That was an important album to me, not only that it was more viscerally raw and angry than the Tori Amoses of my rotation and more accessible to me than, say, Bikini Kill, but also that it was good, as good or better, than a lot of the Sub Pop catalog that the culture was holding aloft. I’m so grateful that I came of age when Live Through This came out. I watched the Miss World video embedded in the article and it still feels really fresh to me (contrast it with Beyonce’s (Sia’s) thematically similar Pretty Hurts and tell me which one is more raw – I don’t question that the material resonates with Beyonce, but she is too much the Pygmalion of her own image to go all the way with it). The woman’s work speaks for itself, and she is magnetic – a woman who is not afraid to look bad to subvert expectations, a woman who advertises her anger, a woman who could probably kick your ass. For sure, she’s a little crazy (or finds it useful to appear to be a little crazy), but that’s a red herring. Adams and Sellars always intrigue and bring both serious stories and great good humor into a lively evening of opera theater.Several weeks ago, I read an interview with Courtney Love. As the opera settles in, the connection between the reflections and direct address of the first part may merge more smoothly with the rough and ready elements of the second. Sellars, as always, weaves his tale with a fascinating duality of the individual character and the wild world with which humans have to contend. On the stump, Lorena Feijoo does a wild dance of the spider. John Heginbotham choreographs a delightful entertainment, presented on the huge stump of a redwood tree, the center piece of the second act. The stratospheric notes that give contemporary opera a thrilling new sound are sung by Hye Jung Lee as Ah Sing, a perfect name for a character that produces never-before-heard sounds.
#Girls of the golden west ramon elliot full
She loves Ramon, sung in a tender yet full baritone by Elliot Madore. So many striking young artists have more golden talent than the strivers they depict on stage. Her lusty mezzo makes clear why men of all stripes and colors want her. The drama of her situation is enacted and also embedded in the moving notes she is assigned. She is an engaging, primal figure in Girls, her voice becoming richer and her range broader. J'Nai Bridges who is a graduate of the Ryan Program at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, has grown since we first saw her sing a wood nymph in Rusalka. Are we doomed to shove each other aside, be cruel and even kill our neighbors? The creators note that these elements have always existed in our country. Cultural differences, vicious ethnic attacks and insults abound. The gold rush brought together Chinese, Mexicans, and Americans into a melting pot that was any thing but. Here the main subject of the opera emerges. Lusty, angry, greedy, their voices charge through the opera house. Some of the liveliest music is created by the group, directed by Ian Robertson. In the second act, the chorus of miners becomes prominent. We join in appreciating the descriptions, both verbal and musical. In the first act, individuals are the focus of attention. Singers often describe a world to the audience as we watch the background activities of the mining town. Paul Appleby sings Joe Cannon, a challenging role in which he portrays cuckhold, lover, and drunk, as well as a man who seeks good fortune. The opera company cast many young singers, whose aspirations and eagerness for success mirrors that of the mining community.
#Girls of the golden west ramon elliot driver
She is attracted to the driver of her wagon, a black cowboy Ned Peters, who is sung by Davóne Tines, even more striking here than he was in the recent BAM presentation of Crossing. She is a forceful presence during the entire opera.ĭescriptions of both nature and the gold rush characters are memorably drawn by Bullock, taking on the challenge of Adams' lyrics in both bold and stretched lines. Julia Bullock, taking on the role of Dame Shirley, uses all the beauty and drama of her soprano to capture the language of the poetic letters Dame Shirley wrote home. The unusual focus in the first act is on individual singers, who address us. He chose to compose a spare orchestral accompaniment to match the crude and stripped down setting. Part of the draw of the subject was the challenge of creating the natural world with which he is often surrounded. Drawn to the character of the eastern-born wife of a doctor who re-located to the west coast at the time of the Gold Rush, Adams and his frequent collaborator Peter Sellars have crafted an unfamiliar and compelling picture of a powder keg mining town in the Sierra Nevada mountains. John Adams' celebration of his 70th birthday is crowned with a new opera, Girls of the Golden West, which enjoys its world premiere at the San Francisco Opera.