What fun The Nose is. The challenges of taking a story which revolves around a single personage, and making a stage-work out of it, yet wanting to create ‘breathing space’ for the performer of that central character . . . are well known to the scenarist of the ballet-in-progress White Nights. How brilliantly Shostakovich scored such a streamlined pit (apart from the horde of percussionists, I mean). And how perfectly well the opera suits the stage.
The Ives Fourth was cracking fun at Symphony Hall last night, too. Sprawling, crazy piece in its own right . . . the listener needs to be in the space so that the more densely chaotic passages have texture and profile; the volume never got out of hand (one close to me with sensitive ears, in especial, surprised me by not finding it overwhelming).
More on both before long.
2 comments:
IN the Ives Fourth: How were the quarter-tone passages handled?
Could they be heard above the 18-part counterpoint?
Hmm . . . they did not seem to employ the optional quarter-tone piano (though the stage was littered with various keyboard instruments).
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