So Britten joins Whedon and Sondheim as “the composers I’ve watched more than once.” While my in-laws were in town a few weeks ago they gave me a DVD of Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. It is the very colorful production by Orquestra Simfonica del Gran Teatro del Liceu and I had borrowed my father-in-law’s copy [...]
Author Archives: Jay C. Batzner
My Year of Opera 12: Once More With Feeling
Yes, as in the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’m a bit fan of the show and I was always skeptical when people told me there was a musical episode. I figured it would never work but, of course, it did. I’ve watched it many times, actually bought the soundtrack for it (nerd!), [...]
My Year of Opera 11: Pirates of Penzance
Yes, I’ve seen Pirates of Penzance before. I lived on the 1983 soundtrack with Kevin Kline and Linda Ronstadt for probably an unhealthy amount of time. CMU stages a musical in the fall semester and an opera in the spring. This semester, they were putting on Pirates and I saw a great opportunity. Not only [...]
My Year of Opera 10: Falstaff
I’ve said for a while that I’ve had a DVD of Falstaff on loan from my father-in-law and this weekend I watched it. I’m not a huge fan of Romanticism, especially late Romanticism, so I was skeptical. I’ve not connected with Verdi operas in the past, either. I enjoy La Traviata the most but never [...]
My Year of Opera 9: 200 Motels
“And as soon as he put out both his eyes, he kinda wished he hadn’t.” Narrator in Oedipus Tex by Peter Schickele. So Frank Zappa’s 200 Motels was on Netflix and was set to expire on March 1. I originally thought it was a pseudo-documentary but when 200 Motels showed up in recent news about [...]
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My Year of Opera 8 – Into the Woods
No sir, I didn’t like it. Coming off of Peter Grimes, I figured I needed something lighter for my brain. I enjoyed my previous excursion to Sondheim (Company was entry #2) and I had heard of Into the Woods for years. This production was whichever one they stream on Netflix. Bernadette Peters was the witch [...]
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My Year of Opera 7 – Peter Grimes
Let’s label this one as “in progress,” shall we? I managed to watch the first act over the weekend until I was rather rudely interrupted by a broken water pipe at my home. Yes, the plumber came to check it out during the storm scene at the end of the act. I’m a little frightened [...]
My Year of Opera 6 – Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog
Don’t judge me. Yes, I’ve seen this before. Many times. Many many times. Sure, I bootlegged the soundtrack before it was commercially available (then I bought it). Yes, I bought this when it came out on iTunes and then again on DVD. Yes, I bought the soundtrack for Commentary – The Musical and listen to [...]
My Year of Opera: 5 – Wozzeck
On Friday night, I settled down with my favorite opera (and the one I have seen the most). I had this production (Vienna State Opera with Abbado) on VHS but lost it in a “loan it to someone and then we all moved” situation. I checked out another version on DVD once and found it [...]
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My Year of Opera: 4 – La Cenerentola
I was hoping to watch Wozzeck Saturday night for this week’s entry but it will have to wait. I had started watching La Cenerentola with my 7 year old daughter and we had only gotten through one act before it was her bed time. When Daria heard that I was going to watch an opera [...]