On the other hand some of Copland’s ‘clever’ academic piano works leave me cold. They belong in that trendy- era grouping, where sheer complexity in music construction was deemed, as having produced ’simply a masterpiece’. To try and out do Elliot Carter in technical demands, was the norm.

Every listener is entitled to their taste, of course. I am certain, a majority of Americans today if given to hear a Fischer-Dieskau recording of Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle would recoil in horror and turn it off before the first five minutes. That does not mean this opera is not a masterpiece.

The central weak point of this review is the critic’s measure of contemporary operatic success, namely, that an opera should “entertain” audiences. Heaven help us if operas get produced according to audience focus groups, Hollywood blockbuster style. There isn’t anything wrong with entertainment, but all great opera composers, of whatever era, have aimed for something deeper than mere “entertainment” in writing their greatest scores.

And I will bet you any amount that Flanigan does not feel “cursed” at all for being in demand as an interpreter of contemporary operas.

I enjoyed reading your review.

I like that you devoted some space to the history of the piece, background on the composer, comments on the actual performance, and placing all of this in City Opera’s current position.

It was very interesting to read and really answered all the questions I would have wanted to ask a person who had attended the performance. What more can you ask for?

It gets a five acorn rating.

Thank you for this piece and thank you for telling it like it is regarding the New York composers north of Soho.
My husband wants to hear Esther and I will refer him to your excellent review>

I loved the ‘CASTRATA DIVA’! Infatti!

I remember loving her in this aria…it’s still damn impressive.

She’s also a Doctor!