Do Tell About the Tell Tale Heart

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Text mule-ing:

Txt from Conroy:Tell tale heart was excellent. Sat right behind stewart and fiona. fiona has quite the wooooo too i as i witnessed. Sat right next to anne dudley and her family. asked stewart about lost paradise. Sounds verrrrry intriguing. Hugs con

Stay tuned...

[ltwoman]

Text mule-ing:

Txt from Conroy:Tell tale heart was excellent. Sat right behind stewart and fiona. fiona has quite the wooooo too i as i witnessed. Sat right next to anne dudley and her family. asked stewart about lost paradise. Sounds verrrrry intriguing. Hugs con

Stay tuned...

I can't wait to hear more about that!!! I bet Conroy won't sleep tonight!

[policefan]

Stay tuned...

Meanwhile another viideo:

http://tiny.cc/operax

[njperry]

Staying tuned as instructed.

Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap

[luddite lady]

Thanks, conroy!

[conroy]

The trip for the show was worth it. I thought the pairing of the Tell-Tale Heart with the Doctor's Tale (a punny title since the main character was a doctor who happens to be a dog with a tail) was good as they complemented each other nicely. I had excellent seats, two rows behind Stewart and Fiona and right next to Anne Dudley and her family.

I was very impressed with both pieces considering that this was both Stewart's first libretto as well as Terry Jones and they both come from a kind of pop background that suited each other. The Doctor's Tale has quite a catchy tune in the middle about dog pound blues that could easily be a comedy hit. And Stewart's score has his distinct style all over it yet it sounds fresh and new here. And Anne's score is also very remnisicent of her style that she has used in her films yet is fresh here as well. After Stewart, she is probably my next favorite film composer today.

During the intermission, I got to ask Stewart about the Paradise Lost piece. He got excited and wanted to talk about it but he had to restrain himself as he jumped the gun when he mentioned it in that article. As Jeff said, it is early in the conceptual stages but Stewart gave me a little insight into what he was planning. I won't spoil anything by discussing it on this forum but I have to say that one aspect that he told me he is considering is absolutely brilliant and really underscores Stewart's evolution as a modern classical composer and I hope he goes with it. I will say that he said it is going to be big. But it will be a bit of a wait but worth it.

Perhaps the most interesting thing I learned last night is that Fiona is also a master of the art of the WOOOOOOOOO!!!

ETA: I forgot to add I'm really excited about Paradise Lost as I took a seminar class in college where we studied it the whole semester. We even did a dusk till dawn reading of the whole thing that was quite a the mind-bending experience by the time we got to 3 am in the morning. Hopefully Stewart gets to do some researching on Milton while he's here in London as there's a lot of Milton sites to see here. I wonder what my old Milton professor will think when he hears about this as he's a hip dude (i.e. big Beatles and Elvis fan and pop music in general).

[ltwoman]

I wonder where Fiona got the WOOOOOO from, Conroy? Ya think?

[sockii]

Thanks for the report, Conroy!

I'm so excited about the Paradise Lost piece, you have no idea. I have a huge thing for Biblical stories especially surrounding the devil, archangels and Hell mythology (hello, my favorite TV show of all time is "Brimstone" and my favorite comic book is "Lucifer.") That's one I definitely want to plan to travel to whenever and wherever it gets staged so hopefully we'll get plenty of advanced notice about it.

[samburusunset]

Wow, excellent! Thanks for the rundown Con!

How did you manage to score those sweet seats?!

[luna_virgo]

Some reviews I found:

A 4-star review:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-enter ... 65580.html

“another notch on the already well-notched staff of Copeland achievement”
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_contr ... hp?id=9120

And a blog review:
“It’s terrific — the music, the conception, the staging, everything works together to give a riveting and intense experience.”
http://markronan.wordpress.com/2011/04/ ... pril-2011/

[giovanni]

At last I can log in again....spent two weeks trying to log in but the system couldn't let me do it, and Eugenio was busy with his own life (I don't like to stress him on this stuff, he's moving his office these weeks).

Great report, many many thanks.
I was waiting for some more details about the whole project from the guys at the production, but didn't receive anything; you guys made all the work anyway, thanks.

[Maud138]

Thanks for sharing, Conroy

[smudge]

Sorry to be so late with this. Thanks to Conroy I attended last night. I hadn't booked in advance because I wasn't sure I was going to be around. Actually - that was the excuse. I hadn't booked because I have a bit of an allergy to Opera. The Tell Tale Heart and The Doctor's Tale may have cured me for stuff like this, if not for gallumphing nightmares like La Forza del Destino (I get a rash even typing it) and anything Wagner.

My understanding is that the Opera Shots programme at the ROH is intended to stimulate interest in the art form, and bring in new audiences. It's a fine idea but until they get works by people like Mr Copeland, Mr Jones, and Ms Dudley into the main hall I think their audience is going to remain the same.

Anyhow. The Tell-Tale Heart. It is a wonderful libretto: creepy and witty. The device of narrator/protagonist was brilliantly effective. I've not read any Poe since my teens, but I recall him being a bit earnest, unleavened by humour. The style of the time I guess . The review that lunavirgo posted from The Independent nailed it nicely. This is Poe for the post-Hammer / post-Rocky Horror generation (which is pretty much everyone alive today). In short - you can't play it entirely straight. It was also beautifully staged and performed. In conversation with Conroy afterwards I commented that the music sounded like much of Mr Copeland's previous work. I was a bit negative about this, suggesting there was nothing new there. On reflection I think I'm wrong about that - I just need to go again and listen with my eyes closed and not get sucked into the story. I was kinda engrossed with the stage, so it was the familiar quirks that cut through.

The Doctor's Tale was superb, but I won't witter on about that here. I'm sure Terry Jones has a web forum somewhere. First time I've heard dog howls during a curtain call, and definitely the first time I've heard a tenor bark.

A gazillion thanks to Conroy for his company. I'm pleased to report that he seemed to be coming down with something pretty nasty. It was quite a thrill to sit next to the master of WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO. There were definitely imitators in the audience, but (unless you're dealing with Poe) you can't beat the original.

[63falcon]

Very appreciative of your report-and yes, how did you manage such great seats? Not too mention having a quick chat about the work-in-progress w/ StewartHimself?!? Fantastic all around.
This piece seems just the ticket for MEMORIAL HALL in CINCINNATI OHIO (where I got to hear Ben Verdery in concert Fe. '08).......this is a HUGE HINT Stewart, if you do happen to read down this thread, I'm just sayin', please.......
Thank you again, Conroy.

[smax]

[quote="conroy"]
Perhaps the most interesting thing I learned last night is that Fiona is also a master of the art of the WOOOOOOOOO!!!
quote]

shall i demean this thread by suggesting something naughty? nah, wont bother...


great reports, bugger my living near and not going.