Vocalist.org archive


From:  "lestaylor2003 <LesTaylor@a...
Date:  Thu Jan 30, 2003  4:04 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] More philistinism in D.C. (grrrrrr)

Dear Lloyd et al,
Lloyd: The same president of Opera America said that what we need
more of is "disposable opera" so we do not have to concern ourselves
with the idea of a lasting or artistically important additional
creative process/product with which to encumber the busy, un-
attentive world.
*******************
Ah, glad to read that you caught the same program! Wonderful wasn't
it? I really enjoyed and welcomed that news. He also made the
excellent point that when Verdi, Puccini and many others wrote their
works, they had to have considered them as "disposable" since they
often made reference to current events that they knew would have been
seen as anachronistic by later audiences.

Mozart was a pops composer in his day. Everybody hummed his tunes
(according to the recollections of his contemporaries). His stuff is
still enjoyed today because it still communicates and connects with
us. It's the same with any kind of art. If any work of art is to
become a "classic" it will have to live beyond its era through the
strength of its own virtue, without any predetermined calculation by
its creator to force it.
*******************
Lloyd: I am thankful for discussion groups such as this and the
desire of its members to keep the creative juices flowing and
the "importance" of art foremost. When one considers the remnants of
all former civilizations it is their art that tells us the most about
who they were.
*******************
Bravo! Here's an AMEN for you too. Though here's nothing wrong with
simple entertainment many of us crave more. Remember that scene
from "Singing In The Rain"? The one where the starlet that can't sing
addresses her audience? I always get a laugh when she says: "If we
have brought one teenie-weenie, little ray of sunshine into your
humdrum lives, our efforts ain't been done in vain fer nuthin'". Of
course distracting us temporarily from our "misery" is not such a bad
thing, but leaving us with something to ponder and maybe even
changing the way we think about life is a much better pursuit (in my
opinion).

Maybe this is another thread, but I very truly believe that singing
is really story-telling. The music enhances the mood of the story and
sometimes even IS the story, but basically, singing is still just
good ol' story-telling or, more accurately, story re-telling. The way
I see it, anything that causes distraction from telling the story
should be avoided by a good singer.

There is an old saying that I have never, ever found to be untrue. It
goes like this:
"If it ain't essential, don't do it". It has served me well.
Regards to all,
Les






  Replies Name/Email Yahoo! ID Date  
22275 Re: More philistinism in D.C. (grrrrrr)Karen Mercedessingwiththespirit Thu  1/30/2003  
22277 Re: More philistinism in D.C. (grrrrrr)lestaylor2003 <LesTaylor@a...>lestaylor2003 Thu  1/30/2003  
emusic.com