Comments on: with apologies to Nerva Nelli

mrsjohnclaggart commented

mrsjohnclaggart — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:16:28 +0000

Madame Amara is a wonderful person, entirely a delight and a source (off the record alas) of many home truths about an era in which I am very interested, perhaps alone. Evelyn is also a delight and very smart. That means a lot more to me than anything else. My understanding is that the greatest Troyanos, a once in a century talent, was closely involved with Herr Schoeffler, despite the age and cultural differences and I think he was married when they became intimates. She became rather eccentric in later years, which is not a euphemism, I did come across her in a supermarket where she had momentarily forgotten which meats she had come to purchase and was starting to meditate on the value of supermarket meat and if buying it was somehow not a part of an artist’s life before a tour of the meat section reminded her of what she wanted. I don’t care what her end game preference was, she was thrilling.

DirkVA commented

DirkVA — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:44:34 +0000

Ruxton at 85: Do you really feel this is quite the right forum for such homophobic drivel?

And if you feel compelled to espouse such a world-view, you can surely do better that the tired libel that “queens … like to think everyone in the world is either a dyke or a poof.”

In the first place, that’s simply untrue; in the second place, performers in opera are not exactly a cross-section of the population. They are not representative of “everyone in the world” but are historically, and remain, a very special subculture.

Melot's Younger Brother commented

Melot's Younger Brother — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:42:03 +0000

My original question was simply which singers were “out and proud.” The rest is nosy.

ruxton commented

ruxton — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:29:00 +0000

I have to say I always feel uncomfortable with discussions that “out” people’s supposed sexual orientation. This is because a lot of it is just plain ol hearsay and gossip among queens, who like to think everyone in the world is either a dyke or a poof.

bardassa commented

bardassa — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 05:35:34 +0000

They could have asked Ned Rorem to write it

Henry Holland commented

Henry Holland — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:38:46 +0000

If anyone's interested, OperaShare has Wuorinen's Haroun and the Sea of Stories available for download as .mp3's. If the page with the links doesn't show up for you, you have to join the Yahoo group for OperaShare but there's lots of other goodies there.

marshiemarkII commented

marshiemarkII — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:02:19 +0000

Gualtier, but I could not get in to read the article as I am not a subscriber….. I love La Amara more than Cheryl, I must read that interview!

trappole, why could she do better?

Melot's Younger Brother commented

Melot's Younger Brother — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:02:27 +0000

What we really needs is an opera based on “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane.” (I’m quite serious about this.) Think of the musical possibilities! Think about the casting possibilities!

La Cieca commented

La Cieca — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 23:35:07 +0000

Gualtier: La Cieca is going to be pedantic a moment here. I do not believe Ms. LaQuaif is an “adopted daughter.” Rather, she is Amara’s legally adopted daughter, no scare quotes necessary. In a society in which certain relationships are given no legal status, it’s hardly surprising if some people feel constrained to resort to tactics that might, on the surface, seem a bit ridiculous.

I’m beginning to think that this thread really needs a “dyke ya know” tag.

Gualtier MaldÃ¨ commented

Gualtier MaldÃ¨ — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:21:51 +0000

The “adopted daughter” is Evelyn LaQuaif and she is a soprano. She performed the title role in “Isabeau” with the New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera. Ms. La Quaif has a varied background and is also an opera director.

This is an article where Lucine stresses “SHE IS NOT A LESBIAN!!!”

http://tinyurl.com/43y2cu

marshiemarkII commented

marshiemarkII — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:09:28 +0000

Who is the “adopted daughter”? is it true it’s another singer? inquiring minds want to know

La Cieca commented

La Cieca — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:31:52 +0000

Endavanrya: You have the first half of a Sophie Tucker joke there.

“And I said to him, Kurt (I always called him Kurt), if they’re not working then why do you keep them on the payroll? Oh, I will never forget it!”

Endavanyra commented

Endavanyra — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:17:07 +0000

I will never forget hearing Kurt Herbert Adler say:
“there are no homosexuals working for the San Francisco Opera!”

OMG commented

OMG — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:53:33 +0000

no Paddy, you were far from discreet and drawing conclusions about someone you do not know. But hey, have at it. wink wink. anyone can say anything they want. and you do.

Maury D'Annato commented

Maury D'Annato — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:49:08 +0000

My impression, albeit third-hand or so, was that Troyanos was in fact quite private in general. I think it was assumed that she was on the team but I doubt she was out.

balabanov11 commented

balabanov11 — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:27:55 +0000

Concerning who’s out, now and former – although it was of course never mentioned in the press, Justino (Gus) Diaz, is completely bisexual, and as he had both male and female conquests in practically ever city he ever sang in, his sexuality is common knowledge in the opera world.

brooklynpunk commented

brooklynpunk — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:49:01 +0000

I dunno, Jatm2063:

I recently heard some short–(and non-vocal)pieces of Wuorinen, at the TASHI reunion concert at Town Hall, in NYC..granted, they were Chamber works..and reworkings of Early English pieces(Byrd, I think?)–but listening to them , for the first time,I could quite easily imagine Wuorinen doing “Brokeback”(assuming that it should be done, which I have my doubts over…) in an easy -to-digest manner.

I don’t recall “Haroun” sounding like just a re-hash of the second Viennese school output–imho…

jatm2063 commented

jatm2063 — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:33:30 +0000

The most interesting part of the article, if you read the link, is the quote of Charles Wuorinen claiming about thirty years ago something like: 12 tone music is the norm and only backward looking composers or pop music composers write tonal music.

I heard a retrospective concert almost ten years ago of Wuorinen’s works with those of another composer who was a contemporary of his. Wuorinen’s stuff was the backward looking material. He was stuck for apparently his entire composing career in the second viennese school. It all sounded the same, from beginning to end. 50 years or more of music, and nothing was more advanced, or even distinguishable, from the work of Berg, Schonberg, and Webern.

The other composer on the program went through a 12 tone phase obviously, but then grew beyond that and did the more interesting work over the course of his career. He didn’t have his nose up Schonberg’s ass his whole life.

paddypig commented

paddypig — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:48:47 +0000

excuse typos

paddypig commented

paddypig — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:48:01 +0000

noOMG, I was trying to be a little discreet in my description. let’s leave it at that.