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Reiner Torheit
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« on: 19:31:28, 15-03-2008 » |
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If you have the chance at all, I honestly recommend tuning in to the Met GRIMES in live relay from the Met right now on R3... Runnicles is conducting a gripping reading of the score, it's mesmerising stuff indeed  |
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"I was, for several months, mutely in love with a coloratura soprano, who seemed to me to have wafted straight from Paradise to the stage of the Odessa Opera-House"
- Leon Trotsky, "My Life"
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martle
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« Reply #1 on: 19:35:12, 15-03-2008 » |
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I've had it on for the last hour or so, Reiner. Totally agreed - extremely well-measured. Hate Ellen O's voice, though, I'm afraid...
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Green. Always green.
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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #2 on: 19:44:36, 15-03-2008 » |
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This isn't just good... it's really disturbing  |
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"I was, for several months, mutely in love with a coloratura soprano, who seemed to me to have wafted straight from Paradise to the stage of the Odessa Opera-House"
- Leon Trotsky, "My Life"
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martle
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« Reply #3 on: 19:52:37, 15-03-2008 » |
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It should be, though, shouldn't it? Yes, it's completely electrifying!
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Green. Always green.
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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #4 on: 19:57:15, 15-03-2008 » |
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It should be, though, shouldn't it? Yes, it's completely electrifying!
Oh, of course Although I could frankly do without all this blah in the interval  |
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"I was, for several months, mutely in love with a coloratura soprano, who seemed to me to have wafted straight from Paradise to the stage of the Odessa Opera-House"
- Leon Trotsky, "My Life"
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Milly Jones
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« Reply #5 on: 19:57:44, 15-03-2008 » |
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I wasn't online when it started and as I was busy preparing meals, I was frantically ringing Mort to ask if she was in touch with Mary Chambers and if not, to PM her immediately! It's really great! My mother was texting me to keep in touch with the rugby at the same time. The rugby finished in time for her to switch on for Act 2. |
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We pass this way but once. This is not a rehearsal!
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martle
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« Reply #6 on: 20:02:38, 15-03-2008 » |
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I was frantically ringing Mort to ask if she was in touch with Mary Chambers and if not, to PM her immediately! It's really great!
I'd be amazed if Mary isn't listening. |
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Green. Always green.
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Il Grande Inquisitor
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« Reply #7 on: 20:03:06, 15-03-2008 » |
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Mary's not only listening, but watching, I believe! http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/metropolitan_opera |
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« Last Edit: 20:05:20, 15-03-2008 by Il Grande Inquisitor »
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Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency
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George Garnett
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« Reply #8 on: 21:35:35, 15-03-2008 » |
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That was really quite something, wasn't it (although I only caught the second half). Terrific and often revelatory balancing of the orchestra by Runnicles added alarmingly to the power of the piece. I thought I knew the work pretty well but I heard things in there in a way I hadn't heard them before. Masterly stuff.
I very much look forward to hearing Mary's thoughts.
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martle
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« Reply #9 on: 21:48:48, 15-03-2008 » |
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One of the best I've heard. Runnicles' imminent return to these shores all the more keenly anticipated. PG packs an immense punch, doesn't it, when done this well. It's uneven, sure (Britten was pretty scathing about it himself), but there's fantastic dramatic energy there.
Wonder what the production was like...
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Green. Always green.
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HtoHe
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« Reply #10 on: 21:53:30, 15-03-2008 » |
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I enjoyed it very much; can Runnicles do any wrong these days? Pity about that horrible interruption, though, wasn't it? Could be worse, though. At my end there was several seconds' silence and I thought the DAB signal had cut out again.
Listening to that discussion on applause was like being in a parallel universe with the assumption being that there was something wrong if the performance wasn't interrupted!
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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #11 on: 22:36:10, 15-03-2008 » |
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I wonder if £25 quid at the flicks bought you an entirely uninterrupted relay - or if there was a glitch in their performance too?
I liked the Grimes especially - a vulnerable, harried, bullied man, and not the cocksure iconoclast of the Vickers school.
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"I was, for several months, mutely in love with a coloratura soprano, who seemed to me to have wafted straight from Paradise to the stage of the Odessa Opera-House"
- Leon Trotsky, "My Life"
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Il Grande Inquisitor
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« Reply #12 on: 22:49:14, 15-03-2008 » |
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I liked the Grimes especially - a vulnerable, harried, bullied man, and not the cocksure iconoclast of the Vickers school.
I also thought it was well paced by Runnicles and the chorus were miles better than we usually hear from the Met. I look forward to Mary's report. |
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Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency
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Mary Chambers
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« Reply #13 on: 23:31:33, 15-03-2008 » |
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Too tired to say much now, but briefly, I didn't enjoy the cinema experience. Far too many huge close-ups, and the sound was far too loud. The way it was filmed made it like a film, not an opera. I don't want to see their teeth. Nor do I want to see the orchestra during the Interludes - it breaks the spell. I had little sense of being at a live performance.
The performance was pretty good - I even quite liked Ellen Orford. Grimes was quite good except for the Great Bear and Pleiades aria, but then who can sing that properly except Pears? He understood the character, though.
Costumes good, set bad, I thought. I was interested to see Donald Runnicles, who rather looked as if he should have been in the opera as a character. John Doyle, the director, looked as if he was off to a meeting of the local Conservative club, and not a bit as i expected! Natalie Dessay introducing it was a hoot.
But oh, the instant applause at the end - have these people no sensitivity at all?
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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #14 on: 00:32:52, 16-03-2008 » |
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I know, that idiot who was clapping before the last note was out should be made to listen to the Rev Adams sermons for a month as punishment, I feel?  I'm sorry to hear you didn't enjoy the transfer to big-screen, but slightly vindicated that at least for some, it's not a substitute for "the real thing", Mary. I wonder what it looked like on stage? Of course you can tidy-up any old nonsense on camera, by just cropping in to where the action is and ignoring a big dull empty stage around them |
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"I was, for several months, mutely in love with a coloratura soprano, who seemed to me to have wafted straight from Paradise to the stage of the Odessa Opera-House"
- Leon Trotsky, "My Life"
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