Jims of Wyzdom for April 6, 2018

Spring Term: How do I know the Spring OLLI term is upon us? Well, I, like many other dedicated instructors, am in the throes of getting my materials together, finishing notes and PowerPoints, and selecting things to show with the aid of our fabulous new sound system. If you haven’t registered yet, you’d better make it a priority…NOW!

It’s worth asking: what do you want? It gets harder to answer as you get older. The answer gets subtler and subtler. [Writer John Jerome]

OPERA: Last time, I shared with you some ways that directors work to create a concept for the world of the play/opera and what “high-concept” means. Did Cosi fan Tutte work for you/ Did it work for me?  I did like the Coney Island amusement park setting and the actual Coney Island performers doing their thing while being there to help scene changes. The line-up of 3 motel rooms to represent the girls’ rooms was clever, as was the staging to get people in and out of the rooms as they revolved. What was hard for me was that I didn’t believe the two lead ladies. I loved Kelli O’Hara, a Broadway veteran and fine actor. The opera world is gradually demanding that it’s stars actually act, in addition to just standing and singing, or “park-and-bark,” as Jimmy Benner used to say. I found a large part of the problem was that Mozart structured his opera to have duets, solos, trios, quartets, etc., and apparently had not worked out fully how his characters would move around, why they would sing and why they would repeat the same line over and over…gag!

Never contradict. Never explain. Never apologize. (Those are the secrets of a happy life.) [Naval Commander, John Arbuthnot Fisher (Baron Fisher)]

Met in HD / 2018-19 season: Here’s the basic list announced on the Met’s web page: Aida [Verdi], Oct. 6; Samson  et Dalila [Saint-Saens], Oct. 20; La Fanciulla del West [Puccini], Oct 27; Marni [Muhly], Nov. 10; La Traviata [Verdi], Dec. 15; Adriana Lecouvreur [Cilea], Jan. 12; Carmen [Bizet], Feb. 2; La Fille du Regiment [Donizetti], Mar. 2; Die Walkure [Wagner], Mar. 30; and Dialogues des Carmelites [Poulenc], May 11.

Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long shot. [Director-Actor Charlie Chaplin]

See you in class!

Jim Held