Heilige Kunst
What, you ask, is “Kunst?” I’ll tell you what Kunst is. Kunst is appearing on the stage of the Paris Opéra at the age of 53 wearing ballet flats, mom jeans, a Wal-Mart top, and a wig from the Evelyn Lear “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” wash ‘n’ wear collection. That’s what Kunst is.
(Waltraud Meier as Marie in Wozzeck, production by Christoph Marthaler. Via AFP.)
Dearest justanothertenor @28,
I didn’t take your statement as a slight to me, but to a singer whose artistry I have good reason to admire greatly, even in recognition of her less than dulcet timbre. Of course we are all entitled to our opinions and favorites, that’s what makes for interesting threads. And I can assure you that the defense of my namesake was meant in a spirit of mild, but definitely mock high dudgeon.
Well, thats kunst folks. Its not about sounding like Renee or Kiri-it is about the acting ability and making something of the words. Like most kunst-divas, Meier has a voice that most people think is an aquired taste. BUT, thank god, it is 100% her own-what Speight Jenkins calls a 3 a.m. voice, meaning that if someone woke you up and you listened to a couple notes you would immediately recognize it.
In this unfortunate outfit she does look like what Zefferelli called her-”a German Hausfrau.”
Well, thats Regie folks.
Kunst is German for art? I’m slow. I wish Cieca would say what she means in English more often…
Are you serious, Javier? First, you talk about how art should not/can not be a political or social statement. And now you can’t even google ‘kunst’?
How the hell do you even listen to vocal music not written in or performed in English?
Well, to be fair to Alex, I had the exact same thoughts. Javier, please explain.
Its to bad that Ethan Mordden’s classic DEMENTED is out of print, but you should find it Javier. He goes into depth about the difference between kunst divas(art-divas) and Stimm divas(voice-divas). When LaC talks about kunst, she means Meier,Behrens,Rysanek,Callas,Scotto,Schroder-Devrient etc. Stimm is Te Kanawa,Caballe,Sutherland,Tebaldi,Price,M.Price,etc. Does this help?
“How the hell do you even listen to vocal music not written in or performed in English?”
It’s really easy…
I just don’t listen to that many German operas.
But this morning when I first saw this topic I was like “WTF is kunst” but now I googled it and I was like “oh, duh!”.
I’m slow.
Javier, what about French and Italian language operas? Do you not listen to them much? I don’t mean to be a bastard. I really want to know.
Noel, dahling, thank you so much for that recommendation. I’ve ordered “Demented.” Thank heaven for online used booksellers.
I listen to Italian and French opera more than German opera. I don’t speak any of the languages, but Italian and French are a lot lighter on the ears (and the mind!). For instance, the word “art” is English, French, and Italian are cognates, but in German it’s “KUNST!”. It sounds like a curse word. Couple that with an image of two old people dry-humping and you have me confused.
Yes, it is Magadalena Kozena’s ex. She likes gray guys.
My problem with Meier is that she is a bit unsmiling and uncommunicative, and her effects are very broad, at least in Lieder. People giggled when she made a sudden dropping gesture with her arm at the end of Erlköning. Too much, really.