http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2007/07/30/070730crmu_music_ross Musical Events Looking-glass Opera "Alice in Wonderland" in Munich. by Alex Ross [Unsuk] China's sound world is seductively cavernous, suggesting not only the magical rabbit hole down which Alice tumbles but also the psychological crevasses beneath the surface of Carrolla's writing. From the depths arise fluttering woodwinds, a hypnotically chiming celesta, and an ambient haze of strings. Within a few minutes, the entire orchestra is glittering weirdly: familiar shapes hover at odd angles; age-old harmonies materialize from clouds of timbre and texture; childlike snatches of song appear and disappear, like the body of the Cheshire Cat. None of Chin's many works performed in Berkeley (during the Nagano years) sounded anything like that. Not having heard "Alice," I cannot, of course, comment on it, but one wonders. Nagano has reportedly been giving the orchestra more of a workout than did his predecessor, Zubin Mehta. Yet the musicians are playing zealously for their new director, and a "Nagano sound" is in evidence: an aesthetic of polish, transparency, and understated expressiveness.>> More workout than from Mehta? That's placing the bar high!...:) Nagano has done some excellent work in LA and Berlin, but has he become this good? Anyone from Munich? The dressy Munich crowd seemed to have no objection either to Rihma's discords or to Denokea's nipples; frenetic applause swept the theatre afterward. In one short season, Nagano has made Munich a progressive opera capital. Game, set, match in one season? One wonders yet again. Janos Gereben/SF www.sfcv.org [log in to unmask] *********************************************** The CLASSICAL mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's HDMail High Deliverability Mailer for reliable, lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html