How like a turtle the sun looks
Our story this far:
17 October 2006: La Cieca reports (erroneously) that Andrea Gruber is about to be "bought out" of a Met revival of La fanciulla del West.
20 October 2006: La Cieca discovers that the Fanciulla isn't happening; Gruber and Salvatore Licitra possibly to be cast in the replacement opera?
21 October 2006: Then again, eh, probably not, since those two don't really have roles in the opera that (La Cieca hears) will be performed at the Met next season. Following in the footsteps of South Park Elementary, the Metropolitan will present a "happy, non-offensive, non-denominational" opera, "with music and lyrics by New York minimalist composer, Philip Glass" -- the 1980 work Satyagraha.
17 October 2006: La Cieca reports (erroneously) that Andrea Gruber is about to be "bought out" of a Met revival of La fanciulla del West.
20 October 2006: La Cieca discovers that the Fanciulla isn't happening; Gruber and Salvatore Licitra possibly to be cast in the replacement opera?
21 October 2006: Then again, eh, probably not, since those two don't really have roles in the opera that (La Cieca hears) will be performed at the Met next season. Following in the footsteps of South Park Elementary, the Metropolitan will present a "happy, non-offensive, non-denominational" opera, "with music and lyrics by New York minimalist composer, Philip Glass" -- the 1980 work Satyagraha.Labels: met
POSTED at
2:13 PM
13 Comments:
You've got to be fucking kidding me.
Not that I'm not a fan of Philip Glass, but damn! Couldn't they have scratched the Traviata instead?!
Satyagraha is a masterpiece- the first scene is one of the greatest choral pieces writeen in the last century. I'm glad to hear it get the attention it deserves. This isn't to defend a great deal of Glass' output, which is frankly drivel,drivel,drivel,drivel,
drivel,drivel,drivel,drivel,drivel,drivel.................
I'm not saying that it's a bad idea. I'm the first one to cry "hurrah" for obscure opera. But not only is Satyagraha by it's nature difficult to cast and expensive to put on, it also will turn a lot of people off. The smart thing to do would have been to get rid of Gruber and either give Minnie to someone else or give Licitra a run of Don Carlo or something.
On the other hand, baritenor, Glass always sells very well in New York, so a big portion of the audience for these performances will be newcomers to the Met.
"Satyagraha" may not be that difficult to produce. Since it's not a Fleming/Domingo style showcase, the Met won't be paying superstar fees. There are plenty of accomplished young American singers open to this kind of work. As La Cieca has also pointed out, there is most certainly an audience for Glass. This could actually be a watershed moment for the Met. I'm more impressed with Gelb putting this on than yet another vanity vehicle for Fleming.
It is about time then put on another Glass opera ... as to all the "rumors" floating around. I think a lot of the board is being kept in the dark about what Gelb is up to and that gets the stories started. I heard the story -- both of them! -- about Gruber and Fanciulla from the same board member on two different days ... it's getting rather crazy around that place. I do still believe that Gruber is basically out ... but mounting a Glass opera is a funny way of doing it!
If Gelb is able to revive the Met using whatever means necessary, I'll be behind him. I really am in favor or more contemporary opera (if it's good), and I assume La Cieca is right that Glass sells well in New York. Why, is more than I'll ever understand. In fact, I've never understood the attention his music gets or the opportunities given to him.
When he first hit the scene, his music seemed like a safe bet for any newcomer to classical music for whom the music of Carter and Boulez sounded like film scores for horror films or for anyone who couldn't focus on any musical piece longer than 4 minutes. I also think it may be a generational thing. In the '80s all those young yuppies, longing for something "cultural", were coming home from their jobs, putting on something (anything) by Glass to relax (maybe smoking a little pot) and going to that place that his type of music takes you. It also worked at dinner parties becuase you could pretty easily talk through it (if the volume was low enough.)
For those who like it, I supppose it is meditative. For me, it's torture. If they were subjecting terror suspects in those secret prisons to it as a means to ge them to talk, I'd think it was a violation of the Geneva Convention.
I am going on about this, I know. I'm not against this style, really. I am nuts about John Adams. Let's have some of him!
A John Adams new commision would be a wonderful idea, and perhaps Satyagraha selling well in NYC might encourage such an idea..........
Look, I agree that Adams is far and away the greater composer, yet for me there is something in Satyagraha that is touched with a magic missing from much of his other work- perhaps ideal meeting of composer and topic.
Here's what I don't get: Except if he fired Gruber and Licitra for incompetence, or artistic inability - which I VERY much doubt he did - he and the administration are going to have to PAY out Gruber and Licitra for the entire scheduled run. therefore doing this has to be more than a money saving stratagem... I wonder about the motivation of this...
This is a bad idea -
The opera is old, and has already been done several times by NYCO and other regional companies. It's a step backward for the Met to produce it.
It will KILL the chorus, in terms of the roundness of their sound and vocal endurance. If they are going to do this, they should at least have this be an extra chorus production. It's effects will be seen in the sound produced the rest of the season.
And sorry, I disagree - it's not that great an opera.
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I'm just sorry the Met's not going to do Fanciulla. Is this for certain? I know it's hard to cast, but NYCO did it a couple of years ago and did v. well and it was a fun production. Too bad if we can't see what the Met could do with it. And it's nice to see a Puccini opera where the female doesn't die at the end.
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