Opera and Beyond
Michael Ching's blog, pondering music, opera, and where and how it fits in, particularly in the regions. Lots of helpful links down the righthand side.
Wednesday, October 2, 2024
New Two Key Version of NOTES ON VIARDOT
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
Second production of NOTES ON VIARDOT
Monday, August 19, 2024
A decade well spent in Savannah
It was a fruitful association, including:
* ALICE RYLEY, about Savannah in 1735
* ANNA HUNTER, Savannah in the first half of the 20th century
* BIRTHDAY CLOWN, about a performer finding their audience in an unexpected place.
* A ROYAL FEAST, a sequel to Rossini's LA CENERENTOLA
In addition there were many arrangements, a few art songs, and a production of SPEED DATING TONIGHT! One fun thing was setting to music a letter that Thelma Milnes (Sherrill's mother) wrote to her future husband.
Sunday, July 28, 2024
RSBE, Speed Dating Tonight's deeper cousin. A show about empathy.
Speed Dating Tonight! (2013) marches on with an average of 12+ performances per season. Hooray! In 2020, I worked with Paul Houghtaling at University of Alabama on a new opera, RSBE (Remove Shoes Before Entering). It is SpDT!'s deeper cousin. Many of the pieces in SpDT! skim the surface. RSBE is inspired by the idea of writing a show about empathy. It's darker and deeper. Still, some of the pieces are very light and sweet.
Here's a listing of the available pieces:
1. Friendship Bracelet. About rescuing a turtle at the beach.
2. Impostor. The feeling of impostor syndrome
3. Samaritan. Failing to give aid and resolving to do it next time.
4. I See Me. Searching for inclusivity and belonging
5. Alaskabout you. Bitterly remembering being abandoned by their father
6. N-Word/One Square at a Time (Duet). Telling a friend not to use the N-Word. Remembering a beautiful family quilt.
7. Imaginary Friend. Recalling and conjuring their imaginary friend.
8. Gramma’s Lesson (Where the Wonder Never Ceases) Remembering gramma, who took took away their phone and took them outside to see the magic in nature.
9. The First Time I Heard Mozart. Hearing Mozart for the first time.
10 You’re in my car (Duet). Getting into the wrong car on a busy day. Oh, and it's occupied.
11 Reading Frederick Douglass for the first time
12 Picture of You. Recalling departed love.
13A So Sad. Long term depression, knowing the trigger is 13B
13B Just Between Us. Recalling a childhood abuser.
14 Me That Used to be. Arriving at a woman's shelter
15 Console Consolation (Duet). Recalling great old video games.
16 Shedding. Could you have too much stuff?
17 Interconnected. Recalling a sermon about our common, inescapable bonds.
18 What I had to do. Reading a letter grandfather sent from overseas during war.
19 Hide With the TV. Wanting to nest with old B&W TV during stressful times.
20 Don’t let the music end. Recalling an old flame.
21 Another motherfucking snowstorm. Recalling what it says.
22 Beautiful traveler. Trying to take a picture of a butterfly.
If you've done Speed Dating Tonight! you know how flexible it is. RSBE is structured the same way, with all of the pieces being flexibly cast. It has a touch more ensemble singing, but it is all really easy. The premise is very slight (there's even an alternate premise) . Speed Dating Tonight! takes about ten minutes to set up the scene; RSBE dives in within about 90 seconds. The original premise is a group of students visiting a mysterious building, part old sanctuary, part old second hand store. The alternate premise is students in a classroom.
I'll leave you with one more. #20 Don't let the music end. Co-written with Reg Huston.
Friday, July 26, 2024
NOTES ON VIARDOT info
The storytelling utilizes many of the composers she was associated with during her life, including Mozart, Rossini, Chopin, Bellini, Donizetti, Gluck, Saint-Saƫns, and many of her own compositions. This "jukebox opera" approach makes the music easier to learn. Well known cultural figures such as Georges Sand, Charles Dickens, and Ivan Turgenev appear. This gives the opera a very familiar, audience friendly vibe. It also gives the opera a very powerful curricular tie to music history and 19th century European history.
The opera is tied together with my own music, which is very lyrical. Here's a sample, an aria that young Turgenev sings. There are also several nods to musical theater in the style.
Here is the video from the premiere at University of South Dakota in April 2024. It was produced and directed by Tracelyn Gesteland.
The perusal score is here. It has all of the vocal options, which makes it a little confusing in a few spots.
Monday, July 8, 2024
#15 Console Consolation from RSBE at Charlottesville Opera
Friday, July 5, 2024
RSBE at Charlottesville Opera
Sunday, June 16, 2024
NOTES ON VIARDOT at Music On Site this fall
Monday, June 3, 2024
Taos Opera Institute 2024
There are 28 singers in the program this year, so it's a lot of coaching--the first day is nine hours!
The weather is very cool at night, warm during the day, with moderate fire danger, so the woods and mountains will be accessible for walks and hikes.