No, not the Marx Brothers movie, though it's one of my all-time favorites; last night I went to see The Passenger, an opera by the Polish-Russian composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg. Weinberg was a protege of Shostakovich, one of the greatest of the 20th Century's composers, but Weinberg's opera has a different and more intimate feel, though it clearly draws from mid 20th Century orchestral style. It's not like a Viennese, Italian or Wagnerian opera. It's much more contemporary (though I like the older forms as well).
Weinberg died in 1996, and never got to see his opera performed; though considered an important composer, he'd mainly made his living in Russia doing TV scores, and the Soviets never funded the opera itself.
The story centered on a German woman who'd been a guard for the SS at Auschwitz, and who thought a fellow passenger on a ship she and her husband were sailing on had been a former Polish prisoner there. She was terrified of being exposed, thereby wrecking her husband's new diplomatic career.
There were flashbacks to the camps, and then scenes on the ship, yet the story wasn't maudlin or about death as much as it was about people clinging to life, or coping with their own complicity. It was thought provoking, but also uplifting in its own way.
The staging was incredibly artistic, huge, yet very detailed and creative. The cast had 130 people! I was completely blown away by the music, the performances, and the production values.
I know we're all about guitars, rock and roll, blues, jazz and the like here, but this was special. If this opera comes to your city, see it. You won't regret the experience.
"But Les, I hate opera."
I know, You won't hate this one.
Weinberg died in 1996, and never got to see his opera performed; though considered an important composer, he'd mainly made his living in Russia doing TV scores, and the Soviets never funded the opera itself.
The story centered on a German woman who'd been a guard for the SS at Auschwitz, and who thought a fellow passenger on a ship she and her husband were sailing on had been a former Polish prisoner there. She was terrified of being exposed, thereby wrecking her husband's new diplomatic career.
There were flashbacks to the camps, and then scenes on the ship, yet the story wasn't maudlin or about death as much as it was about people clinging to life, or coping with their own complicity. It was thought provoking, but also uplifting in its own way.
The staging was incredibly artistic, huge, yet very detailed and creative. The cast had 130 people! I was completely blown away by the music, the performances, and the production values.
I know we're all about guitars, rock and roll, blues, jazz and the like here, but this was special. If this opera comes to your city, see it. You won't regret the experience.
"But Les, I hate opera."
I know, You won't hate this one.
It's not Pink Floyd, but it may be enough to get some rock fans to check out an opera.
