenic and relaxing end of my jog. Again, though, it was just the wrong tempo for my step. A little too slow this time. Movement three came on during my cool-down walk. It is adorable and exuberant. Wrong tempo again, but fabulous if you need a short palate-cleanser in the midst of a pop playlist. Movement four has excellent, driven energy. This is a perfect addition for a long-distance jog playlist. The tempo is a tad too slow for my short-person stride, but there is so much wonderful forward momentum in the music that it would be ideal for the end of a lengthy jog. Stats: Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21 I. Adagio molto - Allegro con brio (9:09) II. Andante cantabile con moto (7:42) III. Menuetto - Allegro molto e vivace (3:18) IV. Finale. Adagio - Allegro molto e vivace (5:43) Total Time - 25:52 Verdict: Not quite right for my workout, but I enjoyed it: mezzo-piano. I discovered this buried in my drafts. Apparently I finished it, but never posted it. Oops! The performance was on April 26, 2014. Enjoy! The setting: The not-so-distant future, when overpopulation and global warming have made water and other natural resources very, very scarce. The cast: A traveling acting troupe, a gaggle of orphans, and a tribe of desert people. The fare: Theatre of the Absurd bookended by environmentalist surrealism. Opera Parallele's presentation of two one-acts warning of selfishness and decadence was excellent. OP seamlessly melded the two works and crafted them into a play-within-a-play form. They presented it as a wandering theater troupe who stops to present a morality play for a group of desert people. The staging was a bit static in a couple places and the acting unfocused at times, but the singing was very good throughout. The least exciting moments came in Mahagonny at the beginning. The ensembles are very challenging, so the director catered to that, clumping the unsavory gentlemen beautifully singing the quartet ("Auf nach Mahagonny") together for a card game at the edge of the stage. This was fabulous for the sound and the cohesion between the orchestra and singers and was in keeping with the narrative and characterization, but visually and emotionally it was somehow not engaging. The set design was inventive, with a full-sized, functioning boat on wheels that had a foldout platform attached as the biggest and most impressive set piece. Unfortunately, it was quite heavy, and it seemed the cast had not had enough time to play with and get used to it. The lighting catered and contributed to the atmospheric changes onstage. The costumes were interesting but not distracting. In short, the design team did a great job. All of the performers were top-notch. Even the chorus was engaged and vibrant. They sang well, with good verve, volume, and cohesion. The children, culled from the San Francisco Girls' Chorus, were charming with a healthy dose of annoying (when they were supposed to be so). The main cast was quite excellent. Rachel Schutz particularly stood out and did a good job changing her physicality for her different characters. Her lovely and expressive voice carried clearly through the hall. Throughout his life, Bertolt Brecht was adamant that theater should make the audience THINK, not FEEL. He put forth that theater should be a call to action; the audience should leave the theater uneasy and wanting to DO something, rather than feeling cleansed by and reveling in the catharsis they just experienced. However, his Verfremdungseffekt (alienation effect) tends to not be very endearing. People enjoy being immersed and lost in a narrative; escapism is the name of the game, with fantasy films (yes, superhero movies count as fantasy) and comedies topping the movie box office charts. OP struck a working balance between call to action and narrative. It was a cerebrally and emotionally engaging and thoroughly enjoyable show. |
AuthorMaayan is a Manhattan-based opera singer. Archives
January 2019
Categories
All
|