Two posts in one day? That's MADNESS!

Anyway, I recently ran across this blog post, and it brought up some questions in my mind:

Here's the post

That'll open in a new window, so keep it open to reference back and forth :)

Issue #1: "Operas are usually performed in an opera house or concert hall with a live orchestra." This is the norm, but what if it's not? What about accompaniment just by a piano, in, say, an art gallery or outdoor ampitheater?


Issue #2: Amplification. Again, what the blog post brings up is the norm, but what if I want my opera to be accompanied by electric guitar or electric violin, or by computer generated sounds? Also, what about musicals like The Fantasticks? That'd be just plain odd if it were amplified. (unless it were in a large space, but why would you do that show in a large space?)

Issue #3: "Operatic voices tend to focus sound from the throat." That seems to go contrary to most of what I've been taught about singing. My teachers have always told me to get my throat out of the way and get the sound more in my head. Vocal pedagogy friends, help me out here.

Issue #4: "In musical theatre, you could usually remove all the songs and still have the story make sense, as the dialogue would outline what is happening in the story." What about Into the Woods? Les Miserables? Phantom of the Opera? The Last Five Years? Spoken dialogue-led musicals are still the norm, but less and less so as time goes on.

Issue #5: "Opera can have dialogue, however 'in opera the dialogue is sung; in musicals the dialogue is spoken' (@frindley)." What about Singspielen? Die Zauberflöte? Carmen? There is plenty of spoken dialogue in plenty of operas.

I know these are just guidelines, but I think they need to be re-evaluated. I'd propose:
1.) Operas tend to not use amplification, while musicals tend to.
2.) The style of singing between the two artforms tend to be different - but there is a spectrum to this with a lot of grey area between.

Those two are almost intact from how Opera Australia presented them.  I would actually throw out their #3 entirely, about spoken vs. sung text. I would add my own point, though:

3.) The style of composition between the two artforms tends to be different. Again, there is a spectrum here, from, say, ABBA's Mamma Mia! to perhaps something like Schönberg's Erwartung. There's a lot of grey area in the middle of this one, too, where it becomes difficult to classify such pieces as A Little Night Music, Candide, and Die Fledermaus. 

Those are just a few of my thoughts... what are yours?

As I was finishing this post, I ran across my friend Steve Spotswood's article about the definition of theatre: http://www.stephenspotswood.com/?p=134

To help myself keep track, here's what I need to talk about:-Words and Music Concert
-Twitter
-Necromancer's Dance
-ALT's CLDP
-Of Montreal concert
-Don Pasquale
-Words and Music Concert
-Upcoming recital

I have 20 minutes to write a lot of stuff, so I might not get it all in this post. (Deep breath...) Ok, go!

I'm in Twitter now. I've discovered it really is a great way to interact with some other people who are passionate about new music and opera. I'm finding lots of interesting articles and links to new music that I'm sharing on there, so follow me: @moberhau

Necromancer's Dance is finished! That's what I ended up naming my orchestra piece. I don't really know what to do with it now, though. Should I just start throwing it at orchestras? Perhaps with baskets of fresh baked cookies?

I applied for American Lyric Theater's Composer Librettist Development Program. I really, really want this - but it's out of my hands now. Wish me luck! If I get this, it means I'm moving to NYC!

This doesn't really apply to new classical music, but - if you ever get the chance, go see Of Montreal in concert. They put on a ridiculously entertaining show. Fun music, and lots of random people in costumes.

A disappointment, then: Don Pasquale at the Washington National Opera. I wasn't expecting it to be the best thing ever - in my opinion, it's one of the worst operas that's in the traditional canon - but I was expecting to at least be amused, entertained, and impressed by the talent. I wasn't any of those. There were a few good moments here or there, but mostly everything was ho-hum at best. What a disappointment.

Not a disappointment at all, though: Words and Music's concert yesterday, The American Composer I. Great works, all by living American composers: Laitman, Rorem, Chipulo, Johns, and Frazin. Johns and Frazin were there - I already knew Terrance Johns, tenor extraordinaire and a really excellent composer, and it was wonderful to meet Howard Frazin. The usual four singers and pianist that make up Words and Music were diminished slightly - the bartone's wife had just had a child, and the tenor (Terry) was really sick. The soprano and mezzo took on most of the concert, with Terry joining in for the ensemble pieces. They also had a terrific clarinettist there, Brian David Jones, who played on the Rorem and two Frazin pieces. All really great stuff - but now I have to run! Memorial Day festivities, and not enough time to write about the most exciting part (for me): the upcoming Songs recital! Look for a post about this soon.