October 6th to the 11th, I attended the Ring Cycle at the Orange County Performing Arts Center featuring Gergiev & the Kirov Opera. The orchestra was the real star of the show. It's full of young, amazing musicians. This is one of those orchestra where everyone really plays out. The singers, with the exception of Domingo, were Russian, & all were terrific actors, which really went a long way, because this was the worst staging I'd ever seen for an opera. No director is credited. Apparently there was originally a German production team, but something must have gone horribly wrong, & they dropped out.
I'm a big fan of Gergiev, & he did not disappoint. His conducting is so muscular & exciting. He led a very speedy Ring, especially the Siegfried. None of the singers were Wagnerians in the traditional sense, so it was instructive to hear everything actually sung instead of declaimed or "barked". I was even happy with the two Siegfrieds we heard. Their competent singing & exuberant acting showed me that it is just possible to have a dramatically convincing & even likable Siegfried.
I was astounded by Domingo. He must be in his late 60s, but his singing was so romantic & ardent & his acting so convincing that there was no need to make any concessions for his age.
Incredibly, on one of their days off from Ring pit duties, Gergiev & the Kirov Orchestra gave a concert of Shostakovich Symphonies 6 & 5 across the street in the newly inaugurated Segerstrom Concert Hall. Their performance was strong & exciting. They have some really terrific players. At times I felt like I was hearing one outstanding solo after another. Still I can remember the beautiful harp solo & the piercing trumpet solo.
It is too disconcerting to record that the day after Götterdämmerung I drove to San Diego to spend the afternoon at Legoland marveling at incredible Lego models?
Attended a book event in the Haight on the 21st for the release of Best American Comics 2006 published by Houghton Mifflin. Local artists Justin Hall, John Porcellino & Esther Watson showed slides & talked about their work. It was nice to have something to look at. Comic book authors are not quite the same as literary authors, & it isn't always enough to hear them just talk. Harvey Pekar was also there to talk about editing the collection. As far as I can tell, he is exactly the cranky curmudgeon he appears to be in the American Splendor movie!
I heard Midori play the Britten Violin Concerto with the San Francisco Symphony on the 25th. Her playing was as moving & exciting as always & showed off her gasp-inducing technique: Passages very high up, double stopped harmonics, left-hand pizzicato, left-hand pizzicato plus artificial harmonics...The piece doesn't miss a trick. Every time I hear her play a concerto, that piece instantly becomes my favorite violin concerto.
Sat in the dress circle at the San Francisco Opera for Tristan on the 27th. Runnicles was the star of this show. He lead a fluid & tender interpretation, & the orchestra played beautifully for him. I was disappointed by the aimless staging. The only directorial idea occurred at the very end when the already "dead" Tristan got up, walked over to Isolde & embraced her as the lights went down. I guess this is one way to give the story an uplifting ending, but the moment was unprepared for. I had high expectations for Christine Brewer's Isolde, but both she & the tenor Thomas Moser seemed to conserving their voices throughout the entire evening. It felt like they were singing with only a fraction of their true powers.
Saw the Silent Theatre Company's Lulu at the Victoria Theatre on the 28th. This was very cool. It was a staging of Wedekind's Lulu, inspired by the Louise Brooks movie. There was no dialog. Instead, the young & athletic cast mimed the action in the style of a silent movie. The costumes & settings were all various shades of white, black or gray, & the actors faces were painted silver. A pianist at the side of the stage provided a driving musical accompaniment that was in a modern jazz idiom that evoked the 1920s. They even had inter-titles that were projected above the proscenium. In fact, I think I spent a lot of time marveling at the precision of the timing of these titles. There would be a black-out on stage, the actors would freeze, & the titles would appear, all at the same time. & sometimes there were a lot of titles within a scene!
They had a very convincing Lulu who exuded a feeling of sex & flesh. The whole production had a strong physicality to it. The characters danced with each other, tussled with each other, made love to each other, abused each other. Lulu's murder was a visceral horror. Best of all, the cast seemed to be having a lot of fun. When the audience left the theater, they were waiting outside on the sidewalk to thank us for coming! At that moment I noticed a school bus, painted with signs for the show, parked in front of the theater. Did they tour with that bus?
On Halloween night, I had an orchestra seat for the SF Opera's revival The Barber of Seville. I'd seen this production when it premiered a few years ago, & I thought it would be fun to see that big, spinning 2-story house again. I'm a sucker for spectacle like that. I'm also a sucker for Nathan Gunn & his athletic stage presence. This time around I was impressed by the singing of a young baritone called Eugene Brancoveanu in 2 small roles.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Conservatory Baroque Ensemble
This past Saturday evening there were probably too many choices for things to do in the City: The Chinese New Year's Parade, the last performance of John Adam's A Flowering Tree at the Symphony, a city-wide scavenger hunt starting at the Embarcadero. For my fun I dropped into the Conservatory of Music's new concert hall to hear a chamber-sized performance of Handel's Ode for St. Cecilia's Day & the Bach Magnificat done by the Conservatory's students. The new space is very comfortable & ideal for small ensembles. When I heard the official opening concert with the full Conservatory Orchestra, at times it seemed like actually too much sound.
The performance was along the lines of John Eliot Gardiner's performance practice: A small but focused chorus of 18 with about the same number of instrumentalists. I'd never heard the Handel before, & I really enjoyed this piece. It's so Baroque. Every number has a different, distinct mood, with different instrumental accompaniments. I especially liked hearing the guitar accompanying one of the arias.
Of course the Magnificat is such a magnificent piece, it's always good to get a chance to hear it.
The performance was along the lines of John Eliot Gardiner's performance practice: A small but focused chorus of 18 with about the same number of instrumentalists. I'd never heard the Handel before, & I really enjoyed this piece. It's so Baroque. Every number has a different, distinct mood, with different instrumental accompaniments. I especially liked hearing the guitar accompanying one of the arias.
Of course the Magnificat is such a magnificent piece, it's always good to get a chance to hear it.
Murray Perahia at Davies Hall
Monday night I sat in the 1st tier of Davies Hall to hear Murray Perahia's very classical recital program: Bach Partita No. 2, Beethoven Sonata No. 15, Schumann Fantasiestücke Op. 12 & Chopin Ballade No. 4. I'd never heard him before, although I see his name on dozens of recordings every time I am shopping for CDs. He is a very technical performer. Everything is incredibly crisp, even & clear. He has an amazing portamento. I was impressed by his controlled technique & classical restraint, but I wasn't very moved by the recital. He made everything sound almost too even. There isn't much difference between the way he plays Bach & the way he plays Chopin. I enjoyed his Schumann Fantasiestücke, though. The wild contrasts of mood came across very well in his playing. But overall I was more impressed by his technique than his musicality.
The hall was nearly full, including the terrace seating, so Perahia clearly has a following. He got a very warm response from the audience the moment he stepped on stage. He is one of those performers that needs very little preparation time. He walks on stage, bows briskly, sits down, & starts playing. At the end of the program he got an immediate standing ovation. He returned twice to play Chopin encores.
The hall was nearly full, including the terrace seating, so Perahia clearly has a following. He got a very warm response from the audience the moment he stepped on stage. He is one of those performers that needs very little preparation time. He walks on stage, bows briskly, sits down, & starts playing. At the end of the program he got an immediate standing ovation. He returned twice to play Chopin encores.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
A Flowering Tree at Davies Hall
I was very excited to be at the U.S. premier of John Adams new opera on March 1st at Davies Hall with the SF Symphony. Alex Ross has already given a perceptive account of the premier production in Vienna. The SF performance got the same soloists, conductor & director. Having the conductor at the podium made it even more of an occasion. This was one of those few times when at the first hearing of a serious work, I found it accessible & interesting & wanted to hear it again.
The work is supposedly inspired by Mozart's Magic Flute, though in this production it was a mix of cultural traditions: American minimalism music, Tamil love poetry, Javanese ceremonial dance, & more. It has a libretto that is in English for the soloists & in Spanish for the chorus. The music had a lot of ethereal orchestral colors & evoked Debussy, Stravinsky & Wagner, especially his Parsifal. The 2nd act even opens with a parody of the overture to the Ring. The critics are also
hearing major references to Sibelius, but I don't know his symphonies well enough to get these.
The music is based on repeating, pulsing, vibrating rhythms & tonal harmonies. Scattered among the constantly moving orchestral background are melodic solos, sometimes for unusual instruments. In particular there were solos performed beautifully by Barantschik & by the trumpet. But there were also striking solos for bass clarinet, bassoon (in a very high register), contrabasson, French horn & recorder. I had expected some electronic instruments, but Adams uses a traditional orchestra, with the addition of lots of percussion & 2 recorders.
Despite being in Davies Hall & having the Orchestra cover 3/4 of the stage, the evening was quite theatrical. It started when the chorus entered the terrace. Instead of black concert dress, each chorus member wore a different brightly colored shirt or blouse. The over-all effect was pretty & very festive. Musically the chorus turns out to be very important. They have some of the best music in the opera. The lively & boisterous choruses are the 1st things that really catch your attention.
Most of the action took place on three roughly circular platforms, painted like the insides of a geode, on the right of the stage. There was also a platform at terrace height in the back left corner of the stage. It was a small space, though, & it was a little scary to watch the male dancer up there as he went through intricate moves balancing on one leg or doing a momentary one-handed hand-stand.
There were 3 singers, one acting as a narrator, the 2 others portraying the lovers of the story. They shared the stage with 3 dancers from Indonesia. I think that part of the concept was to have something on stage that countered the restless movement of the music. So these dancers performed in what is apparently a traditional Javanese dance style that moves very slowly & deliberately. The women seemed incapable of making an awkward or ungraceful motion. They often gave the feeling that they were moving underwater. It was very mesmerizing to watch.
The singers were great & very well matched. The soprano Jessica Rivera sang particularly beautifully & expressively. She was also a great actress. Even when she had to roll around on the stage intertwined with the dancer to represent Kumudha as a stump, she managed to sing wonderfully. It was a complete performance.
I'm not a fan of Peter Sellars as a director, & this staging was typical of his style. He always keeps you very busy trying to keep track of what is happening on stage. There were many moments when I couldn't decide what I wanted to focus on. At other times the staging just looked really awkward, as when he had the large tenor bent over the small male dancer to represent the Prince's misery.
I'm not sure what to make of the story yet. It was a sadistic fairy tale. It doesn't have a conflict in the classical sense, though there is an over-all arc having to do with loss, suffering & reunion.
Reminiscent of Dr. Atomic, it ends spectacularly with an extended orchestral crescendo depicting Kumudha's final transformation. For a moment there is a major chord, then there is a long suspension in the chorus & orchestra, & finally only the notes of a major triad sounding. This was followed by a loud & enthusiastic ovation that was clearly for Adams, though he modestly refused to take a solo bow during the curtain calls.
The work is supposedly inspired by Mozart's Magic Flute, though in this production it was a mix of cultural traditions: American minimalism music, Tamil love poetry, Javanese ceremonial dance, & more. It has a libretto that is in English for the soloists & in Spanish for the chorus. The music had a lot of ethereal orchestral colors & evoked Debussy, Stravinsky & Wagner, especially his Parsifal. The 2nd act even opens with a parody of the overture to the Ring. The critics are also
hearing major references to Sibelius, but I don't know his symphonies well enough to get these.
The music is based on repeating, pulsing, vibrating rhythms & tonal harmonies. Scattered among the constantly moving orchestral background are melodic solos, sometimes for unusual instruments. In particular there were solos performed beautifully by Barantschik & by the trumpet. But there were also striking solos for bass clarinet, bassoon (in a very high register), contrabasson, French horn & recorder. I had expected some electronic instruments, but Adams uses a traditional orchestra, with the addition of lots of percussion & 2 recorders.
Despite being in Davies Hall & having the Orchestra cover 3/4 of the stage, the evening was quite theatrical. It started when the chorus entered the terrace. Instead of black concert dress, each chorus member wore a different brightly colored shirt or blouse. The over-all effect was pretty & very festive. Musically the chorus turns out to be very important. They have some of the best music in the opera. The lively & boisterous choruses are the 1st things that really catch your attention.
Most of the action took place on three roughly circular platforms, painted like the insides of a geode, on the right of the stage. There was also a platform at terrace height in the back left corner of the stage. It was a small space, though, & it was a little scary to watch the male dancer up there as he went through intricate moves balancing on one leg or doing a momentary one-handed hand-stand.
There were 3 singers, one acting as a narrator, the 2 others portraying the lovers of the story. They shared the stage with 3 dancers from Indonesia. I think that part of the concept was to have something on stage that countered the restless movement of the music. So these dancers performed in what is apparently a traditional Javanese dance style that moves very slowly & deliberately. The women seemed incapable of making an awkward or ungraceful motion. They often gave the feeling that they were moving underwater. It was very mesmerizing to watch.
The singers were great & very well matched. The soprano Jessica Rivera sang particularly beautifully & expressively. She was also a great actress. Even when she had to roll around on the stage intertwined with the dancer to represent Kumudha as a stump, she managed to sing wonderfully. It was a complete performance.
I'm not a fan of Peter Sellars as a director, & this staging was typical of his style. He always keeps you very busy trying to keep track of what is happening on stage. There were many moments when I couldn't decide what I wanted to focus on. At other times the staging just looked really awkward, as when he had the large tenor bent over the small male dancer to represent the Prince's misery.
I'm not sure what to make of the story yet. It was a sadistic fairy tale. It doesn't have a conflict in the classical sense, though there is an over-all arc having to do with loss, suffering & reunion.
Reminiscent of Dr. Atomic, it ends spectacularly with an extended orchestral crescendo depicting Kumudha's final transformation. For a moment there is a major chord, then there is a long suspension in the chorus & orchestra, & finally only the notes of a major triad sounding. This was followed by a loud & enthusiastic ovation that was clearly for Adams, though he modestly refused to take a solo bow during the curtain calls.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Travesties at ACT
I caught the Sunday matinee of Tom Stoppard's 1974 Travesties at ACT. I'm not a big fan of ACT, but curiosity about the play got the better of me. The play is pretty crazy. It's a debate about the role of the artist in society in the form of a theatrical farce. It seems like to get anything out of it, the audience has to be very familiar with The Importance of Being Ernest, James Joyce's Ulysses, Shakespeare, Dada, the history of the Russian Revolution & World War I. & I'm sure there were other ideas in there that went right over my head!
The production was somewhat abstract. It starts with a completely blank, white stage. Props & sets fly in, glide in from the wings or rise from the below. From time to time a large circular map of Europe slides along suspended from the procenium. The library has book shelves floating in space at improbable angles & upside-down. Cartoon sound effects might accompany a bit of business. I'm not sure that this struck the right note, though. I suppose that this all reflects the highly artificial construction of the play, but I wonder if it would have been more interesting to stage it as if it were in fact a traditional farce. Then there would be the tension between the apparently conventional trappings of a drawing room comedy & the highly charged political & philosophical themes of the play.
Whenever I go to an ACT show, I'm struck by how the audience seems somewhat elderly. I also find myself wishing the performances were crisper. It's like I want to tell the actors, "Wake up! There are people out here!"
The production was somewhat abstract. It starts with a completely blank, white stage. Props & sets fly in, glide in from the wings or rise from the below. From time to time a large circular map of Europe slides along suspended from the procenium. The library has book shelves floating in space at improbable angles & upside-down. Cartoon sound effects might accompany a bit of business. I'm not sure that this struck the right note, though. I suppose that this all reflects the highly artificial construction of the play, but I wonder if it would have been more interesting to stage it as if it were in fact a traditional farce. Then there would be the tension between the apparently conventional trappings of a drawing room comedy & the highly charged political & philosophical themes of the play.
Whenever I go to an ACT show, I'm struck by how the audience seems somewhat elderly. I also find myself wishing the performances were crisper. It's like I want to tell the actors, "Wake up! There are people out here!"
Dawn Upshaw at the SF Symphony
On Saturday night I was at Davies Hall to hear Dawn Upshaw. She sang an atonal song cycle called Time Cycle by Lukas Foss. I'd never heard her before, & I was at this performance with a friend who is huge fan of hers. She has a very easy-going, down-to-earth stage presence & a very pleasant, even voice, so it is easy to see what her appeal is all about. With unfamiliar music like these songs, the only comment I can make about this performance is that she sang absolutely everything, & this went a long way towards selling the songs. The piece itself is not obviously lyrical & has the disjointed lines characteristic of serial music, but Upshaw made everything sustained & connected. It never came out declamatory or sounding like sprechstimme, which is another way that the songs could have been delivered.
The rest of the program consisted of Michael Tilson Thomas conducting Berlioz Benvenuto Cellini Overture & Brahms 4. I like MTT's programming, but as usual I did not find him a very interesting conductor. He wanted a lot of sound for the Berlioz, but the brasses were too loud & covered the strings whenever the played. I've heard MTT conduct Brahms 4 before, & I think his loud opening for the 2nd movement completely strikes the wrong mood.
The rest of the program consisted of Michael Tilson Thomas conducting Berlioz Benvenuto Cellini Overture & Brahms 4. I like MTT's programming, but as usual I did not find him a very interesting conductor. He wanted a lot of sound for the Berlioz, but the brasses were too loud & covered the strings whenever the played. I've heard MTT conduct Brahms 4 before, & I think his loud opening for the 2nd movement completely strikes the wrong mood.
Voices of Kurdistan
On Friday night, went to Cowell Theater, Fort Mason for a concert of Kurdish music sponsered by the San Francisco World Music Festival. This was the 1st of 3 concerts of Kurdish music. This night featured a singer from Turkey called Aynur. She sang 2 sets, backed by 4 musicians: a violist, a lutist, 2 percussionists. I'm completely unfamiliar with this music, but it seemed to be a combination of folk songs & original songs written in the folk tradition. The songs varied from sorrowful to angry to humorous to defiant. Aynur is a powerful singer who grabs your attention & refuses to let go.
The theater was perhaps less than 3/4 full, but the audience was very enthusiastic. I heard a lot of Turkish spoken in the lobby before the show.
The only thing I really disliked about the performance was that all the musicians were amplified electronically. When Aynur was belting into the microphone, the sound was so loud it was painful. I don't understand why the amplification was necessary. My feeling is that the instruments & her voice are plenty loud enough to be heard in that hall without any artificial amplification.
The theater was perhaps less than 3/4 full, but the audience was very enthusiastic. I heard a lot of Turkish spoken in the lobby before the show.
The only thing I really disliked about the performance was that all the musicians were amplified electronically. When Aynur was belting into the microphone, the sound was so loud it was painful. I don't understand why the amplification was necessary. My feeling is that the instruments & her voice are plenty loud enough to be heard in that hall without any artificial amplification.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Quinceañera
Saw this new indie movie at Embarcadeo Cinemas last night. It's an earnest & affectionate portrait of a working class Hispanic family in LA's Echo Park. The movie is nearly plotless & is done in the neo-realist style, with many of the performances apparently by non-professionals. I got the idea from the movie that gays are the "bad guys" in the gentrification of the Echo Park neighborhood.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Super Vision
Last night I attended a performance of Super Vision at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Going in, I didn't know anything about it other than that it looked very high-tech. And indeed this was probably the most high-tech multimedia show I've ever seen. The actors perform between 2 screen which move & have computer generated & real-time images projected on them. The technicians controlling the visual & audio effects sit in darkness on stage, making the process look somewhat transparent. 2 other actors perform to video cameras at the edges of the stage & interact with the "real" characters via their projected performances.
The show was often stunning to watch, but the script was thin. The script raises issues rather than developing characters or a compelling story lines. The only character that came across as a warm human being was the sassy Sri Lankan grandma who appears on a Web cam. Actually I thought the most powerful part of the show was its opening monologue. With the help of the Claritas database, an actor profiled the audience using information gleaned from credit cards used to pay for tickets for the show. This was a truly vivid illustration of the issues of data privacy.
The show was often stunning to watch, but the script was thin. The script raises issues rather than developing characters or a compelling story lines. The only character that came across as a warm human being was the sassy Sri Lankan grandma who appears on a Web cam. Actually I thought the most powerful part of the show was its opening monologue. With the help of the Claritas database, an actor profiled the audience using information gleaned from credit cards used to pay for tickets for the show. This was a truly vivid illustration of the issues of data privacy.
An Inconvenient Truth
Finally saw the Al Gore movie about global warming. It's a film of him delivering his illustrated talk to a studio audience, interspersed with his personal reflections about his family & growing up on is father's ranch. No new information here, though the movie is not the downer that one would expect. The facts are grim, but at least the information is out there. Gore's criticism of the present administration's environmental policy is not stated nearly as strongly as it might have been. Probably he's trying not to offend anyone.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Woman's Will presents 12th Night
Saw Twelfth Night at Dolores Parkin the afternoon. & what a beautiful day to be in the park too. Production was put on by the cleverly named "Woman's Will", which is an all-female company. I didn't feel that having an all-female cast necessarily made for a revelatory production, but this was a very enjoyable performance, regardless of the gender casting. Each character was made distinct, & the action never lagged. The performances were all strong. In particular, the Feste, Samantha Chanse, was an amazingly confident performer.
There was something very solid about the direction. I felt everyone really understood the play & that none of the main themes had been neglected.
It was a completely actor-driven event. You got the feeling that a dozen actors just showed up, pitched their set & got to it. Even the stage manager stepped in to play an officer & supplied stage music.
The main drawback was just that it was outdoors in Dolores Park, so the performance had to compete with traffic noise, a stray dog trotting through the playing area, a birthday party with screaming kids, & even a domestic argument. & unless you are very close & the actor is speaking right in your direction, you can't hear a thing. I was very sorry not to be able to hear Feste's singing.
There was something very solid about the direction. I felt everyone really understood the play & that none of the main themes had been neglected.
It was a completely actor-driven event. You got the feeling that a dozen actors just showed up, pitched their set & got to it. Even the stage manager stepped in to play an officer & supplied stage music.
The main drawback was just that it was outdoors in Dolores Park, so the performance had to compete with traffic noise, a stray dog trotting through the playing area, a birthday party with screaming kids, & even a domestic argument. & unless you are very close & the actor is speaking right in your direction, you can't hear a thing. I was very sorry not to be able to hear Feste's singing.
Iridium Flare 65
Last night I walked out to the Marina Green, found a spot away from street lamps, & was able to see this Iridium Flare as it went by:
Date: 05 Aug
Local time: 21:13:12
Intensity: -2
Alt.: 62°
Azimuth: 93° (E )
Distance to flare center: 24.3 km (W)
Intensity at flare center: -8
satellite: Iridium 65
East of zenith
East of Vega (brightest star near zenith)
West of Milky Way
It looked about as bright as the nearest bright star, which I'm told was Vega. I spotted it for about 8 seconds as it slowly brightened then dimmed.
Date: 05 Aug
Local time: 21:13:12
Intensity: -2
Alt.: 62°
Azimuth: 93° (E )
Distance to flare center: 24.3 km (W)
Intensity at flare center: -8
satellite: Iridium 65
East of zenith
East of Vega (brightest star near zenith)
West of Milky Way
It looked about as bright as the nearest bright star, which I'm told was Vega. I spotted it for about 8 seconds as it slowly brightened then dimmed.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Anniversary Year
It seems like every month I'm reading about another anniversary celebration for this year.
Is this really such a big year, or are people just in the mood to commemorate?
- Mozart: 350th birthday
- Nikolai Tesla: 150th birthday
- Dmitri Shostakovich: 100th birthday
- Janet Gaynor: 100th birthday
- Rembrandt: 400th birthday
- San Francisco Earthquake & Fire: 100th anniversary
- San Francisco Japantown: 100th anniversary
- Samuel Beckett: 100th birthday
- John Huston: 100th birthday
- George Bernard Shaw: 150th birthday
- Bertolt Brecht: 50th anniversary of his death
Is this really such a big year, or are people just in the mood to commemorate?
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Time To Leave (Le Temps qui reste)
This movie by Francois Ozon got mediocre reviews, but it sounded like something I would like, so I went to see it this afternoon. I thought it was beautiful, philosophical, & very French, though if it resembles anything, it is very much like a Bergman film. The main character is often unpleasant. If he wasn't so ridiculously good-looking, it would be pretty hard to identify with him. But the movie does not rely on our liking him. It's about how this very detached, selfish young man arranges things so that he can die feeling that he has made some kind of peace with himself.
The movie is somber & deliberately paced. It has no surprises, but every scene provides us with information & has a dramatic purpose. There are terrific actors in every role who give very detailed performances. For instance, there is a small but affecting moment at the end when Romain loses interest in the ice cream he's just bought at the beach. I also really liked the woman who played the waitress who asks for Romain's help.
The movie has 3 very explicit sex scenes, which probably made the movie unrateable. None of them involve what would be considered typical sexual situations, but all of them are visceral, erotic, & revealing of character.
The movie is somber & deliberately paced. It has no surprises, but every scene provides us with information & has a dramatic purpose. There are terrific actors in every role who give very detailed performances. For instance, there is a small but affecting moment at the end when Romain loses interest in the ice cream he's just bought at the beach. I also really liked the woman who played the waitress who asks for Romain's help.
The movie has 3 very explicit sex scenes, which probably made the movie unrateable. None of them involve what would be considered typical sexual situations, but all of them are visceral, erotic, & revealing of character.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Alex Ross Podcast
Alex Ross, blogger & music critic for The New Yorker, has listened to all the works of Mozart & come up with a nifty podcast about Mozart's bass lines. I hope Mr. Ross does more podcasts. I think he does a great job of getting content about classical music on the Web.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Silent Film Festival
Went a little overboard this weekend & saw 4 programs at the SF Silent Film Festival at the Castro. This year there were a lot of interesting programs, & I had a hard time narrowing down my choices.
Au Bonheur des Dames
This was the best program I saw over the weekend. Made in 1930 in Paris, so it's one of the last silent movies made in France. A beautiful & meticulous film in the classic silent style. Spectacular climactic montage sequence. I enjoyed the documentary street scenes of Paris. Based on a novel by Zola with one of those endings that is so right yet you hate it anyway. Musical accompaniment by the Hot Club of San Francisco, in the style of Django Reinhardt. More or less appropriate to the period & fun to listen to, but they weren't quite up to the emotional range of the movie.
Pandora's Box
I've saw this a long time ago, & I remember being impressed by it, but for some reason this time I wasn't that into it. I mostly found it exhausting. Everyone in the movie spends a lot of time glaring at each other & acting like animals. I noticed that in early scenes a menorah is prominently displayed in Lulu's apartment, & Schigolch has many stereotypically Jewish characeristics. Is this from the Wedekind source?
Musical accompaniment on the organ by Clark Wilson. He evoked the time frame of the movie by referring to the Three Penny Opera & the musical Cabaret. He played very consistently through the 2+ duration of the movie, though I found his playing a little lacking in variety.
Although the show was scheduled to start at 8:20pm, the film didn't start rolling until 9:10. It was sold out, so it took a while to get everyone into the theatre, then there was plenty of borching beforehand. Local artist Bruce Conner gave a rambling, pointless reminiscence of coming from the same town as Louise Brooks.
Amazing Tales from the Archives
Session about issues of film preservation. Appealed to the geek in me. I was interested to learn about the different formats many of the films are preserved in, such as paper prints, the spirograph, & the 3 column 35 mm films for home use. Naturally, everything is being transferred to digital.
The Girl with the Hatbox
Cute Soviet comedy about a perky young girl finding love & mayhem in Moscow. The film moves very deliberately at first, but there are several big comedic pay offs as the action moves into high gear at the end.
Whenever I see a Russian movie, I'm always impressed by the acting, & here the same high level of acting is evident. All the performers are great. I really liked the actor playing Natasha's love interest. He has a very appealing & expressive way of moving, & he's never over the top. I was disturbed to read in the program notes that 10 years after this movie, he ended up in the gulag.
Musical accompaniment was provided by a balalaika ensemble. Appropriate to the film, but for now I've heard as much balalaika music as I care to hear.
Au Bonheur des Dames
This was the best program I saw over the weekend. Made in 1930 in Paris, so it's one of the last silent movies made in France. A beautiful & meticulous film in the classic silent style. Spectacular climactic montage sequence. I enjoyed the documentary street scenes of Paris. Based on a novel by Zola with one of those endings that is so right yet you hate it anyway. Musical accompaniment by the Hot Club of San Francisco, in the style of Django Reinhardt. More or less appropriate to the period & fun to listen to, but they weren't quite up to the emotional range of the movie.
Pandora's Box
I've saw this a long time ago, & I remember being impressed by it, but for some reason this time I wasn't that into it. I mostly found it exhausting. Everyone in the movie spends a lot of time glaring at each other & acting like animals. I noticed that in early scenes a menorah is prominently displayed in Lulu's apartment, & Schigolch has many stereotypically Jewish characeristics. Is this from the Wedekind source?
Musical accompaniment on the organ by Clark Wilson. He evoked the time frame of the movie by referring to the Three Penny Opera & the musical Cabaret. He played very consistently through the 2+ duration of the movie, though I found his playing a little lacking in variety.
Although the show was scheduled to start at 8:20pm, the film didn't start rolling until 9:10. It was sold out, so it took a while to get everyone into the theatre, then there was plenty of borching beforehand. Local artist Bruce Conner gave a rambling, pointless reminiscence of coming from the same town as Louise Brooks.
Amazing Tales from the Archives
Session about issues of film preservation. Appealed to the geek in me. I was interested to learn about the different formats many of the films are preserved in, such as paper prints, the spirograph, & the 3 column 35 mm films for home use. Naturally, everything is being transferred to digital.
The Girl with the Hatbox
Cute Soviet comedy about a perky young girl finding love & mayhem in Moscow. The film moves very deliberately at first, but there are several big comedic pay offs as the action moves into high gear at the end.
Whenever I see a Russian movie, I'm always impressed by the acting, & here the same high level of acting is evident. All the performers are great. I really liked the actor playing Natasha's love interest. He has a very appealing & expressive way of moving, & he's never over the top. I was disturbed to read in the program notes that 10 years after this movie, he ended up in the gulag.
Musical accompaniment was provided by a balalaika ensemble. Appropriate to the film, but for now I've heard as much balalaika music as I care to hear.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Citizen Kane at Union Square
This was fun. Last night, the San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation sponsered a showing of Citizen Kane outdoors at Union Square. The starting time was advertised as 8:00pm, but they had to wait for it to get dark, so it didn't start until 8:45pm.
Before the show started, they ran a raffle for DVDs of Citizen Kane, & the projectionist gave a brief talk about how innovative the movie was for its time. The movie was projected from a DVD onto an inflatable screen. Watching them inflate the screen was a bit of a show in itself.
There was a quite a crowd in Union Square, sitting on the ground directly in front of the screen, in chairs set up behind this area, & on the ledges & benches in the square. The audience was very quiet & attentive. I even saw a woman shush 2 women sitting behind her who continued to converse quite audibly several minutes into the movie.
As for Citizen Kane itself, I've seen it before, of course, & I continue to be impressed by its technical brilliance. Its many famous transitions are still stunning. But I'm never much interested in the content of the story itself. The revelations about Kane never seem significant, & I never care about what happens to any of the characters.
Before the show started, they ran a raffle for DVDs of Citizen Kane, & the projectionist gave a brief talk about how innovative the movie was for its time. The movie was projected from a DVD onto an inflatable screen. Watching them inflate the screen was a bit of a show in itself.
There was a quite a crowd in Union Square, sitting on the ground directly in front of the screen, in chairs set up behind this area, & on the ledges & benches in the square. The audience was very quiet & attentive. I even saw a woman shush 2 women sitting behind her who continued to converse quite audibly several minutes into the movie.
As for Citizen Kane itself, I've seen it before, of course, & I continue to be impressed by its technical brilliance. Its many famous transitions are still stunning. But I'm never much interested in the content of the story itself. The revelations about Kane never seem significant, & I never care about what happens to any of the characters.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
4th of July Fireworks
It was actually a clear night tonight, so I went to Fort Mason to view the fireworks show launched off Aquatic Park. Usually the show is completely fogged in, & all you get to see are colorful clouds. But tonight the view was awesome. Besides the popular smiley-face fireworks, there were ones that expanded into cubes!
Titanic Exhibition at the Metreon
I couldn't really tell what the Titanic Exhibition at the Metreon was going to be like, but I decided to take a chance on it. It's not cheap. I paid $27, which was $22 for admission plus $5 for the audio tour. I would say that the experience, while unusual, is overpriced.
For history buffs & the curious, the real attractions of the show are the hundreds of objects retrieved from the wreck. These range from small personal effects like jewelry & toothpaste jars to a huge wall-sized portion of the hull. It's stunning to discover such fragile items as clothing, wallets, paper money & letters survived underwater all that time. Many of the objects are quite eerie to contemplate: A pair of wired-framed glasses; a pocket watch with the face obliterated; a letter from a mother, carried on board by her son; a corked bottle of champagne which appears to have the original liquid still in it.
The goal of the exhibition is entertainment rather than instruction. Besides the artifacts, there are several life-size walk-through recreations of the interior of the ship. These are like little stage sets, with sound effects & music. We walk through a hallway & view recreations of a dining room, a 1st class stateroom, a 3rd class stateroom & the grand staircase.
As you enter the exhibit, a staff person hands you a boarding card which describes a passenger on board the Titanic. At the end of the exhibition is a wall listing the names of all the passengers, which survived & which perished. You can find out the fate of your passenger.
Naturally, the last room of the exhibit is a small crowded gift shop. The day I went they had a sign announcing that the author of a book about the Titanic was on hand to sign copies of his book. Sure enough, he was there behind a counter at the gift shop, looking like he might possibly be there most days. I didn't see him make any sales, though.
The oddest trinkets on sale in the gift show were crumb-sized pieces of coal from the Titanic, packaged in small vials as jewelry or in a plain plastic bag in a box. I think they were priced from 6 to 16 dollars. According to the exhibition documentation, 1 pound of coal supplied energy to move the ship at full speed for 1 foot.
For history buffs & the curious, the real attractions of the show are the hundreds of objects retrieved from the wreck. These range from small personal effects like jewelry & toothpaste jars to a huge wall-sized portion of the hull. It's stunning to discover such fragile items as clothing, wallets, paper money & letters survived underwater all that time. Many of the objects are quite eerie to contemplate: A pair of wired-framed glasses; a pocket watch with the face obliterated; a letter from a mother, carried on board by her son; a corked bottle of champagne which appears to have the original liquid still in it.
The goal of the exhibition is entertainment rather than instruction. Besides the artifacts, there are several life-size walk-through recreations of the interior of the ship. These are like little stage sets, with sound effects & music. We walk through a hallway & view recreations of a dining room, a 1st class stateroom, a 3rd class stateroom & the grand staircase.
As you enter the exhibit, a staff person hands you a boarding card which describes a passenger on board the Titanic. At the end of the exhibition is a wall listing the names of all the passengers, which survived & which perished. You can find out the fate of your passenger.
Naturally, the last room of the exhibit is a small crowded gift shop. The day I went they had a sign announcing that the author of a book about the Titanic was on hand to sign copies of his book. Sure enough, he was there behind a counter at the gift shop, looking like he might possibly be there most days. I didn't see him make any sales, though.
The oddest trinkets on sale in the gift show were crumb-sized pieces of coal from the Titanic, packaged in small vials as jewelry or in a plain plastic bag in a box. I think they were priced from 6 to 16 dollars. According to the exhibition documentation, 1 pound of coal supplied energy to move the ship at full speed for 1 foot.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Marriage of Figaro at SFO
Thursday night I went to a performance of the Marriage of Figaro. At first I was going to pass on it, but it really is my favorite opera, so I paid for an expensive side orchestra ticket at the last minute.
I heard the conductor Roy Goodman lead Rodelinda last year, & I remember really liking his conducting, but every time the orchestra started up my first thought was always that it was too fast. He also had the orchestra doing these original instrument things, like having the strings play straight tones without vibrato & doing terraced dynamics. A flute line or horn line would stick out more. I suppose this made details of the orchestration clear, but it often sounded unblended.
I don't know why, but oddly the last moments of the 2nd act finale were not together. Is Goodman's beat not clear? I couldn't tell why he was having coordination problems. I think the tempos were a problem, though. Not enough room to be expressive with the music.
The cast was very even, & they were all good actors. The Figaro was John Relyea, who is tall, lanky & has an athletic stage presence. He seemed to enjoy hopping over benches or steps on stage. & he has a very big voice. Ruth Ann Swenson as the Countess gave the most musically mature & controlled performance of the evening.
But this was very much an ensemble cast. No one performer or character dominated. The secondary roles were especially good. Dr. Bartolo hammed it up, flirting with the audience at the end of the 3rd act sextet, & Marcellina got applause doing her 4th act recitative about women having to stick together against the tyranny of men. For sure everyone was having fun on stage, & so the audience laughed a lot too, even though the staging wasn't especially clever or funny.
I want to know, why is it that characters always run offstage as soon as they finish their arias? Is this a convention? It seems strange, because it always leaves the audience applauding an empty stage. It robs the audience of a chance to interact with the performer
There is always too much to admire about this opera. On this hearing, I was thinking about the character of the Count. He's not a nice guy. He's predatory, smug & unreasonably possessive. Yet in the last act we see Figaro falling prey to that same kind of jealousy. Figaro, whom we like so much, could just as easily be the Count.
I heard the conductor Roy Goodman lead Rodelinda last year, & I remember really liking his conducting, but every time the orchestra started up my first thought was always that it was too fast. He also had the orchestra doing these original instrument things, like having the strings play straight tones without vibrato & doing terraced dynamics. A flute line or horn line would stick out more. I suppose this made details of the orchestration clear, but it often sounded unblended.
I don't know why, but oddly the last moments of the 2nd act finale were not together. Is Goodman's beat not clear? I couldn't tell why he was having coordination problems. I think the tempos were a problem, though. Not enough room to be expressive with the music.
The cast was very even, & they were all good actors. The Figaro was John Relyea, who is tall, lanky & has an athletic stage presence. He seemed to enjoy hopping over benches or steps on stage. & he has a very big voice. Ruth Ann Swenson as the Countess gave the most musically mature & controlled performance of the evening.
But this was very much an ensemble cast. No one performer or character dominated. The secondary roles were especially good. Dr. Bartolo hammed it up, flirting with the audience at the end of the 3rd act sextet, & Marcellina got applause doing her 4th act recitative about women having to stick together against the tyranny of men. For sure everyone was having fun on stage, & so the audience laughed a lot too, even though the staging wasn't especially clever or funny.
I want to know, why is it that characters always run offstage as soon as they finish their arias? Is this a convention? It seems strange, because it always leaves the audience applauding an empty stage. It robs the audience of a chance to interact with the performer
There is always too much to admire about this opera. On this hearing, I was thinking about the character of the Count. He's not a nice guy. He's predatory, smug & unreasonably possessive. Yet in the last act we see Figaro falling prey to that same kind of jealousy. Figaro, whom we like so much, could just as easily be the Count.
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