Sunday, November 7, 2010

Bert Appermont's Rapunzel/Midsummer Night's Dream opera




Okay, imagine this performed by a professional orchestra and not a high school band...I actually really like the music, but I'm a sucker for this kind of music: minor 3/4, an eerie glockenspiel ostinato, anything stereotypical for "fantasy" music. (The third and fourth movements are cheesy to me, but this could honestly just be a matter of personal taste and not a reflection of quality change between the movements.) The narration is part of the score and tells the traditional Rapunzel story.

Also related to music, but another Chicago event-a bit more avant garde, though very professional-the Lyric Opera is putting on Benjamin Britten's "Midsummer Night's Dream." Not from the same production, but here's a sample of the opera:

The Tribune reviewer gave it 3 stars. From the John von Rhein article: " "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at Lyric Opera of Chicago is a bit slow to find its comic rhythm, the early scenes suggesting someone awakening from deep slumber who needs a jolt of black coffee before facing the day. But give it a chance. By the time the mismatched lovers are going at one other in full squabble mode, their senses hopelessly addled by Puck's magic herb, Benjamin Britten's delicate, otherworldly music has worked its wonders, the show comes alive and we are transported."

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