aworks :: "new" american classical music

The Flowering Tree (2006). John Adams /at-home version, part 2/

Round 2, er, Act 2 of the KDFC broadcast of John Adams' The Flowering Tree. Act 1 blogging here.

• 910: Intermission - go out to the lobby, stand in line, eat a brownie, wonder how late I'll get home etc. Or in this case, walk to the fridge...
• 911: Rick Malone describes the Act 2 story; Sarah Cahill online synopsis here.
• 913: I am the wife of Mao Tse-tunnnggggg!. Well, maybe a little in the initial melody.
• 918: I have no clue what the chorus is singing but it's catchy.
• 922: Rivera moves us again; along with understated and slightly eerie accompaniment.
• 925: Now the instrumental parts get bolder and my blogging gets sparser.
• 928: I'd like to repeat the track that just played. Someday...
• 931: SFMike provides tonight's visuals and calls it "one of the most exquisitely beautiful pieces of music Adams has ever written."
• 935: Brian Dickie reminds us of future Chicago performances of Adams operas .
• 937: Quibble suggests Dr. Atomic was "dark and leaden" -- I'd say dark and occasionally exciting -- and The Flowering Tree is "charming," maybe even "hummable" -- I'd say it's not as melodic as Nixon in China but more coherent.
• 938: The fact I just spent time on Google Blogsearch indicates this duet is not working for me. It's the at-home equivalent of program rustling, er, reading.
• 940: This instrumental passage sounds  like no other Adams music. The word that comes to mind -- cosmological.
• 942: Family interlude just as the work's energy level shoots up.
• 957: Shhh, Sparky the Dachshund is trying to sleep. Picasso's portrait of his dachshund here. And what did New York Magazine have to say about the breed (emphasis mine):
  • Pros: Portable, clever, and tenacious. The Napoleons of the sidewalk.
  • Cons: They can be aggressive and very barky. Spine troubles.
• 1000: Back to the music even though I've lost the thread of the narrative.
• 1003: 2 hours of contemporary classical music...
• 1005: Part's Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten, played upside down.
• 1006: Headed towards resolution, albeit a bit odd-sounding.
• 1008: Rick Malone - This is the sixth collaboration between Adams and Peter Sellars...
• 1012: Change is good...A new harmony in an old melody...We are Kaiser Permanente and we want you to thrive. Is that the voice of Allison Janney?
• 1015: "Classical Giant - Essential Works of Genius!" Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2. To be fair, I expected much worse.

A Flowering Tree (2006). John Adams /i hate to say it but kudos to kdfc/

I'm blogging the KDFC broadcast of Adams' The Flowering Tree. Apologies in advance to all involved:

• 801: So KDFC streams from their website. Never knew this.
• 802: It's Dianne Nicolini and she says the sponsors are a bank and a Lexus dealership.
• 804: Rick Malone: There are three main characters in the opera...
• 805: No strange electronic overture as in Doctor Atomic. I'm only a little disappointed.
• 806: The strings go chug, chug, chug.
• 808: The fine Eric Owens who also sang in Doctor Atomic as General Groves starts the action. I assume there is no online libretto so will need to actually pay attention. Uh oh.
• 810: Jeff Dunn praises soprano Jessica Rivera, in particular mentioning her feat of singing while on her back. I won't be able to comment about the latter. He also quips "No harm, no postmodern foul."
• 811: I was a little concerned the opera would fit into KDFC's overall "calming if not comatose" marketing theme but there's too much rhythmic creativity so far.
• 818: Some kind of pipe accompaniment.
• 819: When Eric Owens sings again, a family member asks "is this a ghost singing?"
• 821: It's the usual Adams rich score. Ladies and gentleman,at a minimum, here's America's greatest orchestrator!
• 824: Ok, the strings are reminiscent of Shaker Loops but that's a good thing.
• 825: The chorus jumps in, or something, I can't really tell from just the audio.
• 826: Family member: "ok, I like this."
• 828: I am the wife of Mao Tse-tunnnnnngggggg! Sorry, different Adams opera. Never mind.
• 830: That's the fifth time the stream has dropped for a second.
• 832: Intensity building. Is this the first movement of El Dorado with added chorus? Also a good thing.
• 835: She troubles me followed by a violin solo.
• 838: Everytime I hear an oboe, I now think of everyone's favorite oboe blogger.
• 840: The brass sounds a bit distorted coming out of computer speakers.
• 841: I think this is another of Kumudha's transformations.
• 848: Some transitional percussion and strings and some attractive, clear singing by Rivera.
• 850: I'm still waiting for the first commercial interruption, station identification etc.
• 852: Spoke too soon; if you hit pause and then play on iTunes, a mattress company announces its broadcast sponsorship.
• 853: Weird low woodwind crescendos. I like.
• 857: Michael Kaulkin thinks this opera achieves its dramatic goals, unlike say Dr. Atomic. He also happens to be the guy who can't really understand my being on the John Cage end of the harmonic appreciation/recognition spectrum.
• 901: With no visual cues, my imagination says the character is about to transform into a mattress but I have no idea where I got that idea.
• 905: Can I just say we are now on our second hour of (almost) uninterrupted contemporary classical music on commerical radio? Astounding.
• 905: Compelling segue from orchestra to pipes to vocal.
• 908: That concludes Act 1. Hmm, not bad.