the Tiger:

   What bothered me about this season was the coercion and the hype
   -- please notice that all those Opernwelt awards are from a
   Stuttgart-based publication -- both of which led to anger. We
   shouldn't get angry about opera, unless a dead composer is being
   misrepresented. Living artists can take responsibility for their
   own silliness. The dead guy needs an advocate...  ...

   This year it is George Frideric Handel who got the shaft,
   and not because of the Teutonic psychology introduced into his
   "Alcina." All that sophomoric banging and crashing and stripping
   and groping drove some people crazy, while others loved it and
   assumed the unflattering position of intellectual superiority.

   Thing is, gang, while you were mano-a-mano over whether exposed
   breasts are cool or offensive, conductor Roy Goodman was giving
   you 1950s German Handel; that is, virtually without the appoggiature,
   embellishments and ornamentation absolutely required by the style
   and the composer.

   Not only did not one critic notice, but nobody cared even when
   it was pointed out to them.  In other words, Pamela Rosenberg
   succeeded beyond her wildest dreams in turning SFO observers
   into "theatergoers," the kind who applaud the scenery and talk
   through the overture because they don't give a crap about music.

Full story at -

   http://www.examiner.com/ex_files/default.jsp?story=X1205SCOREw

For another interesting item, check:

   http://www.examiner.com/ex_files/default.jsp?story=X1203CLASSw

Janos Gereben/SF
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