Music
-
When I was young, I used to be fairly vicious in denouncing music that I thought inferior, especially if I thought it was merely commercial. If you've seen the movie High Fidelity, think of the two music nerds who worked in the record store, especially the character played by Jack Black. I don't think I…
-
Weekend Music I'm sorry the name of the song is visible here, so you won't get the same shock of recognition I did when I happened across this song the other day. I almost never listen to the radio anymore, but one day last weekend I turned it on, and the regional PBS station was…
-
In a comment on the previous discussion of Wagner, Rob G mentioned a book by E. Michael Jones called Dionysius Rising, in which Jones discusses various unhealthy tendencies of modern music (or so I understand–I have not read the book but I remember seeing reviews when it came out). That reminded me that a magazine…
-
Wagner: The State of the Question (For the benefit of anyone coming across this post in isolation from its predecessors of the past two weeks: I am writing this after having seen a repeat of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2011-12 Live in HD broadcast of its new Ring cycle.) I suppose I should say “The Ring” instead of…
-
Weekend Music Don't worry, this is not about to become an all-Wagner blog. I may write about him Sunday, or may not depending on how much time I have. But a great deal of my time apart from my job has been or will be (Götterdämmerung this afternoon) spent attending the Ring this week, so naturally it's…
-
The closing words of Siegfried: leuchtende Liebe,lachender Tod! or radiant love,joyful death! Now of course there’s a way of meaning those words that could be very true and very Christian, but I’m afraid it’s just death-wish romanticism. Correct me if I’m wrong.
-
I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to say more about last night's Siegfried, but here's a quick note about the singer in the title role, Jay Hunter Morris. I'm not very knowledgeable about classical singers, just enough that I generally recognize the big names. I did not recognize Morris's name, but didn't assume…
-
I saw this second opera of The Ring last night, all four hours of it, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm definitely into this now; I hope nothing prevents me from seeing Siegfried Wednesday and Götterdämmerung on Saturday. I believe I like Walküre better than Rheingold musically. Although for the most part I've been finding Wagner more interesting than moving, the…
-
Weekend Music This is from an album called Southward, another album that I sampled on eMusic only because the art and the title intrigued me, and ended up buying. It consists of old gospel samples mixed with rhythm tracks, synths, and other things. This is probably my favorite track. Here's the cover:
-
So I went to see the Metropolitan Opera's Rheingold tonight, as I had said I would, unless I didn't. And I'm glad I did. I greatly enjoyed it. Visually and sonically it was very impressive, although opera singers were never meant to be seen in movie-style closeup, the way video productions show them, and it's occasionally…
Light On Dark Water 