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Drowning in it
Jan. 12th, 2008 10:24 amSpeaking of opera, last night I listened to the recording of Florencia en el Amazonas that ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ron_drummond gave me for the New Year. I saw a production of the opera several years ago at the Seattle Opera House and was deeply impressed. It's loosely based on Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel, Love in the Time of Cholera, and takes the form of a trip up the Amazon -- which becomes, as river trips always do, a spiritual journey.
The opera was written in 1996 by the Mexican composer, Daniel Catán, with a libretto by Marcela Fuentes-Berain. The music is very beautiful and lyrical, with very little dissonance. It reminds me in places of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, and in other places of Sibelius. (Did Sibelius write any operas?) In many ways this continues my exploration of modern classical music that began whencalimac recommended some music that was like Sibelius' Seventh Symphony. Ron also gave me a DVD of Aulis Sallinen's opera, The Palace (1993), and Sallinen was someone that calimac had recommended.
I still haven't delved too far into the libretto of Florencia, and I don't remember what all happens in the opera. I seem to recall that a woman turns into a butterfly along the way, and that this was a rather spectacular moment on stage. I also remember loving how the river was suggested in the performance by dancers flowing across the stage with long gossamer blue and green scarves trailing behind them.
Did I mention that the music is gorgeous? It flows and ripples and swirls like a river. You can drown in it.
Update: "Although Catán studied under Babbitt, his own compositional voice is radically different, and his works incorporate the twelve-tone system only as occasional structural devices. Catán's music is composed for the heart and ear, and has been frequently labeled neo-Romantic or neo-Impressionist. Puccini, Strauss, Debussy, and Ravel are all names that frequently appear when people describe Catán's music; and though these are certainly apt comparisons, they should not detract from what is a very original and expressive voice. His melodies are rich and expansive, and often take some intriguing turns; drifting along like spun gold or rising into unforced and often blissful crescendos. His command of the orchestral palette is masterful, and his music fairly shimmers with delightful phrases and painterly surprises."
Unforced and blissful crescendos, yes, which is probably what reminds me of Sibelius at times. An ecstatic, yearning quality suddenly upwelling out of the flow.
ron_drummond gave me for the New Year. I saw a production of the opera several years ago at the Seattle Opera House and was deeply impressed. It's loosely based on Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel, Love in the Time of Cholera, and takes the form of a trip up the Amazon -- which becomes, as river trips always do, a spiritual journey.The opera was written in 1996 by the Mexican composer, Daniel Catán, with a libretto by Marcela Fuentes-Berain. The music is very beautiful and lyrical, with very little dissonance. It reminds me in places of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, and in other places of Sibelius. (Did Sibelius write any operas?) In many ways this continues my exploration of modern classical music that began when
calimac recommended some music that was like Sibelius' Seventh Symphony. Ron also gave me a DVD of Aulis Sallinen's opera, The Palace (1993), and Sallinen was someone that calimac had recommended.I still haven't delved too far into the libretto of Florencia, and I don't remember what all happens in the opera. I seem to recall that a woman turns into a butterfly along the way, and that this was a rather spectacular moment on stage. I also remember loving how the river was suggested in the performance by dancers flowing across the stage with long gossamer blue and green scarves trailing behind them.
Did I mention that the music is gorgeous? It flows and ripples and swirls like a river. You can drown in it.
Update: "Although Catán studied under Babbitt, his own compositional voice is radically different, and his works incorporate the twelve-tone system only as occasional structural devices. Catán's music is composed for the heart and ear, and has been frequently labeled neo-Romantic or neo-Impressionist. Puccini, Strauss, Debussy, and Ravel are all names that frequently appear when people describe Catán's music; and though these are certainly apt comparisons, they should not detract from what is a very original and expressive voice. His melodies are rich and expansive, and often take some intriguing turns; drifting along like spun gold or rising into unforced and often blissful crescendos. His command of the orchestral palette is masterful, and his music fairly shimmers with delightful phrases and painterly surprises."
Unforced and blissful crescendos, yes, which is probably what reminds me of Sibelius at times. An ecstatic, yearning quality suddenly upwelling out of the flow.
