Holy Blood's 20th

[zilboy]

This past Saturday (October 10) marked the 20th anniversary of the premiere of Holy Blood and Crescent Moon.

Happy Operaversary, Stewart!!!

[TheEqualizer]

Yes. Happy Merry.

I must admit that this is the one project of STEWART's that has confounded me to this day. I have listened to it several times, and I must admit that I have not been able to wrap my brain around it yet in the last 20 years (ok, I heard it for the first time only about a year or so ago). I am come to the conclusion that this is something I have to watch and not just hear in order to fully understand.

[TOWOS]

Actually I was reading about it yesterday in The Book. I would have been much more interested in seeing this one than Ben Hur. Maybe because I have never been a big fan of the Roman circus mayhem.

[conroy]

October 10th was also the 20th anniversary of the release of the Animal Logic debut album.

[zilboy]

October 10th was also the 20th anniversary of the release of the Animal Logic debut album.

Ah! I knew it was October, but I wasn't sure of the date. Wow - double cool!

[Shangeris]

October 10th was also the 20th anniversary of the release of the Animal Logic debut album.

Ah! I knew it was October, but I wasn't sure of the date. Wow - double cool!

And wasn't even Reggatta released on October 5th?

[njperry]

[quote="TheEqualizer"]I must admit that this is the one project of STEWART's that has confounded me to this day. I have listened to it several times, and I must admit that I have not been able to wrap my brain around it yet in the last 20 years (ok, I heard it for the first time only about a year or so ago). I am come to the conclusion that this is something I have to watch and not just hear in order to fully understand.[/quote]

Stewart himself has commended on how he has improved as a composer since Holy Blood and I think that shows. Also, he admits being greatly influenced by Wagner starting mid-way through and I do think the last 2 acts are better than the first.

I agree with TOWOS about seeign it. I am sure that it owuld be far better to see in person.

A regret I have about the opera is that the Middle Eastern elements of the music seem very light. I would have loved for him to use more of the music of his chldhood lands in the music for the Moslems in the opera.

[Dietmar]

http://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/24/magaz ... agner.html

nice long article about how this opera came to be...

[njperry]

[quote="Dietmar"]http://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/24/magazine/roll-over-wagner.html

nice long article about how this opera came to be...[/quote]

That is an excellent article from the New York Times on the opera's creation.

It is a much better piece than the largely negative review the Times gave a short time later:
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/12/arts/ ... %20&st=cse

[quote] . . innocently amateurish music that tries its best to sound 19th-century-operatic, but succeeds only sketchily. Apart from busy percussion parts and some passing ostinato figures of mild interest, the opera lurches along like a zombie, failing to rise to melodic interest in the arias or atmospheric interest in the instrumental bits.[/quote]

[TOWOS]

Man, don't let me started with the Ben Hur reviews. The klassikal glitterati never spare the Maestro...

[zilboy]

I'm really quite surprised that a performance of the opera was never commercially available. How am I supposed to say anything about it if I've never been able to see it?