Doors in front of the War Memorial Opera House are locked these days,
but the stage entrance is busy as the San Francisco Opera is in high
gear, preparing for the fall season.  The production that's sure to get
the most attention, Gyorgy Ligeti's "Le Grand Macabre," requires more
work than others because of its difficult music, complicated staging
and big chorus numbers.

Controversy is writ large over the piece, beginning with that word in
the title, which means "gruesome, shockingly repellent, inspiring horror."
Even in Ligeti's mostly humorous treatment, there is no denying what has
been said after the European premiere: "Ligeti has not done anything
more calculated to enrage and bemuse than `Le Grand Macabre,' an opera
that portrays everything from sadomasochism and nymphomania to infantilism
and a failed apocalypse."

Responses to the music - a mix of shades of Monteverdi, Verdi, Rossini
and "repellent" cacophony - range from "...magical, funny and delicious,
as `The Magic Flute'...  powerful and filled with beauty," to words that
cannot be readily repeated except in the opera itself.  When its run
begins at SFO at the end of October, critical and audience response to
"Macabre" is likely to be cacophonic itself.  For production information,
see http://sfopera.com/04_castcrew.asp?operaseasonid"1.

Members of the Opera Chorus (still waiting for their contract) have
reported on the eventful first rehearsal for "Macabre": it took place
on the very day when in-house notices were posted of Pamela Rosenberg's
decision not to seek extension of her contract as general director.  Our
own Choral Deep Throat writes: "The chorus read the announcement on the
bulletin board as we signed in for the rehearsal.  No one said anything,
but the rehearsal started off in an energized mood.  By total coincidence,
the first thing we rehearsed was a scene in which we sing "Our great
leader!  Our great leader!" again and again, followed immediately by the
words, "Go!  Go!  Go!  Go!  Go!" many times over.  Talk about surreal!"

Here are some snippets of the music: from the Car Horn Prelude,
http://tinyurl.com/4kn4t; "Shut Up," http://tinyurl.com/6apmh; "Amanda,
can do no more," http://tinyurl.com/4pnl7.

Janos Gereben/SF
www.sfcv.org
[log in to unmask]