tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post499665408747865956..comments2024-03-27T21:41:50.122-07:00Comments on Iron Tongue of Midnight: Woof.Lisa Hirschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-24873278831766738042007-01-26T23:23:00.000-08:002007-01-26T23:23:00.000-08:00Thanks for the comments! I see we disliked a lot o...Thanks for the comments! I see we disliked a lot of the same things. ;-)Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-56756920674312510172007-01-24T18:29:00.000-08:002007-01-24T18:29:00.000-08:00I enjoyed reading your review, even if I disagree ...I enjoyed reading your review, even if I disagree with some of it -- one person's "fake Italian opera" is another's lyric beauty. You can read my own thoughts on my blog: chalkenteros.blogspot.com.Chalkenteroshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08435851223758000117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-10587338765583003132007-01-21T10:06:00.000-08:002007-01-21T10:06:00.000-08:00You're welcome!You're welcome!Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-35519786974611673772007-01-21T07:39:00.000-08:002007-01-21T07:39:00.000-08:00Thanks for your great additional comments to all t...Thanks for your great additional comments to all those floating around the music world.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06092735056885380828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-27341597392166344932007-01-18T11:45:00.000-08:002007-01-18T11:45:00.000-08:00Gosh, I wonder why that was posted anonymously? I'...Gosh, I wonder why that was posted anonymously? I'm going to leave it up - it speaks for itself and I don't want to delete it.<br /><br />A couple of things you should know:<br /><br />- I have a great life that I'm very happy with.<br /><br />- What I wrote was <i>sarcastic</i>. Please re-read the whole posting and look at the section you quote in context and with sarcasm in mind. There's a major trope in much of world literature where a young woman has sex outside of socially acceptable channels and is punished for it. That is what I was referring to, because <i>The First Emperor</i> can be interpreted as another instance of it.Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-13734472810916770392007-01-18T09:29:00.000-08:002007-01-18T09:29:00.000-08:00"Then there's the treatment of the female characte..."Then there's the treatment of the female characters..... Because good girls who are engaged to powerful generals don't have sex with other men! "<br /><br />What you wrote above was very scary and like a life-loser's crying!!! (how can you say this is not possible to happen to a girl in an emperor's family?) I am wondering whether you are a very reasonable woman, or just like a bitch who was crying for something which would be never possible for her to get (in your deep mind there is something bad or wrong and I don't know what happened to you in your life up to now. But it is hurting you really, at your home, you want and could be the emperor, no oneelse! But outside, no way!!!).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-18963515466261657892007-01-17T09:25:00.000-08:002007-01-17T09:25:00.000-08:00The bell made an impressive sound but did not appr...The bell made an impressive sound but did not approach what you describe.<br /><br />Those are excellent points about the weaknesses and potential of the libretto. I agree that the ritual scenes - which got the best music - were good.Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-42535792928094666802007-01-17T06:51:00.000-08:002007-01-17T06:51:00.000-08:00I was in the house for FIRST EMPEROR on the 9th an...I was in the house for FIRST EMPEROR on the 9th and left very happy, no matter its problems which are very real.<br /><br />Did the big screen/big sound system format pick up the visceral vibration of the big bronze bell? The radio made it sound dull and somewhat annoying while in the big space it was thrilling.<br /><br />The libretto is a mess in many ways and also banal at some important confrontations. The whole father/daughter conflict in act 2 was deadly and trivially written, kind of like Gidget Goes Chinese. <br /><br />The princess is potentially the most interesting figure in the opera and I read the seduction/restoration of ability to walk episode as highly symbolic, rather like the potion in TRISTAN. She's been the immobilized pawn of her father who can mate her with whomever he deems an advantageous match. But she sees the composer in revolt against Qin and takes matters into her own hands by seducing him. Now an unsuitable match for the General, has her life in her own hands and is free to do whatever she wants. Walking--mobility, independence--is the natural outcome but the libretto was prosaic here--realistic and clumsy where some great transformation should have occurred. <br /><br />Still it was far more interesting and even compelling compared to a lot of old operas that routinely get trotted out by rote, or some of the new ones by composers who don't know how to write a scene that crackles in the theater. Tan's big ritual scenes crackled with heat to spare.Willhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14279473113628377106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-8694738743576531902007-01-16T19:57:00.000-08:002007-01-16T19:57:00.000-08:00Could be, but they also had a human-operated camer...Could be, but they also had a human-operated camera on a tripod (or whatver they call it for professional cameras), located downstage right. That could have done some side shots of the orchestra and conductor?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-77447398725214060222007-01-16T13:49:00.000-08:002007-01-16T13:49:00.000-08:00Oh, that is very, very cool, thank you. I wonder i...Oh, that is very, very cool, thank you. I wonder if the remote camera was also responsible for the pit shots of the orchestra and Tan Dun.Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-71524050707416021742007-01-16T12:55:00.000-08:002007-01-16T12:55:00.000-08:00In re the camera near the promter's box... it was ...In re the camera near the promter's box... it was acutally a neat little remote-control contraption that looked a bit like a footlight. It was attached to a rail mounted near the stage-edge of the orchestra pit, and it zipped back and forth to wherever the action was. It could also turn and pivot. I imagine the shots from it must have been pretty dramatic, given its strong upward angle from the floor. <br /><br />In person, it was a little annoying at first, but I tuned it out pretty quickly. It was also a welcome diversion during some exceptionally long moments, like when they were sorting the homicides from the suicides.<br /><br />My guess is that the nifty remote camera was purchased in America... you know, the land with the standardized currency.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com