in search of a Messiah

Hello world!

There are these great moments in Jeeves and Wooster stories when Bertie starts describing people as being like lions or tigers (often tigers protecting cubs or lions being bearded in dens) in defense of some principle, person, or piece of property.  I begin here because I feel I'm sort of entering Wodehouse-ish territory in my search for a Messiah this holiday season.

And I don't mean a baby in a straw bed.  I mean the piece by Handel, one of my all-time favorites ever ever.  To participate in the chorus of, to listen to, just to be near--but mostly to sing the alto solos of.  "But Who May Abide" and "O Thou that Tellest" were the first real pieces of classical music I learned to sing...which would actually be an argument for me hating them as much as I'd hate ever to sing "Star vicino"* again, except that they're so wonderful.

Anyway, I've been going on the offensive.  And possibly the very offensive.  Like a lion with cubs to protect, I have been fiercely propositioning people regarding me singing any Messiah they happen to have heard of.  I have bothered a man coming out of major surgery; I have emailed someone I've never met.  My next plan is to email someone I have met but I think will know of ones only already equipped with alto soloists.  But I'm not leaving stones unturned here.

So, Universe, and anyone happening to read this blog, if you know of any Messiahs without alto soloists, think of me!  I have a fancy red dress and everything!

Sincerely,
"Bumbling towards Bethlehem" Couden

*perfectly pleasant song; even cars could not draw it from my vocal apparatus ever again.

Couden's Culture Corner

It's not really anything to do with anything, but I realized recently that, although I often really enjoy bad movies and books--or movies and books that I'd consider "light" or "easy" (this isn't quite as snobby as it sounds, though it's close [the way I read them (which isn't necessarily the right way), Fathers and Sons was kind of light, while Fruits Basket is actually pretty heavy])--I don't enjoy listening to bad music.

I really can't figure this out.  Because I am very much a proponent of crappy movies.  I love anything with robots, for instance.  I like superheroes.  And I can only rarely be persuaded to see something with Helen Mirren in it--much as I admire her as an actress, she's always in things that just sound way too highbrow for me.  And I often like crappy fiction (I have a well-stocked shelf of '70's through '80's Harlequin Presents novelettes), but can only rarely be prevailed upon to read anything that looks modern and thoughtful, like Angela's Ashes.

So why am I not willing to give myself a chance to enjoy crappy music?  The immediate response is that life's too short, but then by extension life would be too short for the novel Death Takes Up a Collection, one of a series of mysteries in which a San Francisco nun solves church-related murders--and life clearly wasn't.  I want to say that it's because my commitment to music is one of the most serious things in my life, and I can't tolerate the idea of hearing the bad stuff...

But I actually think it's a matter of price point.  The lowest you can get a used CD for is around $5.50.  If you don't like the CD, that's $5.50 you could have spent toward books--and $5.50 plus about $2 can get you a cool used copy of Fleurs du mal, a wall calendar (between the months of May and September), an August Wilson play and a cup of coffee, or about sixteen Harlequins at your local library booksale.

So I try to make real sure that I purchase music I'm going to like, because it's all going to be $5.50 or more. 

I think there's a lesson in here somewhere, but danged if I can figure out what it is.

Ariadne auf Naxos

...has been going great!  The production got a really nice review in San Francisco Classical Voice, which it wholly deserves.  There is freaking gorgeous singing going on from all the principles in their nuttily demanding roles, and the staging is super fun and completely lovely.  I don't want to give too much stuff away; however, I don't think I'm giving anything away by saying that Marie, Buffy, and Emma all sound like a million bucks.  Which together totals three million bucks.  So the price of your ticket is getting you a whole lot of value.

There's this Brief History of Opera thing (not exactly sure of the name of it) that we used to watch in Opera Workshop in undergrad, in which a Canadian* woman's voice gave a point-by-point tally of the number of murders, affairs, suicides, walking talking statues from Hell, and other prurient and/or scandalous points of interest which take place in major operatic works.  The Brief History of Opera-style synopsis of this production of Ariadne goes thusly:

Fireworks!  Projection!  Sapphism!  Slapstick!  Dejection!  Delusion!  People from Milpitas!

Walking talking statue from Hell not included.  This time.

There are two more performances: November 4 at 8 pm, and November 6 at 3 pm.  Purchase tickets and find out information at:
www.berkeleyopera.org


*Well, she sounded a little like the lead singer from Heart anyway.