The Incorporation of Opera in Shawshank Redemption

I think it demonstrates a great deal of creativity when directors draw from other resources to create an effect or evoke a response from the audience. And in my opinion, the movie that does this with such genius and expertise is the scene in the Shawshank Redemption where the leading character who is an inmate barricades himself in the prison office which housed the PA system. He then decides to play and aria from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figoro and broadcast it throughout the facility. Once the music rings across the yards, you get different responses from different people. The guard who left his post to relieve himself scrambles out of the bathroom to stop the unusual occurrence only to find himself unable to apprehend the culprit due to a barricaded door. Other officials of the prison are also alarmed at the disturbance because they dread how it may effect the inmates.

The astonishing thing about the whole episode was that in the courtyard of the prison there were hundreds of prisoners just standing still and gazing in the heavens as if transfixed on a celestial being. Even those in the infirmary glanced out the windows only to be mesmerized also by the music. So here we have a paradox, the guards and officials acting like animals feverishly trying to crush the disturbance, and the so called animals (the inmates) totally absorbed and captivated by the pulsating melodies resonating from such a beautiful voice.

I was so moved that I found myself emotionally attached to entire scene. The operatic effect in that movie was profound!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=718RlaIYBlo

La Vie Parisienne

Saturday evening April 12, at 7:30 pm, my wife and I attended the final performance of Jacques Offenbach’s comic operetta La Vie Parisienne presented by The Northeastern Illinois University Department of Music. The cast in order of appearance were Christopher Zeglin (Bobinet), Patricia Mehler (Madame Karadec), Philip Platakis (Lead Waiter), Fred Sivils (Train Employee), Nicholas Brubaker (Gardefeu), Alaina Carlson (Metella), Robert Heitzinger (Gontran), David Mitchell (Joseph), Erica Sauder (Swedish Baroness), Brennan Roach (Barton Gandermack), and Wellington Da Silva (Brazilian Millionaire).

The opening scene depicts a typical Paris street café near a train station where tourist congregate. Café workers scurry back and forth setting their tables for perspective customers. Mr. Bobinet excorts his rich aunt to the train station and before she leaves, he is given strict instructions not to have parties in her mansion. At the café, Mr. Bobinet runs into his best friend Mr. Gardefeu and they have brief argument over a women who they both were in love with. Afterwards, Mr. Gardefeu declares that from now on, he will only pursue women of wealth and influence to marry so that he will be well taken care of.

Mr. Gardefeu meets his former valet Joseph who informs him he is now a tour guide and that he will be escorting a wealthy Baroness and her wayward American husband around Paris. Mr. Gardefeu immediately decides to persude Joseph to let him play the role of tour guide so that he can seduce the Baroness. In the last moments of scene 2 all conflicts are resolved. Lovers are reunited and quarrels are set aside as they all sing “Life is short, spend time with you love. Seize the day, don’t let it slip away. Do the best, near, far, east and west. Live without regret, that’s “La Vie Parisenne”. The plot takes a lot of twists and turns and I think the content is suitable for a young viewing audience.

The arias, duets, and choruses were quite lyrical and also silly which caught my interest, I was also pleased with the great dance routine. The fine arts theater at Northeastern University is very impressive. It has slanted seating that offers comfortable views from many angles. Also the stage is wide and deep enough to give adequate depth. The stage props reflected visions of Paris during the 1920’s. The costumes worn, especially by the women were highly elegant displaying the high class fashions of that period in history.

Queenie Pie

It was a brisk Sunday afternoon that I hurried downtown to millennium park to catch the 3:00 pm performance of Duke Ellington’s urban opera entitled Queenie Pie playing at the Harris Theater. The cast includes Karen Marie Richardson (Queenie Pie), Anna Bowen (Café Au Lait), Keithon Gipson (Holt Faye), Jeffery Polk (Lil Daddy), Keithon Gipson (King), Jeffery Polk (Witch Doctor). The opera also included an ensemble of ten; Carrie Louise Abernathy, Loren Battieste, Chris Carter, Daryn Harrell, Donica Lynn Henderson, Cortez L. Johnson, Brian-Alwyn Newland, Keewa Nurullah, Ninah Snipes, and Trequon Tate.

As I entered the Theater, the usher escorted me to the upper balcony to the nose bleed section which I surprisingly found quite comfortable because I could stretch my legs for a change. Although I was quite a distance from the stage, I could here and see the cast very well. I found the Theater’s layout to be amazing, especially how the orchestra pit and stage is situated 5 levels under the main entrance. I found the staging to be un inspiring as well as the bland. I was expecting it to be more elaborate and flashy since the characters were wealthy African Americans.

The plot basically centers around Queenie who has just won her tenth title as the best and powerful beautician in the country. She throws a big party and invites her admirers and detractors so that she can flaunt her success and receive their praises and criticism. One of her competitors Café Au Lait vows to become more successful than Queenie by setting up her beauty shop in Harlem. First thing she does is seduces Queenie’s business manager and boyfriend Holt faye who plans to use Queenie by passing valuable business information to her rival and his new found love Café Au Lait. When Café Au Lait finds out that Holt is going to see Queenie one evening, she becomes jealous and confronts them with a gun and accidentally kills Holt. Queenie goes into a state of depression, and Café Au Lait goes to prison where she sees the error of her ways. Meanwhile, Queenie’s faithful servant Lil Daddy persuades her to sail to a distant Island to retrieve a rare plant that will make her business more profitable. She reluctantly goes and meets the King of the Island and begins to plot a way to become his wife and be a real Queen. The King perceives her selfish ambition and rejects her.

When Café Lait is released from prison, Queenie’s servant Lil Daddy tells her about the same plant on the remote Island which she agrees to search out to revive her beauty business. Eventually, Queenie meets Café on the Island and they both reconcile there differences and become friends.

I felt that the music was reminiscent and a reflection of the urban life during the black renaissance period of Harlem in 1937 with it’s jazz melodies.

Rusalka

On the 26th of February,2014, I attended the 7:30 performance of Antonin Dvorak’s opera Rusalka playing at the Lyric Opera of Chicago till March 16th. The characters in order of vocal appearance are: First Wood Nymph(Lauren Snouffer), Second Wood Nymph (J’Nai Bridges) Third Wood Nymph (Cynthia Hanna), Vodnik (Eric Owens), Rusalka (Ana Maria Martinez), Jezibaba (Jill Grove), Hunter (Anthony Clark Evans), Prince (Brandon Jovanovich), Gamekeeper (Philip Horst), Kitchen boy (Daniela Mack), and the Foreign (Ekaterina Gubanova).
The opening scene with the wood nymphs dancing in the moonlight reminds me of the story of fairies told to me when I was a child. The orchestration was a combination of vibrancy and beauty with mysterious undertones that complemented the movement of the nymphs.

I was fascinated with the elaborate three dimensional staging which provided exceptional depth and realism to each scene along with the gloomy mist, jagged leafless trees and prominent moon shining on the lake in the dark forest. My sympathies were divided between Rusalka, who longs to be human so that she can fully experience what it’s like to be caressed and loved by the Prince who is unaware that she exist and Vodnik, her father who is deeply distraught because he knows that her desire to be human will ultimately lead to her ruin. However, because of his unconditional love for his daughter, he concedes to her wishes and advises her to visit the house of the witch Jezibaba ( reminds me of Jezebel) who has the power to make her human.

Rusalka visits Jezababa and entreats her to grant the request she desires which she does but it comes with two stipulations; she would lose her speech and also if she fails to win the prince, she would be condemned to eternal misery. Despite the terrible consequences, she chooses to take the chance. When she becomes human and the prince sees her in the forest, he is instantly smitten by her beauty and immediately decides to take her as his wife. Unfortunately, the prince soon grows weary with Rusalka because of her being mute and strange behavior due to her struggle to understand what it is to be human. The prince then becomes interested in the foreign princess who steals his heart from Rusalka. This love triangle reaches it’s climax when the princess decides to leave the prince because she feels he may still harbor hidden affection for Rusalka. After losing both women, he decides to search for Rusalka in the forest, finds her, and re-dedicates himself, even at the expense of losing his soul if he gives her one kiss. He accepts his fate, kisses her, and dies.

To me, the most moving character was Vodnik (Eric Owens), because he seemed to be ever present, lamenting over the daughter he loved so much. The aria I enjoyed most was Rusalka’s (Ana Maria Martinez’s) “Song to the moon”.

The Barber of Seville- Review

On Thursday February 6, 2014, I took the advantage of attending an afternoon matinee performance of Gioachino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, playing at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The cast includes Nathan Gunn (Figaro), Isabel Leonard (Rosina), Alex Shrader (Count Almaviva), Alessandro Corbelli (Dr.Bartolo), Kyle Ketelsen (Don Basilio), Tracy Cantin (Berta), Will Liverman (Fiorello), and John Irvin (Sergeant).

It was the first time I had the opportunity of attending a show in one of the premier opera theaters of Chicago. As I quickly stepped inside to escape the frigid winds of downtown Wacker Drive, I was greeted by thoughtful and courteous attendants. I was quite impressed by the senior ushers who presented themselves in a dignified and orderly manner. As I sat down in the theater I was fascinated with the architecture that surrounded me. The ambient lighting, the multi- tiered balcony with gold trimming and ornamentation, and of course the large stage and orchestra pit.

I was thrilled to arrive just in time to here an informative lecture by Jack Zimmerman who began his talk by saying “According to opera lore, Gioachino Rossini liked to compose in bed. Occasionally he’d drop a sheet of completed manuscript on the floor, and rather than throw back the covers and get up to retrieve it, he’d simply compose a new page.” He also mentions that “Rossini had begun composing when he was only 11. By 21 having produced Tancredi and L’italiana in Ageri, he was the most successful composer in Italy. He wrote Barbiere before he was 24. It took him all of three weeks, and the work became a cultural landmark, known even to people who have never seen the inside of an opera house.”

When the lights dimmed and the overture began, I said to myself “I’ve heard this before”. The familiar, rapid playing violins accompanied by timpani, horns and flutes. It was such a grand introduction! When the curtain lifted, it was as if I was transported back to 19th century Seville. The customs were very colorful and the stage set was superbly designed.

Act one opens with Count Almavira (alias Lindoro), his servant Fiorella, and a group of hired musicians attempting to serenade Rosina whom Almavira is madly in love with. The antagonist, Dr. Bartolo who is the elderly guardian of Rosina has already planned to take her as his wife by force. The Count who has disguised himself as a common person is hoping Rosina will accept him in his disguise so that their love will be true. Thinking his serenade attempt failed, he employs the skills of the popular Figoro who gladly agrees to help him win Rosina, for a handsome fee of course. Once Rosina has declares her love for Count Almavira, Figoro must come up with the perfect plot to win Rosina’s freedom from the cruel Dr. Bartolo who also has an elaborate plot of his own to ensnare her. The short arias during act one along with the duet between Figoro and Count Almavira (All’idea di quel metallo), adds to the suspense of the scene. In act two, Dr. Bartolo tries to deceive Rosina into thinking that Lindoro is working for the Count who wants to have her not knowing that Lindoro is the Count. Dr. Bartolo then employs Don Basilio to assist him in formulating a plan to marry Rosina against her will. However, in the end, Count Almavira reveals himself to Rosina, Dr. Bartolos is totally vanquished, and the two lovers live happily ever after.

What captivated my attention the most was the villainous portrayal of Dr. Bartolo played by Alessandro Corbelli, I could not wait till he received his just reward. Although the opera was quite lengthy, I enjoyed it completely. I would like to share a classic cartoon that depicts this opera from a different perspective, it is the 1949 classic “Rabbit of Seville”; It’s hilarious!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INGB4tFvHwY

Brokeback Mountain

Last Friday at 1:00 pm I watched the world premiere streaming of the opera Brokeback Mountain performed at the Teatro Real Madrid. The composer is Charles Wuorinen and libretto written by Annie Proulxs. The cast includes Jack Twist, Ennis del Mar, Alma, Lureen, Aguirre, Alma’s mother, Jack’s mother and father,

The opera opens with Aguirre pacing back and forth on stage waiting for Ennis and Jack to arrive at the work sites on brokeback mountain. The backdrop displays a video projection of sheep, hills and mountains which gives the viewer the illusion that the characters are not on a stage but are in in rough mountainous country. When Ennis and Jack arrive, Aquirre scolds them for being late, then immediately gives them their job descriptions and restrictions. The men are dressed in the typical cowboy type of attire. The dialogue used is a combination of the common language heard in places like Montana and Wyoming expressed in a lyrical fashion.

Jack is the extravert tenor that opens up to Ennis, the introvert baritone. In the beginning of their relationship, both men are isolated form civilization for long periods of time battling idleness and deprived of the normal pleasures of life. As time passes and boredom reaches it’s height, the two men get drunk and wind up having a torrid intimate encounter which completely changes their relationship and exposes hidden desires that neither thought could come from the other. The orchestra magnifies each dramatic moment as the plot unfolds.

Afterwards, both men try to attribute their intimate encounter to isolation and boredom. However they find themselves together over and over again. Jack finally acknowledges and accepts the feelings he has for Ennis, but Ennis spurns Jack and both men return to their previous lives.

Years past, Jack who is now married to Lureen contacts Ennis who is married to Alma. Ennis is elated to here from Jack and the affair starts again. Alma finds out about them and divorces Ennis. Jack tries to persuade Ennis to start a life with him but Ennis recalls an incident when he was a child that involved two men intimate with each other and one found dead in a sewer’s ditch. The opera ends with Jack dying and Ennis regretting his reluctance to start a life with Jack.

Gioacchino Rossini

Gioacchino Rossini was born February 29, 1792 in Pesaro Italy and died November 13, 1868 in Passy near Paris France. He was an Italian composer known for his operas which include one of his best known works entitled The Barber of Seville. This particular opera was taken from the first of three plays from the Figaro trilogy by the French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais.

Rossini did not depend upon the traditional form of comic aria which used the recitative and declamatory styles of singing. His approach employed the art of beautiful song(bel canto). This style of singing was exemplified by the finest Italian singers of the 18th and 19th centuries during the romantic period of music history.

This genre of opera is called opera buffa, it depicts the ordinary life of the common man during the early 18th century. I would think that the dialogue in The Barber of Seville would be akin to the street vernacular and low class expressions used in today’s society. It’s amazing to me how we as social beings find elaborate ways to fill our past time no matter what period of time we find ourselves in. We create these artistic diversions and vicariously live through them.

I think it’s fascinating that particular operatic works stand the test of time in regard to their public appeal, and I believe Rossini’s The Barber of Seville can be placed in the prestigious group of musical, comical masterpieces. I don’t consider myself a faithful patron of the operatic arts, but I have always since childhood had a great appreciation for music that’s beautiful and full of melody. I remember as a child I watched the bugs bunny animated cartoon featuring the music from The Barber of Seville, It was hilarious!

Cherubini-Requiem In C Minor Music 115:Opera

I think it’s amazing how in this life we human beings  can discover creations of shear beauty and genius,    I  found these wonderful attributes contained within Cherubini’s Requiem in C Minor.  I would have never known of such a great work if I had not been exposed  to it while singing with  the University Choir here at UIC.

I was so impressed with this remarkable piece that I decided to investigate the history behind it and it turned out to be an amazing history lesson  to say the least.  On January 21, 1817 a special memorial took place in the crypt below the abbey church of  St.  Denis in France.  Cheribini performed his Requiem in C major to commemorate the anniversary of the execution of Louis XVI during the Revolution.  When the monarchy was restored, they ordered a search for the bodies of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette which they found and took to the crypt of St. Denis.  The government of Louis XVIII planned the memorial service and commissioned Cherubini to compose the requiem for the occasion.

Usually when we think of requiems our thoughts focus on the morbid, but if you meditate on the sublime melodies rendered by this work, you may develop a more positive perspective for this masterpiece.

I believe the music itself transcends even the purpose for it’s creation. Within it’s notes are solemn themes that we all can benefit from even in today’s rat race.