semele walk, town hall, sydney festival 11/01/2013
just got back from this very unusual staging. i won't go so far as to say it was an opera because there were only 2 characters and let's be honest, zero plot. i knew the plot was being thrown out when the first song after the overture was the last chorus from the end of Act I. props to vivienne westwood for awesome costume/catwalk business, it should have been spread out more throughout the performance though instead of primarily at the beginning.
major sacrilege alert!!: jupiter was sung by a counter-tenor. why why why. as my friend and i discussed, this led to zero contrast between semele and jupiter's voices because the ranges are the very similar.
eta: as i listen back 'jupiter's' first aria was in fact iris' aria, bah
because there was no plot and no secondary characters driving the plot this led primarily to semele singing aria after aria. overall it was ok but i'd like to see some handel specialists really nail the coloratura. and counter-tenor 'where e'er you walk' will never come close to the anne sofie von otter version (from 1990!). to finish off it ended with the penultimate chorus, leaving no happy ending because as aforementioned the plot was thrown out. no final happy chorus :(
saved the best for last. i derived the most joy from the sydney philharmonia choirs as the chorus, scattered through the audience in everyday wear. the overall aural effect was pretty great, surround sound and great singing.
the reception from the audience we thought was very surprising.. standing ovation! my only thought is that handel operas should be done more by opera australia, general handel education is needed.
6/10 including a full 2/10 for the choir alone.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Thursday, January 10, 2013
peace sign
sharon van etten, the famous spiegeltent, sydney festival, 08/01/2013
on the hottest day of the year (including the year before) i saw sharon van etten and band play a mesmerising set in an air-conditioned tent. true to form the sydney festival audience is always unexpectedly mature-aged, about half-half with hipsters who know the music. and sold out pretty early. why is that? it always perplexes me. does sydney festival always have multipasses that these people pad out with acts that they don't know? do they pick based on the spiegeltent's well-deserved reputation for genius curation? are they really plugged into the indie singer-songwriter music scene? really, i would like to know. the lady who sat next to me started out turning to see her friends and fidgeting, only polite clapping after the first song and then not bothering to applaud again until near the end. at some points she clutched her ears due to volume.
overall i was suitably impressed with the performance. sharon van etten makes a point of staring straight out into the audience with her one revealed eye (the other behind bangs). the signature sound is rhythmic wall of sound and constant double-voiced harmonies along with not-happy melodies that develop sweetly into hooky turns and climaxes. normally i listen to the recordings at a softish calm background volume, but to hear it all cranked up was pretty great. vocally at some points she has a neko case-ish valley of the winds sound and there is a soft husky smoothness retained up into the high notes and full volume - very interesting voice.
at the end my seat neighbour reconvened with her friend and started raving about it. while trailing out i also overheard an older man remark that he liked one of the songs 'where you could actually hear the words'. who are these people?
8/10
on the hottest day of the year (including the year before) i saw sharon van etten and band play a mesmerising set in an air-conditioned tent. true to form the sydney festival audience is always unexpectedly mature-aged, about half-half with hipsters who know the music. and sold out pretty early. why is that? it always perplexes me. does sydney festival always have multipasses that these people pad out with acts that they don't know? do they pick based on the spiegeltent's well-deserved reputation for genius curation? are they really plugged into the indie singer-songwriter music scene? really, i would like to know. the lady who sat next to me started out turning to see her friends and fidgeting, only polite clapping after the first song and then not bothering to applaud again until near the end. at some points she clutched her ears due to volume.
overall i was suitably impressed with the performance. sharon van etten makes a point of staring straight out into the audience with her one revealed eye (the other behind bangs). the signature sound is rhythmic wall of sound and constant double-voiced harmonies along with not-happy melodies that develop sweetly into hooky turns and climaxes. normally i listen to the recordings at a softish calm background volume, but to hear it all cranked up was pretty great. vocally at some points she has a neko case-ish valley of the winds sound and there is a soft husky smoothness retained up into the high notes and full volume - very interesting voice.
at the end my seat neighbour reconvened with her friend and started raving about it. while trailing out i also overheard an older man remark that he liked one of the songs 'where you could actually hear the words'. who are these people?
8/10
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