Boring/not boring
Lyric Opera has announced their 2008-09 season, and I can't say that I'm thrilled. Yes, it will be delightful to hear Natalie Dessay again (Massenet's Manon), and Lulu has been thrown in as a bone to those of us who like edgier work, but, honestly, the season smells of chestnuts roasting. Madame Butterfly, Cav/Pag, Porgy and Bess, Abduction from the Seraglio (which Chicago Opera Theatre did just last season!)The Pearl Fishers, and Tristan und Isolde (Davd Hockney's design), round out the list. Not that these are bad operas, but I would like to see them push the envelope more. Considering that they generally sell more than 100% of their seats, and are pretty much always in the black, they can afford to take more risks.
In the "not boring" category, I went to hear Mozart's Mass in C minor last night, along with Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms and Oliver Knussen's Violin Concerto, Opus 30. See, the CSO does a lot of programs like this. Mozart to get people in the door, and a couple of unfamiliar and contemporary pieces to make us stretch our musical muscles. And we got to see the sweet sight of Knussen himself, a great big bear of a man, sharing the applause with the violinist, slim little Leila Josefowicz.
I'm off this afternoon to a "subscriber appreciation reception" at CSO. I don't know what this is going to entail, but I figure it will be fun to find out.
In the "not boring" category, I went to hear Mozart's Mass in C minor last night, along with Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms and Oliver Knussen's Violin Concerto, Opus 30. See, the CSO does a lot of programs like this. Mozart to get people in the door, and a couple of unfamiliar and contemporary pieces to make us stretch our musical muscles. And we got to see the sweet sight of Knussen himself, a great big bear of a man, sharing the applause with the violinist, slim little Leila Josefowicz.
I'm off this afternoon to a "subscriber appreciation reception" at CSO. I don't know what this is going to entail, but I figure it will be fun to find out.