Opera Hipster

OMG!! Busy like a bee. Musical performance today and tomorrow, and then performing Mozart’s...

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 00:07:59 -0500

OMG!! Busy like a bee. Musical performance today and tomorrow, and then performing Mozart’s Requiem this weekend!! Plus college and other important/unimportant things to do. This week will be like hell… and I think I like it! :D

There it is. I had to type it. Now my head is in peace. I’m sad for not being able to publish new stuff, but I hope soon I manage to return soon, and keep up to date!!

Greetings, y’all!!

-OH

Recently I’ve been listening and liking Schoenberg, and...

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 22:46:14 -0500

Recently I’ve been listening and liking Schoenberg, and also I’ve been curious about his 12 tone technique. I did my HW, investigated of it, and I liked it. Here it’s my first composition using dodecaphony. It’s short and simple for now, but I hope to make longer and more complex pieces and experiments.

Enjoy!! :)

-OH

Who wouldn’t like to be ‘le Général Boum...

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 21:09:52 -0500

Who wouldn’t like to be ‘le Général Boum Boum’?

If someone has seen this full opera online, or knows of some...

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 03:03:00 -0500

If someone has seen this full opera online, or knows of some excerpts, tell me about it! I’m very interested in this opera, and it would make me very happy! :D

PS: I found the Mad Tea party and the Cheshire Cat videos, and I think they’re excellent!

Update: I found a video of the production! As I finish watching it, I’ll tell you what I think. :B

I don’t care if this isn’t of opera. I saw this...

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 01:23:08 -0500

I don’t care if this isn’t of opera. I saw this years ago, and I still laugh at it now. Even if you have or haven’t seen it, I’m sure you’ll love it!

ENJOY!! :D

-OH

La belle Hélène, video #3: ‘The patriotic trio’

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 14:00:34 -0500

La belle Hélène, video #3: ‘The patriotic trio’

La belle Hélène, video #2: ‘The entry of the kings’

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 13:58:27 -0500

La belle Hélène, video #2: ‘The entry of the kings’

In last Tuesday’s Operarox live show, they showed a...

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 13:54:15 -0500

In last Tuesday’s Operarox live show, they showed a hilarious Tickling Trio from L’Etiole by Chabrier. Somehow in the moment I remembered this part from Offenbach’s operetta La belle Hélène. Though I haven’t been able to buy the DVD, from videos I’ve seen of it in youtube, it’s awesome and I’d love to see it one day. I’d love to show more videos of it, cause it is so hard to choose only one. Here goes #1, the finale of the operetta.

This is a favorite of mine. Some months ago I found on youtube a...

Sun, 08 Jul 2012 01:22:06 -0500

This is a favorite of mine. Some months ago I found on youtube a recording of Phillip Glass’s opera Akhnaten. When I heard it I knew there was something there. Glass’s music has a mystic quality that makes me enjoy most of what he has composed.

In the video I’ll share the ‘Hymn of the Sun’, sung by Akhnaten. Impressively, the whole opera uses ancient Egyptian texts as libretto, except for the narrations and this hymn, which are in English. The text is very beautiful, and reads:

Thou dost appear beautiful
On the horizon of heaven
Oh, living Aten
He who was the first to live
When thou hast risen on the Eastern Horizon
Thou art fair, great, dazzling,
High above every land
Thy rays encompass the land
To the very end of all thou hast made

All the beasts are satisfied with their pasture
Trees and plants are verdant
Birds fly from their nests, wings spread
Flocks skip with their feet
All that fly and alight
Live when thou hast arisen

How manifold is that which thou hast made
Thou sole God
There is no other like thee
Thou didst create the earth
According to thy will
Being alone, everything on earth
Which walks and flies on high

Thy rays nourish the fields
When thou dost rise
They live and thrive for thee
Thou makest the seasons to nourish
All thou hast made
The winter to cool
The heat that they may taste thee

There is no other that knows thee
Save thy son, Akhnaten
For thou hast made him skilled
In thy plans and thy might
Thou dost raise him up for thy son
Who comes forth from thyself

The whole text can be found here: http://www.glasspages.org/akhnaten.html#libretto

Well, this is a video of a production in which I participated...

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 11:23:00 -0500

Well, this is a video of a production in which I participated last year. My college chorus, orchestra, and dance company made Carmina Burana, and this is the video of the first two movements: ‘O fortuna’ and ‘Fortuna plango’.

Hope you enjoy them! :)

Hey, it’s been long since I published something, but I...

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 23:54:00 -0500

Hey, it’s been long since I published something, but I just saw my last post, and saw this: blah blah blah…

I’ll change that, so now I’ll just post videos, and then see what happens :)

This will be about ‘1984’, a modern opera by Lorin Maazel. It’s a LePage production at ROH, and the cast includes Simon Keenlyside, Lawrence Brownlee, and Diana Damrau. I find it interesting and intriguing. Well, some modern pieces can be misunderstood, but sometimes a little chaos can be good.

The video is of a CRAZY and AWESOME coloratura of Diana Damrau as a Gym Instructor.

Enjoy!!

Lulu: a 20th century Carmen? As I said in my first post, the...

Sun, 13 May 2012 01:45:44 -0500

Lulu: a 20^th century Carmen?

As I said in my first post, the opera I’ll talk about is Berg’s Lulu. Basically, this is what happens in less than 100 words:

Lulu is a “lady” (not the best term) who gets what she wants, by manipulating the people around her, principally her fans (among them, many men and a lesbian countess). As the opera continues, her first husband dies of a heart attack, the second commits suicide, and she murders the third. Then, as corrupt as the society where she lives, becomes a fugitive, and ends working as a whore in London, until Jack the Ripper kills her.

Yeah. What a story, and just the first two deaths occur in the first of three acts. In reality, too much is happening in the opera that it will be difficult to include all of it. First of all, and obviously, this doesn’t have the typical structure of aria, duet, recitativo, ensemble, etc. There’s no time to stop and think on what is happening. There is just action, and if you miss something, probably you’re screwed (LOL, not that much… :P).

And the music… wow! I am impressed with it. Just as the story seems chaotic, so is the music, but there is an eerie beauty in the score. It is full of mystery, and you don’t know what will happen musically. And interestingly, it seems like a giant mirror, since in some moments the music seems to start going backward symbolically. There is an interlude in Act II, which shows this perfectly, since it is a palindrome, being its middle section a piano arpeggio that after going up, starts to descend and go backward to what you had already heard. I couldn’t find a good video of this particular section, so I’ll share the prologue instead, which I find pretty awesome. What I love of the prologue is that it shows this opera as a play within a play, or a metaplay, since in the beginning it’s implied by a circus master that he’ll show in a stage how Lulu acts in reality. Besides, in his singing/talking he addresses the public as if we were there with him, therefore making us part of the story.

Now I’ll of the character that really matters: Lulu. It’s impossible to find an appropriate word to define Lulu. The only I can think of is that she’s a real bitch. Nevertheless, Lulu is such an interesting character, because you clearly see she doesn’t have a moral code to follow. She deceives, kills, blackmails, and does whatever is necessary to get what she wants. She reminds me of the impact that Carmen had when it premiered in the 19^th century. The character itself caused such scandal that the opera itself almost got banned. I almost imagine the same scenario with this opera, but with different circumstances that led to not performing it, those being the composer’s death and his wife prohibiting anyone to complete it. Still, my point is that such character, without moral, and against with what was expected of a woman in those times, must have caused such a scandal as Carmen did in her own time. A woman marring many times in such a few time, along with her being a fugitive from the law, and even using the people to manipulate them. Simply she’s incredible, and such a show to watch. I don’t like her as a person, but as a character, I simply find her amazing!

Well, this will be all about Lulu. I do recommend you to listen to if you want to hear something different to what is in the common repertoire. It might shock you, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

I know what will be my next post about, and it’ll be a surprise. My only hint is that we’re going back in time to the great Baroque. I heard this opera long ago and I liked it, and I’ll talk to you about it.

And please send me some comments or questions! I’d really appreciate them, because they might help me make better posts in the future. :)

So that’s all folks for today, and have a nice day!

Opera Hipster

Wed, 09 May 2012 22:54:00 -0500

Hello my fellow readers,

Before anything, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is César Flores, I’m from México, and I love opera. I think it is among the greatest art forms ever created by man. A combination of theater, music, dance, paint, and even architecture, all above a stage before your eyes.

Now I’d like to talk to you about ‘Opera Hipster’. This is a little project that I thought about when I get to learn about interesting operas that are not known to the public. This could be either a composer’s first opera, or something from an unknown composer. My purpose is here is to unbury those masterpieces, and at least make them known. Besides, I’ll talk too of pieces that you could have heard of, but never listened to them.

What I’ll do, is introduce to you the opera: talk about it, the story, characters, music, etc. I’ll include a video (if available) or a picture about it. Then I’ll ‘analyze’ it, make comments of it, tell you my reaction to it, and other similar things.

I’m excited for this, and I hope to continue growing and developing this project of mine. You can send me comments on works that you’d like me to talk about (I’ll try if I can get to see or listen to it).

This will be all for now, and for only this time, I’ll tell you which opera will be in my first post. It’ll be about Alban Berg’s Lulu. As long as I get to hear it carefully, I’ll write about it. My other posts will be surprises.

Thank you, and my best wishes for all of you.

César (Opera Hipster)