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(no subject)
Apr. 11th, 2009 08:44 pmWow so I knew I had a certain inclination to obscure operas, but The Chessboard Fugitives is really the farthest I've gone. No google hits, or at least not descriptive of the opera; at most one hit for the composer (George Courouros, b. 1942). But it's really pretty:
and so is Mata Katsuli's voice.
This has a very strange tonality, and again Irini Karaianni's voice is lovely:
So yeah. And it really makes me sad that I'll never find a recording.
ETA, two minutes later: Τιμή means literal "price" now. Achilles is ROLLING IN HIS GRAVE.
ETA AGAIN: yeah yeah yeah I am Mata Katsuli's biggest fan, whatever. More importantly, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE:
ETA son of ETA: well, the people at the bottom are really animals, and not wearing gas masks, as I first thought. That part actually does makes sense, since Alcina, as a descendant of Circe, turns people into animals, although it's not exactly how I would have done it.
and so is Mata Katsuli's voice.
This has a very strange tonality, and again Irini Karaianni's voice is lovely:
So yeah. And it really makes me sad that I'll never find a recording.
ETA, two minutes later: Τιμή means literal "price" now. Achilles is ROLLING IN HIS GRAVE.
ETA AGAIN: yeah yeah yeah I am Mata Katsuli's biggest fan, whatever. More importantly, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE:
ETA son of ETA: well, the people at the bottom are really animals, and not wearing gas masks, as I first thought. That part actually does makes sense, since Alcina, as a descendant of Circe, turns people into animals, although it's not exactly how I would have done it.
(no subject)
Mar. 26th, 2009 03:30 amGoing even obscurer than usual here:
Antigone reminds me of the eldest sister in Patricia C. Wrede's retelling of the Cruel Sister/Binorie story - I can totally imagine her saying "It was not true when she said it, but I will make it true." And yes, this was spurred by something - the part where Antigone doesn't let Ismene share in her guilt. It's not quite the same idea, but it's a similar sense of justice.
(Speaking of that story, it was a really good retelling, and I hope I can still find the book!)
Antigone reminds me of the eldest sister in Patricia C. Wrede's retelling of the Cruel Sister/Binorie story - I can totally imagine her saying "It was not true when she said it, but I will make it true." And yes, this was spurred by something - the part where Antigone doesn't let Ismene share in her guilt. It's not quite the same idea, but it's a similar sense of justice.
(Speaking of that story, it was a really good retelling, and I hope I can still find the book!)
(no subject)
Feb. 19th, 2009 08:27 pmSo yeah. Obscure opera. Has ridiculous plots sometimes, like people jumping into Vesuvius when it's erupting. But nothing like This (and dammit, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dolique, before you say anything, it was free):
The story is set in sixteenth-century Brazil and deals with the love of Cecilia, daughter of the Portuguese nobleman Don Antonio, and the ‘noble savage’ Pery, chieftain of the Indian tribe of Guarany (who eventually accepts baptism). They are threatened both by the hostility of the cannibal Aimore tribe and by Spanish adventurers led by Gonzales, who has designs on the silver mine owned by Antonio and on Cecilia. The opera ends spectacularly a la Meyerbeer when Antonio, to save his daughter, blows up his castle with himself and his enemies in it.
ETA: Holy cow, this was a common plot device! From the Wikipedia article on Meyerbeer's Le prophète: during the celebrations of his coronation, Jean sets off an explosion which brings the palace down on all who remain of the principal characters.
dolique, before you say anything, it was free): The story is set in sixteenth-century Brazil and deals with the love of Cecilia, daughter of the Portuguese nobleman Don Antonio, and the ‘noble savage’ Pery, chieftain of the Indian tribe of Guarany (who eventually accepts baptism). They are threatened both by the hostility of the cannibal Aimore tribe and by Spanish adventurers led by Gonzales, who has designs on the silver mine owned by Antonio and on Cecilia. The opera ends spectacularly a la Meyerbeer when Antonio, to save his daughter, blows up his castle with himself and his enemies in it.
ETA: Holy cow, this was a common plot device! From the Wikipedia article on Meyerbeer's Le prophète: during the celebrations of his coronation, Jean sets off an explosion which brings the palace down on all who remain of the principal characters.
(no subject)
Oct. 19th, 2008 11:41 pmI really don't understand why no one loves Bánk Bán the way I do. It's a Hungarian opera from 1861, by Ferenc Erkel, and, well, Wikipedia says it better than I do.
In any case, the parts I've found on YouTube are very pretty, and very distinctive: Hard to describe, but somehow entirely not Western European, but not Russian either.
This aria, specifically, is amazing, and I love the tenor.
And there's a mad scene, too! What's not to love?
(Um, in case anyone asks, I don't go looking for obscure stuff. I was trying to rectify my woeful lack of Niun mi tema, from a perfectly respectable opera, and I liked József Simándy enough to look for more of him)
In any case, the parts I've found on YouTube are very pretty, and very distinctive: Hard to describe, but somehow entirely not Western European, but not Russian either.
This aria, specifically, is amazing, and I love the tenor.
And there's a mad scene, too! What's not to love?
(Um, in case anyone asks, I don't go looking for obscure stuff. I was trying to rectify my woeful lack of Niun mi tema, from a perfectly respectable opera, and I liked József Simándy enough to look for more of him)
