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Thursday, July 15, 2010

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Mission accomplished: L.A. Opera's 'Ring'

Sunday, midnight, Los Angeles Ordinance No. 181069, which is meant to close down numerous medical marijuana dispensaries around town, went into effect. No police, however, needed summoning to the Music Center. Los Angeles Opera shooed away its regulars by 11. Nine days earlier, the company had begun dispensing a drug with the street name of the "Ring" (short for its pharmaceutical appellation, "Der Ring des Nibelungen").




This opiate, invented in the 19th century by one Richard Wagner, is not, strictly speaking, a chemical substance. But it operates on the central nervous system like any other narcotic, altering perception, consciousness and sense of time. And, yes, it is highly addictive.



So law or no law, a clientele will return Tuesday when the second of three "Ring" cycles will begin. Once more the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion will become a darkened den in which "Ring" junkies while away the hours in the dreamy fantasies of Achim Freyer's fantastical production. The women are buxom. A hero's bulging pecs are blue before sex and red after. A parade of primeval improbabilities entices us and warns us. Steal from Nature, this saga makes evident, and she will destroy you.





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L.A. Opera has now accomplished what it set out to accomplish. The company has stubbornly overcome considerable musical, theatrical, acoustical and fiscal obstacles and mounted a notable "Ring." Not all dubious Wagnerites are Freyer converts, but when the director and his team took their bows Sunday night, they were greeted by bellowing bravos, underpinned by a significantly dimmer low-pitched roar of boos, which created a purposefully textured chord. The cast was cheered and cheered.



This "Ring" went well. There were no significant mishaps that I could detect. Wagner made his operas for huge voices powered by huge egos, for intrepid singers willing to surmount their physical limitations. Freyer, himself no small ego, takes a new step, requiring the singers to subsume their egos in his theatrical action paintings. Singers confronted by the steep rake of the stage, by cumbersome costumes and an unfriendly Chandler acoustic, seem to have negotiated their peace with the production and the place.



Wagner expected the "Ring" to be performed in a festival setting where for a week audiences would exchange normal lives for immersion in his fantasies. The hardy (and well-off) perfect Wagnerites still go to Bayreuth for that. In a sacrament of kinky public masochism, the most devout bring blindfolds to blot out the horrors of modern stagecraft.



The L.A. "Ring" better represents the cosmopolitan art world. Freyer's "Ring" is a vision and dialogue with Wagner and it will be known and long discussed as such. While there were plenty of musical pleasures — enough so that the "Ring" can be responsibly broadcast on radio, as KUSC is doing — a blindfold in the Chandler would have meant considerable sensory deprivation.



Central to Freyer's concept is time. With overly ambitious hopes for tourism (and reportedly the requests of singers for some two-day recovery periods), the L.A "Ring" is spread too long over nine days (six would be more like it). But that still was a condensed enough period to allow for the complicated unfolding of time in Wagner's long operas to be felt as a powerful force.



Taking place before the dawn of historical time, "Das Rheingold" is a light fair populated with curious creatures. In "Die Walküre," love-centered, characters can only be in the present when they touch circular time. Played out on a farfetched racetrack, "Siegfried" presents a hero in competition with his environment. Entropy takes over "Götterdämmerung." When the world collapses, Freyer breaks down the stage and leaves a mess.



Freyer had time on his side. The hours a "Ring" audience spends in his fantasy realm add up to the better part of a day, and many told me that after getting used to strange imagery the drug began to take effect.



Since each opera was individually produced over the past two seasons, the strengths and limitations of the cast were no surprise. In "Siegfried" and "Götterdämmerung," John Treleaven and Linda Watson are also beneficiaries of time. I found myself having grown fond of their voices. Treleaven finally fully throws himself fearlessly into comic book Siegfriedery. Watson is an unflappable Brünnhilde. Perhaps her ability to express righteous indignation is directed Freyer-ward (given some of her public comments), but maybe we have the director to thank for bringing out that essential part of Brünnhilde's character. Her strong "Immolation" scene moved me.



Seeing these operas together also helps account for the multiplicity of Freyer's dramatic techniques, be it masked characters needing to use their bodies and voices in ways to get beyond facial expression or all the magical symbols that may or may not have specific meaning.



James Conlon conducted as tirelessly as he bounces around town talking up Wagner. The orchestra fatigues more easily but should settle in better during the next two cycles.



We're not done yet. But the milestone has been reached. L.A. Opera has made an L.A. "Ring," a Freyer "Ring." The Wagner drug has a significant new formula.



But if this "Ring" is to also be appreciated as a new Los Angeles and Wagner landmark, it must be filmed for DVD, and so far we have found no sponsorship for that to happen. The "Ring" is about time, and time, which is far more tyrannical than Ordinance No. 181069, in this crucial regard has almost run out.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

SXSW Surprise Guest

Ocote Soul Sounds' Martin Perna and Adrian Quesada were joined by a surprise guest during their recent set at a SXSW showcase in Austin last month. Video footage of John Popper (of Blues Traveler) playing harmonica along with Ocote is now on YouTube - please have a look! There are three parts, video 1, video 2, video 3.


Saturday, May 29, 2010

Signal, a New-Music Orchestra, Plays at Merkin Concert Hall

After its debut at the Bang on a Can marathon in 2008, Signal, the new-music orchestra conducted by Brad Lubman, built its reputation mainly with the music of Steve Reich and Philip Glass. But this year Mr. Lubman has been expanding the ensemble’s diet. Last month the group devoted a concert to the idiosyncratic music of Helmut Lachenmann. And at Merkin Concert Hall on Thursday evening Mr. Lubman led Harrison Birtwistle’s “Corridor,” a musically and psychologically thorny piece that focuses on one particularly fraught moment in the Orpheus legend, and a new work by Nico Muhly

Friday, May 28, 2010

AIRRACE and ROMEO'S DAUGHTER will be joining FM on their July dates!

AIRRACE are special guests for Cardiff July 8 and ROMEO'S DAUGHTER will be special guests at London July 9.



FM will release their new, download only, single Hollow / Flamingo Road on 17th May 2010 via Riff City Records to coincide with their recently announced tour dates.



Just two of the stand-out tracks from their recently released, critically acclaimed album Metropolis, Hollow and Flamingo Road have both been singled out (no pun intended) for praise by fans and critics alike, and the single has been playlisted by the nation's biggest radio station BBC Radio 2 amongst others.





Embracing the digital age, this "double A-side" single will be available for download 17th May from all good internet stockists.



FM have announced recently they have signed a deal with Japanese label Marquee/Avalon. Marquee/Avalon will release FM's new album Metropolis in Japan 19 May 2010 (Catalogue number MICP-10921) including the bonus track 'Kissed By An Angel'.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

HOMENEWSVIDEOTICKETSNEW MUSICREVIEWSPHOTOSBLOGSMOVIESARTISTSFESTIVALSSTORELYRICSAll NewsMusic NewsMovie NewsTour NewsDaily GossipNewslettersRSS FeedsMessage Boards NME NewsNEXT STORYPREVIOUS STORYDamon Albarn wishes Bono 'all the best' as Gorillaz replace U2 at Glastonbury

has spoken about Gorillaz being drafted in to replace U2 as headliners at this year's Glastonbury.

Earlier today (May 26) the band were confirmed to headline the Pyramid Stage on June 25 following the news that original headliners U2 have been forced to pull out following a back injury sustained by frontman Bono.
Speaking of the change in line-up, Albarn paid tribute to the Irish band. "It's a terrible thing for U2," he said. "Glastonbury is magical. Gorillaz will come to life on that stage, but we wish Bono all the best."

Gorillaz co-founder Jamie Hewlett said that, after the band's recent performance at Coachella festival, he is confident of delivering a successful show.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Simon Cowell Tells Oprah His 'Time's Up' On 'American Idol'

The end of "American Idol" season nine next week will also bring the departure of controversial-yet-adored judge Simon Cowell. The Brit appeared on Thursday's (May 20) "Oprah Winfrey Show" to discuss his reasons for leaving, whether he'll miss the show and why he's starting a new, seemingly similar show.
Oprah started the interview by asking Cowell point-blank why he's leaving "Idol." "Time's up," he answered. "It feels like the right thing to do."
The often sharp-tongued Brit said part of the reason behind his departure is due to boredom. "After a while, you start to go on automatic pilot. Too many times I was sitting there [at the judges' table] bored. The audience deserves more than that ... and I can't hide when I'm bored."
To combat that boredom, Cowell said he's launching a U.S. version of his "X Factor" talent show that, although similar to "Idol," will have several differences. "It's different because there's no upper age limit. ... Singing groups can enter the show," he explained. "I have no idea whether it's going to work or not, but I'll put its success and failure on whether we can find a star."
Oprah then asked if Cowell is bored on "Idol" now why he would move on to yet another talent show. "I actually like doing it, funny enough," he said. "I remember Fantasia singing 'Summertime,' and for three minutes, I lost myself. I like the buzz it creates. You want to be part of something people are talking about. I love that feeling."
While recalling some of his favorite contestants (Carrie Underwood and Fantasia) Cowell readily admitted that his "big ego" often gets in his way — particularly with the case of Susan Boyle's now-famous audition on "Britain's Got Talent"
"On the day [of her audition], I was in such a bad mood, I didn't want to be there, I never thought we'd find anyone good," he remembered. "When I watched the clip back, I actually hated myself. We're all sneering, we're not listening. I didn't like what I saw. It was a wake-up call, and I was happy she made us look stupid, because we deserved it."
Yet all in all, and given his track record (and reported $1 billion net worth from his various productions), Cowell said he's confident he can still find undiscovered talent: "I do trust my judgment as somebody who can spot a potential star."
Regarding his impending "Idol" departure, Cowell said he expects his last night on the ratings juggernaut to be poignant.
"The final night will be quite emotional," he told Oprah. "I've had a great time. I love working over here [in the U.S.] and never thought I would."
What did you think of Cowell's interview? Let us know in the comments!
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