Cunning little vixen.
Wed, Apr 3 2013, 9:36PM
Tomorrow evening the ' Doc' gets to see what he wholeheartedly believes is the greatest opera ever written. Yes, Welsh National Opera are coming to Plymouth and performing Janacek's crowning masterpiece, opera's crowning masterpiece. The doc is having an early night tonight but if any of you are passing Plymouth tomorrow please join Brodsky for canopies, caviar and carlsberg lager, export only, the doc has taste, at the theatre in Plymouth. The doc is buying.
Thu, Apr 4 2013, 4:43AM
#2
RE: Cunning little vixen.
You're such a cunning little...fox, Mr. Sidney. However, I commend you for your choice of "the best Opera ever", even if I may not agree.
I hope we may be enlightened by your experience of it in Plymouth.
Parla
Thu, Apr 4 2013, 8:39AM
#3
RE: Cunning little vixen.
Doc, maybe that should have read 'can of peas'? Either way, the audience would be well advised to stay upwind.
I have been to several productions of Vixen, listened many times on disc and still can't get into this opera in the way I can to his others. My loss. If anyone can suggest a 'way in' then I'd be extremely grateful (and if you could make it a BOGOF offer and also throw in the secret of unlocking Brahms, that would be the icing on the cake).
I see that Jonathan Summers is singing the Forrester. Fine singer.
Enjoy, Doc!
Thu, Apr 4 2013, 7:33PM
#4
RE: Cunning little vixen.
I have been to several productions of Vixen, listened many times on disc and still can't get into this opera in the way I can to his others. My loss. If anyone can suggest a 'way in' then I'd be extremely grateful (and if you could make it a BOGOF offer and also throw in the secret of unlocking Brahms, that would be the icing on the cake).
I'd love to offer a hand on either score, JKH. But having the greatest respect for your opera knowledge, what can I add to what you already know?
There are scads of musical representations of man's life cycle but surely none has been put together with such a light hand, such a fine balance of bitter and sweet, as Vixen. The gamekeeper's final aria, music played at Janacek's funeral, never fails to catch me by the throat.
As for Brahms, his door was unlocked 40-odd years ago in my student days when I was woken up on a Saturday morning, rather worse for wear, by that radio programme - was it Building a Library? - comparing all the available versions of Brahms PC2. It all clicked for me right then and by noon I was down at NEMS looking for the Solomon/Dobrowen lp.
Try it. Go on a bender with your mates and get your better half to interrupt your recovery around 10 a.m. with some Johannes at full volume. Let me know how it goes.
Thu, Apr 4 2013, 11:10PM
#5
RE: Cunning little vixen.
Excellent if rather small scale performance. Some dodgy wind playing, excellent forester. It didn't rain so canopy not needed.
Thu, Apr 4 2013, 11:15PM
#6
RE: Cunning little vixen.
Plymouth is a sh1t hole, nice theatre though.
Thu, Apr 4 2013, 11:14PM
#7
RE: Cunning little vixen.
Brahms - stop thinking of Brahms as an old bearded victorian. Listen to his serenade no1.
Thu, Apr 4 2013, 11:55PM
#8
RE: Cunning little vixen.
Some dodgy wind playing
That'll be the can of peas.
Fri, Apr 5 2013, 11:02AM
#9
RE: Cunning little vixen.
Is it only me that finds a woman in a fox costume with pointy ears and pig tails extremely sexy.
Fri, Apr 5 2013, 2:55PM
#10
RE: Cunning little vixen.
Interesting - I watch a lot of opera at the Theatre Royal Plymouth, as it's my home town and my old man works at the theatre (I agree it is a great theatre - a sort of mini version of Dennis Lasdun's NT - and is about to get a lot nicer thanks to a major refurb and foyer extension).
I'd be interested in where you sat and what you thought to the sound: I often sit on the front row of the Plenum (the bit of the dress circle that juts out/down into the stalls and offers a great view of the pit) but the orchestral sound there is poor. Theatre staff tell me that you hear much more (paradoxically) under the canopies of the dress circle and upper circle.
Did you get to Lulu too? The pit at the Theatre Royal is tiny - but Glyndebourne managed to get Hansel and Gretel in there which according to a member of their own staff is played with the same sized band as Die meistersinger.
Fri, Apr 5 2013, 2:58PM
#11
RE: Cunning little vixen.
...to add, in a piece like Vixen I often find an unsympathetic acoustic actually helps orchestrally - as it makes the band play with the sort of rawness and lunge that Janacek needs. I saw it in Copenhagen recently - the house has such a generous resonance (especially down low) that the conductor Sondergard appeared to try and quieten certain low brass down - smoothen them out - which was a shame. Maybe that helped in Plymouth?
Fri, Apr 5 2013, 3:56PM
#12
RE: Cunning little vixen.
I agree, a raw acoustic suits Janacek, who wrote excellently for woodwind and brass. I fear I may have sat where in the wrong place. Circle, row C. Apologies to the woodwind as well as it was the trombone that was dodgy. No, this was the only performance I got to this season, reading Wedekind's play(s) put me off Lulu. Spending an afternoon shopping in Plymouth has put me off Plymouth. The centre looks like it must have done in 1945 just after the war.
Fri, Apr 5 2013, 6:41PM
#13
RE: Cunning little vixen.
Is it only me that finds a woman in a fox costume with pointy ears and pig tails extremely sexy.
The 1995 Chatelet production featured two of them jumping about on a huge bed.
One closed one's eyes and considered parallels with Der Rosenkavalier
Fri, Apr 5 2013, 7:46PM
#14
RE: Cunning little vixen.
Is it available on DVD, import, I don't care how much it costs.
Sat, Apr 6 2013, 11:48PM
#15
RE: Cunning little vixen.
Tagalie, that's very kind of you, but I hope I never tire of trying to unlock the secret - of this and any other work/composer that doesn't quite hit the spot, Brahms included. Thanks to you (and Doc) I tried the 1st Serenade this morning during a hangover-free listening session. I certainly enjoyed it, though whether it's the answer to my Brahms blind spot I don't know yet.
I also listened to the first two acts of Vixen again and I must admit that there were considerable stretches where I found myself thinking "I can't remember it being that good", so who knows, after a lay-off of some years it may at last be the right time for me to get to appreciate it properly.
Glad you enjoyed the performance, Doc.
No doubt Devon Farmer will take you up on your offer. And by the way, I take it that's canapes you're offering unless you're setting up a beer tent.
I like your taste in opera. A wonderful, much-misunderstood and underestimated work.