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Norman Treigle and Marilyn Niska appeared at City Opera (1972). Treigle was phenomenal and Niska was fine. The clip on Floyd is good; right below it was a 1958 excerpt with Treigle that is off the charts and Phyllis Curtain in a cameo. Flawed but unforgettable viewing.
Did you see the Met production? I am going to listen to the excerpt with Treigle from City Opera. I worked a bit to try to find a recording of Phyllis Curtain singing the aria but couldn’t locate. I am going to dig a bit more.
"Emotional" is precisely how I felt this morning upon listening to "The trees on the mountain" from Carlisle Lloyd's "Susannah", performed here by Renée Fleming. The interview with Carlisle Lloyd. was a revelation. To think that the Florida State University - known for football, baseball, dance and circus programs - gave the world this composer and his world-famous opera - amazes me.
This evening I thought I'd listen to the excerpts from "Kat'a Kabanova" by Czech composer Leoš Janáček. I soon realized that these two operas have similar themes, in that both appear to be based on the tragic entanglements of female protagonists, trapped in societies where they have no free agency, are subject to oppressive constraints, and find that the only acceptable way to avoid shame and condemnation is through self-negation or self-destruction.
My initial response to today's aria was so emotional that I decided not to post it on this forum. These powerful reactions to Lloyd's and Janáček's operas caught me by surprise. I am officially, Ayten and Michele, an "emotional" wreck - but in a positive way.
P.S. Mr. Quinn, you led me to the beautiful "Sinfonietta".
I love that you made the theme connection on those two pieces. I feel so much for Susannah - she is really a child - a young woman with all the hope in the world and then all of a sudden she gets pegged as a seductress. This aria reaches into your heart and rips it apart! When I found the video with Carlisle Floyd it turned out to be my favorite part of the post.
I am putting the final touches on the post for today on Maria Callas and I am starting to feel like I am turning Opera Daily into the present day Behind the Music from VH1! 😂
As a fan of VH1's "Behind the Music" and Bravo's "Inside the Actor's Studio", I like how you draw from a combination of both to enhance our opera appreciation. If this proves to be your next level, as you hinted early on, I'm here for it!
YouTube users know that algorithms magically serve up unsought videos based on one's selections. So, I have been listening to different singers, at varying skill levels, perform "The Trees on the Mountain". Renée Fleming remains my winner and still champion, although Kate Royal (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U0qm0ajsWk) and Meghan Mahlberg Kilcoyne (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1BV4BCDhRE) held their own!
I also found an old interview with Phyllis Curtin (about whom I knew absolutely nothing until your previous entry). The backstory of how she and Carlisle Floyd met, how they brought "Susannah" to the world, and details on her incredible career, are shared here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL8qTF4a).
So tomorrow I will clear my head of this music, and attempt to celebrate America's sad and fraught 2020 Thanksgiving, with a delicious serving of Maria Callas. Have a Healthy Thanksgiving!
Sometimes YouTube guides my listening choices. Today I opted for a production of "Susannah" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0npKoH3XCEI). Though not as polished as a Renée Fleming, Victoria Hill was credible in the starring role. I didn't always listen closely, but even when I didn't look or understand the vocals, I could feel the drama evolve through the music. Now I know where "The Trees On the Mountain" fits in. The music in the second act was far more interesting than the first as things build up to the climax. This opera can easily be adapted to cross-cultural contexts. The story of a community creating a Jezebel, on which to project its fears of a woman's independence (especially her sexual freedom), is as old as Adam and Eve. Singling out an individual, or a group, for marginalization or oppression is at the dark heart of racism, sexism, ageism and homophobia. By making The Other its witch or bogeyman, ways a community reinforces its identity while acting on its basest human impulses. Despite the tragedy which precipitated it, Susannah stood up for and defended herself. I wonder what a third act might have been. I'll have to write that one in my imagination.
Idle Mind Questions: Are opera and musical theater different? Is "Susannah" more of the latter than the former? Are there any American opera composers who enjoy the kind of respect European audiences have given to some of our famous singers? Finally, as I struggle with the definition and contours of the art form, is the beloved Christmas classic, "Amahl and the Night Visitors" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPAjNu4WW0I), a true opera if there's only one act? Okay, the real world is calling. Backatcha, bye!🙋♀️
I love that you came back to this one! "❤️" it for now, but coming back in a little bit with some thoughts because these are great questions to ponder! And "Amahl and the Night Visitors"! This brings back s many memories and another place to dig in again this week!
I spent some time thinking about the end of this piece. Even when Little Bat admits to lying about Susannah, nothing really changed in the minds of the church elders' wives. They still acted like she was dangerous and not to be trusted. Felt like a hint of conspiracy at that was sufficient to ruin her forever. Yes, Susannah is free from horrible world she was living in, but what about the cost? I wonder how that experience truly changed Susannah. I mean she was 18 years old - how could it not?
I am going to cover your opera / musical theater / American composer questions in an upcoming post because THEY ARE RICH (but of course look forward to any thoughts from others). Let me just say that opera tends to be sung though out while musicals have spoken dialogue - but there are so many exceptions on both sides that I can't give a definitive answer!
And my feeling is yes on the one acts being true operas. Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni is a great one act opera (this one is usually paired with Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo - referred to as Cav/Pag - double-bill)
Guess what I found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaAJLY0i23o! The opening bars of the music were so dreamy and romantic that I bookmarked it for tomorrow, only to listen anyway. I'll watch the performance with intention tomorrow.
I am happy for your feedback on Susannah, because I'm still thinking of her. She's so different from the women protagonists in the classic operas we've visited so far. As a contemporary American woman in an empowered age, I relate to her. Susannah was liberated when we met her at the beginning of Act 1, and victimized by the end. In Act 2 she was victimized at the start, then dramatically liberated by the end.
Caught up in the contradictions of a parochial world not of her own making, others projected their selfish needs, desires, and values upon her. The tragedy is someone had to die for her to survive.
I'm going to imagine that in Act 3, she eventually got the hell outta that holler, and became a big star at the Grand Ole Opry like Dolly Parton. Operas can end in triumph,
right? 🤩😄 Meanwhile, I'll be leaning in to the upcoming posts.
Emotional
I agree - good word choice 😊
Norman Treigle and Marilyn Niska appeared at City Opera (1972). Treigle was phenomenal and Niska was fine. The clip on Floyd is good; right below it was a 1958 excerpt with Treigle that is off the charts and Phyllis Curtain in a cameo. Flawed but unforgettable viewing.
Did you see the Met production? I am going to listen to the excerpt with Treigle from City Opera. I worked a bit to try to find a recording of Phyllis Curtain singing the aria but couldn’t locate. I am going to dig a bit more.
No, unfortunately.
"Ain't it a pretty night" from Susannah
on
Phyllis Curtin
Opera Arias
CD / VAI 1152 (1998)
Cool yes I found that one just not the trees on the mountains. Thank you!
Someone gave me a private LP recording w/Treigle and Niska from City Opera.
"Emotional" is precisely how I felt this morning upon listening to "The trees on the mountain" from Carlisle Lloyd's "Susannah", performed here by Renée Fleming. The interview with Carlisle Lloyd. was a revelation. To think that the Florida State University - known for football, baseball, dance and circus programs - gave the world this composer and his world-famous opera - amazes me.
This evening I thought I'd listen to the excerpts from "Kat'a Kabanova" by Czech composer Leoš Janáček. I soon realized that these two operas have similar themes, in that both appear to be based on the tragic entanglements of female protagonists, trapped in societies where they have no free agency, are subject to oppressive constraints, and find that the only acceptable way to avoid shame and condemnation is through self-negation or self-destruction.
My initial response to today's aria was so emotional that I decided not to post it on this forum. These powerful reactions to Lloyd's and Janáček's operas caught me by surprise. I am officially, Ayten and Michele, an "emotional" wreck - but in a positive way.
P.S. Mr. Quinn, you led me to the beautiful "Sinfonietta".
I love that you made the theme connection on those two pieces. I feel so much for Susannah - she is really a child - a young woman with all the hope in the world and then all of a sudden she gets pegged as a seductress. This aria reaches into your heart and rips it apart! When I found the video with Carlisle Floyd it turned out to be my favorite part of the post.
I am putting the final touches on the post for today on Maria Callas and I am starting to feel like I am turning Opera Daily into the present day Behind the Music from VH1! 😂
Oop! Make that Carlisle Floyd, not Lloyd.
As a fan of VH1's "Behind the Music" and Bravo's "Inside the Actor's Studio", I like how you draw from a combination of both to enhance our opera appreciation. If this proves to be your next level, as you hinted early on, I'm here for it!
YouTube users know that algorithms magically serve up unsought videos based on one's selections. So, I have been listening to different singers, at varying skill levels, perform "The Trees on the Mountain". Renée Fleming remains my winner and still champion, although Kate Royal (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U0qm0ajsWk) and Meghan Mahlberg Kilcoyne (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1BV4BCDhRE) held their own!
I also found an old interview with Phyllis Curtin (about whom I knew absolutely nothing until your previous entry). The backstory of how she and Carlisle Floyd met, how they brought "Susannah" to the world, and details on her incredible career, are shared here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL8qTF4a).
So tomorrow I will clear my head of this music, and attempt to celebrate America's sad and fraught 2020 Thanksgiving, with a delicious serving of Maria Callas. Have a Healthy Thanksgiving!
Sometimes YouTube guides my listening choices. Today I opted for a production of "Susannah" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0npKoH3XCEI). Though not as polished as a Renée Fleming, Victoria Hill was credible in the starring role. I didn't always listen closely, but even when I didn't look or understand the vocals, I could feel the drama evolve through the music. Now I know where "The Trees On the Mountain" fits in. The music in the second act was far more interesting than the first as things build up to the climax. This opera can easily be adapted to cross-cultural contexts. The story of a community creating a Jezebel, on which to project its fears of a woman's independence (especially her sexual freedom), is as old as Adam and Eve. Singling out an individual, or a group, for marginalization or oppression is at the dark heart of racism, sexism, ageism and homophobia. By making The Other its witch or bogeyman, ways a community reinforces its identity while acting on its basest human impulses. Despite the tragedy which precipitated it, Susannah stood up for and defended herself. I wonder what a third act might have been. I'll have to write that one in my imagination.
Idle Mind Questions: Are opera and musical theater different? Is "Susannah" more of the latter than the former? Are there any American opera composers who enjoy the kind of respect European audiences have given to some of our famous singers? Finally, as I struggle with the definition and contours of the art form, is the beloved Christmas classic, "Amahl and the Night Visitors" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPAjNu4WW0I), a true opera if there's only one act? Okay, the real world is calling. Backatcha, bye!🙋♀️
I love that you came back to this one! "❤️" it for now, but coming back in a little bit with some thoughts because these are great questions to ponder! And "Amahl and the Night Visitors"! This brings back s many memories and another place to dig in again this week!
I spent some time thinking about the end of this piece. Even when Little Bat admits to lying about Susannah, nothing really changed in the minds of the church elders' wives. They still acted like she was dangerous and not to be trusted. Felt like a hint of conspiracy at that was sufficient to ruin her forever. Yes, Susannah is free from horrible world she was living in, but what about the cost? I wonder how that experience truly changed Susannah. I mean she was 18 years old - how could it not?
I am going to cover your opera / musical theater / American composer questions in an upcoming post because THEY ARE RICH (but of course look forward to any thoughts from others). Let me just say that opera tends to be sung though out while musicals have spoken dialogue - but there are so many exceptions on both sides that I can't give a definitive answer!
And my feeling is yes on the one acts being true operas. Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni is a great one act opera (this one is usually paired with Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo - referred to as Cav/Pag - double-bill)
Guess what I found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaAJLY0i23o! The opening bars of the music were so dreamy and romantic that I bookmarked it for tomorrow, only to listen anyway. I'll watch the performance with intention tomorrow.
I am happy for your feedback on Susannah, because I'm still thinking of her. She's so different from the women protagonists in the classic operas we've visited so far. As a contemporary American woman in an empowered age, I relate to her. Susannah was liberated when we met her at the beginning of Act 1, and victimized by the end. In Act 2 she was victimized at the start, then dramatically liberated by the end.
Caught up in the contradictions of a parochial world not of her own making, others projected their selfish needs, desires, and values upon her. The tragedy is someone had to die for her to survive.
I'm going to imagine that in Act 3, she eventually got the hell outta that holler, and became a big star at the Grand Ole Opry like Dolly Parton. Operas can end in triumph,
right? 🤩😄 Meanwhile, I'll be leaning in to the upcoming posts.