tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post8913536493067144545..comments2024-03-15T21:51:30.609-07:00Comments on Iron Tongue of Midnight: The Manga Flute, West Edge OperaLisa Hirschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-68741192519842401172012-03-10T15:57:24.052-08:002012-03-10T15:57:24.052-08:00That trio is fun. Big, serious (or mock-serious) i...That trio is fun. Big, serious (or mock-serious) intro in G minor, then the "Kakadu" theme which always reminds me of the Monty Python lumberjack song, then a series of variations including about two pages of really great music, then lumberjack <i>da capo.</i> I don't know why it isn't programmed oftener--audiences eat it up.john_burke100https://www.blogger.com/profile/07095645907050540263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-25525185025877841622012-03-10T08:26:16.655-08:002012-03-10T08:26:16.655-08:00I too am puzzled by Brancoveanu's career and h...I too am puzzled by Brancoveanu's career and have thought the same thing after seeing him recently in a couple of different things. He keeps popping up in wonderfully quirky places (like "Machine" at the Crucible) that on the one hand make me think he's really just interested in a variety of work, but on the other, he often eclipses everyone else on stage with his comparatively out-sized talents and abilities. <br /><br />I agree he really should be singing in the major houses and wonder why he's not. He's going to be one of the singers in SF Lyric Opera's upcoming "the little match girl passion" later this month.John Marcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17616296400880495672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-15255196378637446602012-03-10T08:04:49.894-08:002012-03-10T08:04:49.894-08:00That sounds like great fun!
And I can believe eve...That sounds like great fun!<br /><br />And I can believe every hurdy-gurdy player was doing "Ein Maedchen"!Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-54035388514521000702012-03-09T21:33:13.132-08:002012-03-09T21:33:13.132-08:00Long ago I read that the morning after "Magic...Long ago I read that the morning after "Magic Flute" premiered, the Vienna hurdy-gurdy players were all doing "Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen." Then I looked up the Beethoven "Kakadu" Variations and found that the theme, another simple ditty, was from a Singspiel called "Die Schwester von Prag." (It's basically "Charlie's Aunt"--widower can't decide which suitor his daughter should marry, defers the decision to his sister from Prague, each suitor's comic servant gets up in drag to impersonate her.) It turns out that a hummable, hurdy-gurdy-able tune was a standard Singspiel element, like the big first act closer in a Broadway musical; Beethoven in a typical move (cf. "Diabelli" Variations) makes it the basis of a semi-serious, semi-jocular piano trio movement.)john_burke100https://www.blogger.com/profile/07095645907050540263noreply@blogger.com