Microtune, #3, Fanfare for an unsettled night

I'm having an unsettled tonight. Nervous energy lashing out in odd directions. Angry at nothing. Cranky just to be cranky.



[ Link ] to Microtune, #3

Big Band Swing on Pandora

I have a new toy: Pandora Radio. Finally I can create a radio station that plays Baroque Choral, Big Band Swing, Billy Joel, The Beatles, among others. Right now I'm listening to Side by Side sung by Anita O'Day.

Sometimes I think I was born at the wrong time--I love this music. But I love working on computers too much to have been born during the Big Band era. Actually this is the music of my parents. Both of them drew up during the depression and came of age in the 40's. Maybe it was something passed on through the genes or through the songs they hummed to me.

The other thing I've found is that this is great music by which to write code. Something about listening to the winds and writing Java just fits.

CD Review: The Grapes of Wrath / Live from the Minnesota Opera World Premiere

Amazon.com: The Grapes of Wrath/Live from the Minnesota Opera World Premiere: Ricky Ian Gordon, Grant Gershon, Deanne Meek and Brian Leerhuber: Music

I want to like this opera. I love Ricky Ian Gordon's music. His Bright Eyed Joy is one of my favorite CDs that I have listened to over and over again.



I have now experienced the opera 3 different ways: I was lucky enough to see a dress rehearsal. I also saw a full performance during the initial run at the Ordway. And now I have listened to the entire CD. Although I love much of the music in Grapes of Wrath I find that I enjoy the individual parts of the work. The whole does not move me the way I wish it did. My biggest issue is with Michael Korie's libretto. It is WAY too long. Also the mixing of the stylized dust bowl speech patterns with the operatic singing does not work for me. And diction is an issue--at times I can't understand what is being sung and at other times it is too perfect for the dialect of the text.

Any yet, there are moments. The opening chorus of "The last time there was rain" and the death of Noah as he sings "I can be a help" stand out for me.

With the material presented on this CD I hear the potential of a wonderful American Opera, but the story telling needs to be tighter. That being said I am still looking forward to what Mr. Gordon writes next.

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