Considering how often the choruses and bridges of Christian Contemporary Worship music get repeated, I suggest that worship leaders have a Rosary to count those repetitions.
I'm only half-joking here. How can we Evangelicals criticize the Rosary for being repetitive when we do the same thing with our praise choruses?
A sad song, yes, but one of my personal favorites to play around this time of year. And Lee Murdock has become one of my favorite singers.
Never pick an argument with someone you barely know, especially when your intuition is telling you they won't like the thing you enjoy. This can only result in you feeling like an idiot and being tempted to try and win the argument even after it's over. I made that mistake yesterday evening, and am not all that pleased with myself.
I stopped doing full reviews of operas as I found them quite exhausting. But, I've let this blog lie fallow for months, and I felt like I did have a few things to say about the performance yesterday afternoon at Madison Opera. I won't do a big review, though, just point out a few things I liked or disliked.
Lucia di Lammermoor hs long been a favorite of mine. The story is based off Sir Walter Scott's gothic romance The Bride of the Lammermoor, which was in turn based on a real-like incident from the Seventeenth Century: Janet, daughter of James Dalrymple, Viscount of Stair, was bullied by her overbearing mother into breaking off her engagement to Lord Rutherford and marrying Lord Dunbar. Disaster struck on the wedding night, and while no one's quite sure what happened, the most well-known theory is that Janet stabbed her husband and died insane two weeks later.
This was my second time seeing it live. Unlike the one in 2008, only one guy was wearing a kilt (Normanno), and the setting was updated to the 1880s.
I had not seen Ms. Jeni Hauser in fifteen years. Last time I saw her was Spring of 2007 when she was student teacher for my Sophomore Year choir class at Sun Prairie High School. I'd heard her over the radio in a recorded performance as the doll in Le Contes d'Hoffmann back in 2017, but it's not the same thing. So it was lovely seeing her again, if only from the nosebleed section.
The Mad Scene is the big reason I love this opera, and Ms. Hauser did not disappoint. She came into the room in a bloody nightgown and a knife in her hand (which the understandably freaked-out Normanno had to wrench out of her grip). The director must have been reading or watching Hamlet recently because Lucia did an Ophelia in and started playing with flowers and throwing them around. Ms. Hauser made the singing seem effortless; I still have a beast of a time trying to work the coloratura in some of the pieces I work on.
It's not everyday you hear someone praise a single member of the chorus, but I would like to give a shout-out to my voice instructor, Katie Anderson. Granted, I couldn't tell which one she was until Act 3 (I think she wore a purple dress in Act 2, but I can't swear to it), but it was fun seeing her antics in that Act 3 chorus.
If there is one quibble I have, it's that Normanno started off kind of weak at the very beginning. I could barely hear his high note in the opening chorus. He got better after that, but it was still annoying. I'm used to hearing Normanno loud and clear when he and some guards are searching the premises for Edgardo.
Thankfully, my boyfriend wasn't shaken by this one as he was by Carmen and Rusalka.
Night guard Lance Lewis paced slowly through the halls of the museum, shining his flashlight in the darkness. Anyone who asked him what he thought of his job, he’d say it was dull but paid well. The only real excitement he’d seen during his time as a night guard meant either spotting exposed wires or pieces that needed serious repair. Tonight, however, would be different.
The museum’s crowning attraction was the world’s largest confirmed emerald. It was a three by five inch rectangle, kept in the Hall of Gems in the geology wing of the museum inside a glass display case in the center of the room. The emerald rested upon a white velvet cushion on top of a marble pedestal. Valued at nearly four million, it was bound to attract unwanted attention.
At around 1:30 am, Lance thought he heard the sound of breaking glass as he entered the geology wing. He quickened his step a little, shining his light ahead as he passed by prehistoric skeletons and various dioramas. He heard a voice muttering as he neared the Hall of Gems. A soft thud, and then a yelp betrayed the presence of an intruder. Lance rushed inside the exhibit, his flashlight revealing everything that had transpired.
Broken glass from the center case was scattered across the floor, the vacant cushion lay askew on the pedestal. A man of roughly thirty-six hopped up and down grabbing his foot, the emerald on the carpeted floor in front of him. He froze when he saw Lance.
After talking to the police, showing them the crime scene, and seeing the thief arrested, Lance surveyed the damage from behind the yellow tape barrier. He’d have to report this to the administration and the curator, and the case would cost a lot of money to replace. The emerald itself was surprisingly unharmed, for a notoriously brittle gem. Lance sighed in relief, at least it was safe. It would be a nightmare to replace it if it had broken, let alone the bad press.
Well, that was interesting. I’d been in mourning clothes since that decree went out, and what happens to me? The king’s eunuchs dress me in royal robes and put a crown on my head. Then the same man who ordered our destruction, puts me on the king’s horse and parades me through the entire city shouting, “Thus shall it be done for the man in whom the king delights!”. This is both a great honor and utterly confusing. Though it was satisfying seeing the enemy so nonplussed.
Ah well, it’s back to business then. Hopefully some good news will come my way.
“I ran into Tobias, the kitchen boy, earlier this evening. He looked nervous.”
“Tobias is always nervous, Nathaniel. His first day, he shook so hard he nearly dropped the roast pheasant.”
“Well, then he’s more nervous than usual. It’s his turn to take food up to the king.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Joash, I don’t know what’s come over the king, but…”
“He disobeyed God during the Amalekite campaign, you know that.”
“Well, yes, but still, this is getting out of hand. Tobias said that last night, one of the other kitchen boys—I think his name’s Caleb—let slip some remark about David and got a facefull of lamb stew.”
“Is he alright?”
“I think so, though Tobias said the guy won’t come out of his quarters. There may be two holed up in there by tomorrow.”
“I don’t blame him. Normally I’d say he’s just shirking, but with the king going mad lately, I’m inclined to be generous.”
“Rebekah said two more servants quit yesterday.”
“That makes, what, five this week?”
“Six, if you count that one missing guard.”
“He’s dead, remember? He got drunk and fell from a window.”
“Oh, right.”
“Joash, Nathaniel, are you in?”
“Yes, Reuben. What is it?”
“Do you have the totals for this storeroom?”
“They’re right here.”
“Thank you, Joash. Hey, uh, did either of you see Leah, the washerwoman?”
“No, why?”
“I heard the king tried to strangle her.”
“Who told you that?”
“Abigail, one of the serving maids.”
“I wouldn’t trust her if I were you. I know the king’s off his head, but Abigail’s known to twist words around.”
“So, she lied about Tobias getting a black eye?”
We were unstoppable, we’d beaten the other nations like it was nothing. Oh, how we’d taunt them and their gods. That was our best weapon, making them feel like their gods had abandoned them. And we proved it too, we left nothing behind that wasn’t nailed down.
But then we got to Jerusalem. As usual King Sennacherib sent his best officers to taunt the Israelites and their God. It was a good taunt too, and it was effective before, so surely it would work now, right? You’d think.
Apparently someone didn’t tell us that we were dealing with a very different God. He did not take too kindly to all the insults we threw at Him. I still don’t know what the @#$% happened, but I woke up the next morning to find my whole squad dead, along with at least several thousand other guys who just sort of died for no good reason. There was no choice but to bust out of there with what remained of our army.
A little something inspired by the story of the Ten Plagues.
UPDATE: Edited on 4/18.
(The Scene: A bar. The Barkeep, an old man, stands behind the bar center left, the Bouncer stands stage right at the entrance. Several strange patrons sit at the tables. Ra, the Egyptian sun god, sits sullenly at the bar, his burnt-out sun and cobra hat half-off his head.)
RA: BARKEEP! ANOTHER ROUND!
BARKEEP: Mr. Ra, that’s your eighth one tonight!
RA: Just give me another one! And where is Horus?
(Barkeep pours a drink, Ra takes a sip and begins to yell.)
BARKEEP: Don’t ask me where Horus is, sir. I don’t know.
RA: I wasn’t asking you.
BARKEEP: Either way, I don’t know.
(Sekhmet, lion-headed goddess of destruction, walks in trying to look inconspicuous)
RA: Lion Face, where’s Horus?
(Sekhmet ignores him and sits down at the far end, much to Ra’s annoyance, who takes a sip from his drink.)
SEKHMET: Barkeep, Scotch-on-the-Rocks, will you?
BARKEEP: Yes, ma’am.
(Barkeep gives Sekhmet the drink, she takes a sip.)
RA: Lion Face, have you seen Horus?
SEKHMET: Screw off!
RA: You dare speak to me like that?
BARKEEP: Mr. Ra, don’t bother.
RA: Why not?
BARKEEP: It’s not worth it.
RA: Lion Face, I said, where is Horus? He’s not at his post.
SEKHMET: Don’t call me Lion Face, Beaky Boy!
RA: What!?!?
(Ra’s sun disk hat falls off his head and crashes to the ground. The cobra freaks out and makes a fast exit. Barkeep is startled.)
BARKEEP: Somebody kill that thing! Quick!
BOUNCER: Yes sir!
RA: No! What are you doing? That snake is my protector!
(Bouncer crushes the cobra under his boot.)
BOUNCER: Some protector! Slithering off like the snake he is.
RA: You moron!
BARKEEP: Mr. Ra, that’s enough.
(Ra sits down and takes another swig of whiskey.)
RA: Lion Face, why won’t you tell me where Horus is? I need to talk to him, he’s not at his post.
SEKHMET: I’ve been helping Imhotep treat Set’s injuries for months already, stupid hail.
RA: Where is Horus? I need to know.
SEKHMET: Go find him yourself!
RA: Don’t ever speak to me like that!
SEKHMET: Don’t you call me Lion Face.
(Ra gets up from his seat and walks over to Sekhmet.)
RA: Listen, if you tell me where Horus is, I’ll let you off the hook for being out of control all year.
(Sekhmet downs another swig of her drink.)
SEKHMET: Alright, fine. He’s filling in for Osiris.
RA: He’s WHAAAAAT!?!?!
SEKHMET: You’d get a migraine too if you had to judge so many firstborn souls. Isis is spending all her time taking care of him. Anubis has his hands full dealing with natron shortages and embalmer strikes, and most of the other gods are tied up with their own problems at present. Hell, Nut had to fill in for Hapi yesterday because Hapi was still a bloody mess!
RA: OH, THOSE INCOMPETENT DOGS! WHAT THE HELL IS THE PANTHEON COMING TO?!!
SEKHMET: Oh, and Ammut stopped eating.
RA: AAAAAUUGHH! YOU LAZY BUNCH OF….!!!!!
BARKEEP: Bouncer, get Mr. Ra out of here, please!
BOUNCER: Right! (Marches up to Ra and grabs him by the arm) Come on, you! Let’s go!
RA: What?! What are you doing? You can’t do this to me! I’m the king of the gods!
BOUNCER: “King of the gods.” Yeah, right! Tell that to Him! Now get outta here!
(Ra is dragged to the door where he is ejected by the swift application of a hard boot to the rear.)
So, after nearly a decade of being online, here at last is a performance by Yours Truly. This video was taken by my boyfriend yesterday at his Halloween party.
Translation:
Hell's vengeance boils within my heart.
Death and despair flame around me.
If through you, Sarastro does not feel the pain of death
You shall be my daughter no more.
Disowned be forever,
Forsaken be forever,
Destroyed be forever,
By all bonds of Nature,
If through you Sarastro does not become pale.
Hear, gods of revenge! Hear a mother's oath!
This was the encore me and my boyfriend tried to go see back in 2016, but we couldn't make it. So we watched it on the night of Thursday the 13th.
Turandot centers around a Chinese princess who will only marry the man who answers her three riddles; if he can't, he'll lose his noggin. An unkown prince, Calaf by name, comes along and solves the riddles and thus wins the right to marry Turandot, but she is still resistant. Well, then the prince gives her a riddle: see if she can guess his name before dawn. The whole populace is kept awake on pain of death, but the loyal slave girl Liu sacrifices herself to bring about Turandot's redemption.
This opera is one of my favorites, and it's not hard to see why. The music is some of Puccini's best and it has some of the best moments in opera ever. The ending feels a bit rushed, but that was due to Puccini dying before he finished the opera. Nonetheless, it has remained a mainstay of the operatic repertoire; the famous Riddle Scene and Calaf's aria "Nessun Dorma" being the most popular moments in the whole opera. I myself have sung the slave girl Liu's final aria "Tu Che di Gel Sei Cinta" in recital back in 2015 (too bad I didn't get a decent enough video).
And this production is awesome. Franco Zefarelli wanted a Chinese opera style for the production, and it works. The dancers, supernumeraries, the makeup for Turandot, it's all super awesome. My only beef is why is the Emperor not the one wearing the veil of stars while his attendants do? Small quibble of course, but still.
I think the Met will have a hard time finding a replacement production. This one is so iconic for the company that a new production will need to be especially notable.
Well, I've gone and let this blog lie fallow for two months. This is not good.
I've hit quite a snag as if I write about one opera, it feels repetitive to write about another production of it. It does not help that the Chinese Communist Flu has made going to the opera more difficult. The nightly streams got boring after a while. But I am still upset with myself for forgoing a favorite opera in favor of a favorite singer. So, I will watch Turandot on Thursday the 13th.
Me and my boyfriend are currently working on a novel called The Heart of a Monster. It is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. One thing we are trying is a Character Board, one where we make a visual guide as to the character's development and quirks. It is proving much more helpful than I ever thought possible. For example, if I put a picture of a garden next to the picture of Bella, then it helps me visualize her love of gardening. It is also an image of fertility.
We are also writing with my brother's help a skit series called The Apartment. These are short skits about roommates Randy and Paolo, and Randy's girlfriend Louise, and how they handle the crazy issues that come their way (losing jobs, crazy relatives, etc.). It's supposed to be something we can do even on a budget.
We'll see how these turn out.
