LOUISE was heard at NYC Opera with Carol Neblett and Kenneth Riegel, after an earlier revival with Norman Treigle as the Father. The singers need to be dominant in their roles or it doesn't come alive. Neblett did a lovely job. Unfortunately, Treigle did not reprise his role with her, but did record an aria on his recital disc. There is also a stunning photo w/him and Arlene Saunders in an opera guide.
In this fourth year of Opera Daily, I marvel at your ability to keep mining the genre to deliver to new listeners like me music that we might otherwise have never discovered.
Add to that the sublime performances of the aria by Renée Fleming and Montserrat Caballé and I have myself a new favorite love song. Adding Mirella Freni's gorgeous "Si mi chiamano Mimi" from "La Boheme" was icing on the cake.
I began to use my new Bing browser ("Your AI-powered co-pilot for the web") unexpectedly. This is what happened:
Me: Is the opera "Louise" being performed anywhere in the world today?
Bing AI: ". . . According to my search results, Louise was last performed in the United States by the Metropolitan Opera in 1948. I could not find any current or upcoming performances of Louise in the United States. Do you have a specific city or opera house in mind?"
I was surprised to be asked a question! I have read enough about AI technology to know it is fast, efficient and should be handled with both care and skepticism. The Bing bot volunteered to play "Depuis le jour", to identify famous sopranos who have sung it, and to define "verismo". On the one hand, I'm like "Yikes!" On the other hand, "Wow!"
It's been reported that AI can offer inaccurate information. Yet I found nothing that contradicted the information in today's Opera Daily, your earlier introduction to verismo, or the Wikipedia description of the same (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verismo).
This technological advance will be a great boon to online researchers, especially when fact-checked against other sources of information. Should AI (or its twin ChatGPT) be used for disinformation or misinformation, however, we would all do well to heed the warnings about software development: "Garbage in, Garbage out." As I cross this new frontier into AI, I for one, will not believe everything I read online.
Finally, as a person who still can't bring herself to talk to Alexa or Siri, because I prefer humans to robots, l have a question for you, based on Gustave Charpentier: Is it unusual for an opera composer to write both the music and the libretto for an opera?
Today's lesson was 👍🏿👏🏿. Thank you for the experience(s).
My experience is that it is unusual or I should say - some have, most have not! I believe Wagner, Menotti and Berlioz wrote many of theirs but I need to dig deeper here! My gut is because writing librettos and writing music are two different skill sets although I feel like I've heard more contemporary composers do this.
Thank you for your reply! Despite limited exposure to the compositions of Wagner, Menotti and Berlioz, I know they have great legacies in classical music and opera. A couple of years ago, you may recall, I had an idea for an opera rooted in hip-hop culture, inspired by my love for Bellini's "Norma". After watching a few YouTube videos, I tried to develop the storyline. You never heard anything more about it for a reason. I realized that with no foundation in music theory and composition, no specialized training in writing a libretto and a steep learning curve in opera, this was just a fantasy🤷🏽♀️. Yet I believe that someone, somewhere - blessed with the genius of a Gustave Charpentier or the aforementioned composers - is already working on a serious opera which will address some story emerging from this uniquely American music and culture. It's just a matter of time!
LOUISE was heard at NYC Opera with Carol Neblett and Kenneth Riegel, after an earlier revival with Norman Treigle as the Father. The singers need to be dominant in their roles or it doesn't come alive. Neblett did a lovely job. Unfortunately, Treigle did not reprise his role with her, but did record an aria on his recital disc. There is also a stunning photo w/him and Arlene Saunders in an opera guide.
Beautifully sung by Renee Fleming... transported me so far away
In this fourth year of Opera Daily, I marvel at your ability to keep mining the genre to deliver to new listeners like me music that we might otherwise have never discovered.
For me, French composer Gustave Charpentier (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Charpentier) and "Louise" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_(opera) were happy revelations. The music and French lyrics of "Depuis le jour" made me feel all the joy, optimism, hope and happiness of falling head over heels in love.
Add to that the sublime performances of the aria by Renée Fleming and Montserrat Caballé and I have myself a new favorite love song. Adding Mirella Freni's gorgeous "Si mi chiamano Mimi" from "La Boheme" was icing on the cake.
I began to use my new Bing browser ("Your AI-powered co-pilot for the web") unexpectedly. This is what happened:
Me: Is the opera "Louise" being performed anywhere in the world today?
Bing AI: ". . . According to my search results, Louise was last performed in the United States by the Metropolitan Opera in 1948. I could not find any current or upcoming performances of Louise in the United States. Do you have a specific city or opera house in mind?"
I was surprised to be asked a question! I have read enough about AI technology to know it is fast, efficient and should be handled with both care and skepticism. The Bing bot volunteered to play "Depuis le jour", to identify famous sopranos who have sung it, and to define "verismo". On the one hand, I'm like "Yikes!" On the other hand, "Wow!"
It's been reported that AI can offer inaccurate information. Yet I found nothing that contradicted the information in today's Opera Daily, your earlier introduction to verismo, or the Wikipedia description of the same (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verismo).
This technological advance will be a great boon to online researchers, especially when fact-checked against other sources of information. Should AI (or its twin ChatGPT) be used for disinformation or misinformation, however, we would all do well to heed the warnings about software development: "Garbage in, Garbage out." As I cross this new frontier into AI, I for one, will not believe everything I read online.
Finally, as a person who still can't bring herself to talk to Alexa or Siri, because I prefer humans to robots, l have a question for you, based on Gustave Charpentier: Is it unusual for an opera composer to write both the music and the libretto for an opera?
Today's lesson was 👍🏿👏🏿. Thank you for the experience(s).
My experience is that it is unusual or I should say - some have, most have not! I believe Wagner, Menotti and Berlioz wrote many of theirs but I need to dig deeper here! My gut is because writing librettos and writing music are two different skill sets although I feel like I've heard more contemporary composers do this.
NYCity Opera did it in the 1960's and 1970's, which I saw about 1975 as above. There is also a companion piece JULIAN that is never done in our time.
Thank you for your reply! Despite limited exposure to the compositions of Wagner, Menotti and Berlioz, I know they have great legacies in classical music and opera. A couple of years ago, you may recall, I had an idea for an opera rooted in hip-hop culture, inspired by my love for Bellini's "Norma". After watching a few YouTube videos, I tried to develop the storyline. You never heard anything more about it for a reason. I realized that with no foundation in music theory and composition, no specialized training in writing a libretto and a steep learning curve in opera, this was just a fantasy🤷🏽♀️. Yet I believe that someone, somewhere - blessed with the genius of a Gustave Charpentier or the aforementioned composers - is already working on a serious opera which will address some story emerging from this uniquely American music and culture. It's just a matter of time!