Day 3

[cpratt]

Day 03. A song that makes you happy

Bear with me for a bit here, as this one is a little bit tricky to explain. I'll begin by pointing out that I have a real love for movies that aren't in a hurry: I love the opening sequence of Syndromes and a Century for example, which either ends or begins (I can't remember) with a shot looking out over rice

Comments

[cpratt]

Ah, right. I should have been more clear about that. The recording of EotB was originally issued as a 4 LP set, which necessarily meant that the 5 hours of music was cut dramatically to fit on that format. Additionally, because this was early on in Philip Glass's career, the quality of the recording was not great and the technology used to create the music was pretty primitive. In short: it was the 1970s, it didn't sound great, and a lot of it was missing - which in this case is important, as the length and repetitiveness of the score is part of what makes the piece great.

The newer recording is much longer, sounds better, has higher quality musicianship, and is absolutely worth the upgrade.

I want to see the stage version because it's Robert Wilson and because I'm of course extremely curious as to what this opera looks like. Given that it's essentially plotless, it's almost certainly best experienced as an experience.

If you ever get the chance, the Berliner Ensemble has a couple of Robert Wilson pieces in their repertory; they also do a Dreigroschenoper that I wasn't able to get tickets to last time I was in Berlin. He also occasionally stages work in Paris.

[itchwoot]

Ahhh... thanks, that's much more comprehensible now!

I'd love to see stuff like this on stage, too, but on the other hand: five hours? Sigh. :)