rjw@ptsfc.UUCP (Rod Williams) (03/18/85)
Picked up a copy of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Requiem' the other day and have listened to it four times already. This is a *serious* orchestral/choral work, as opposed to L-W's usual output (JC Superstar, Evita, Cats, etc). It recently had its US premiere in New York, which will be broadcast on PBS on (Good) Friday, April 5. On the record, the piece is conducted by Lorin Maazel, with the English Chamber Orchestra (I think!), the Winchester Cathedral Choir, and soloists Placido Domingo (that man sure gets around :-)), Sarah Brightman (soprano) and a boy soprano whose name escapes me. It's a fascinating piece, very dramatic and often quite moving. Domingo's part is the least interesting of the soloists', but he sings beautifully, although his Spanish-accented Latin is rather exotic in comparison with everyone else. Sarah Brightman is magnificent - her part is fiendishly difficult in places - and the boy sings like an angel. Two choral sections are particularly effective - the 'Dies Irae' and the 'Offertorium' (in which I noticed several 'quotes' from Evita). The 'Hosanna' is a JC Superstar-like piece, with a swinging gospel rhythm and exuberant African drums in the back- ground. There's a meltingly beautiful duet for the woman and boy sopranos in the 'Pie Jesu/Agnus Dei' - they sing alone, then together, and then the hushed choir joins in quietly - mmmmm! -- rod williams -------------------- dual!ptsfa!ptsfc!rjw
stratton@brl-tgr.ARPA (Sue Stratton ) (04/02/85)
> Picked up a copy of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Requiem' the other > day and have listened to it four times already. This is a > *serious* orchestral/choral work, as opposed to L-W's usual > output (JC Superstar, Evita, Cats, etc). It recently had its > US premiere in New York, which will be broadcast on PBS on > (Good) Friday, April 5. > > On the record, the piece is conducted by Lorin Maazel, with > the English Chamber Orchestra (I think!), the Winchester > Cathedral Choir, and soloists Placido Domingo (that man sure > gets around :-)), Sarah Brightman (soprano) and a boy soprano > whose name escapes me. > > It's a fascinating piece, very dramatic and often quite moving. > Domingo's part is the least interesting of the soloists', but > he sings beautifully, although his Spanish-accented Latin is > rather exotic in comparison with everyone else. Sarah Brightman > is magnificent - her part is fiendishly difficult in places - > and the boy sings like an angel. > > Two choral sections are particularly effective - the 'Dies Irae' > and the 'Offertorium' (in which I noticed several 'quotes' from > Evita). The 'Hosanna' is a JC Superstar-like piece, with a > swinging gospel rhythm and exuberant African drums in the back- > ground. There's a meltingly beautiful duet for the woman and boy > sopranos in the 'Pie Jesu/Agnus Dei' - they sing alone, then > together, and then the hushed choir joins in quietly - mmmmm! > -- > > rod williams > -------------------- > dual!ptsfa!ptsfc!rjw Perhaps I should have waited to post this until after the Friday broadcast, but I couldn't resist offering an "opposing view" now. So............ To begin with, I haven't got a recording of the "Requiem." However, thanks to an acquaintence who does, I had the opportunity to hear sections of it last week. Based on that experience, I'm afraid, I won't be buying my own copy. Why? Well, I guess on one level my reason is as ultimately unassail- able as rod's for liking it--i.e., it's a matter of personal taste, and the work leaves me cold. (brrrrrrrrrrrr!) I guess I could end here, having bored the net with yet another "You liked it/ I didn't" difference of opinion. Instead, I'll bore the net with a question-- but I should warn you that I am going to break C.S. Lewis' cardinal rule of criticism (the one in which he warns the reviewer against couching his criti- cism of a work in terms that imply some special knowledge of the author's cre- ative process. E.g., don't say "his writing is labored"--how do you know it wasn't very easy for him to write those phrases you find so awkward? Etc...) and play psychologist. The question, then: Who else, among those of you who've heard the "Requiem," thought that ALW was trying TOO HARD? That is, I get the impression from both the work and the publicity surrounding it that Lloyd-Webber and fans would like to be able to look to the "Requiem" as some sort of vindication for the composer ("I/he may be popular, but look, I/he can write *serious* music, too!" cf. rod's first paragraph above). Hence the choice of weighty text, famous conductor, and at least one superstar (no pun intended) soloist. Yet the music cannot support the ambitiously chosen text; and the obviously talented performers (I agree with rod about Miss Brightman--Mrs. Lloyd-Webber--who shows herself to be a fine singer) outclass rather than redeem the composition. The irony here is that ALW's work in the Broadway idiom is (at its best) really fine--"serious," if you will; who said he needed to prove himself? Sure, "Superstar" was not "conservatory-style" music, but many agreed that it was significant stuff. I am reminded of the problems that classical musicians have in classifying some of the works of the "borderline" composers--e.g., Gershwin (is "Porgy and Bess" opera or musical comedy?), Bernstein (same question for "West Side Story"), Sondheim (some people have no trouble with this one at all, but I remind you that his "Sweeney Todd" was put on by the NYC Opera this past season), and others. But with each of these works, we have an already written and clearly important piece of music that is simply difficult to classify, whereas with "Requiem" I think we have a pretty shallow piece of music that the composer insists must be called "classical" (=> "serious") simply because it is superficially different from his other, clearly "pop" work. I hope I don't get flamed by people who think I have something against "cross- over" artists. I do think it's possible for a composer/performer to be "bi- lingual," if you will; there's nothing a priori wrong with Andrew Lloyd Webber composing a Requiem mass, Linda Ronstadt singing Puccini, or, for that matter, Placido Domingo singing John Denver. Such ventures are not often successful, but when they work, we are rewarded with a fresh perspective on an old work/ idiom. But what Lloyd-Webber has done is unfair. What do YOU think? I know I'll be tuned in on Friday, in any event. :-) Karen Wilson <kwilson@amsaa.ARPA>
rjw@ptsfc.UUCP (Rod Williams) (04/10/85)
=> Who else, among those of you who've heard the "Requiem," thought
=> that ALW was trying TOO HARD?
Well I must agree that the hype surrounding this piece is quite
distasteful. I also agree that if Lloyd Webber wanted his Requiem
judged *seriously* on its own merits, he might have resisted the
use of superstars like Domingo and Maazel, and done like he did
with "Evita" (Before any thought had been given to staging it, he
and Tim Rice produced a recording of the music and lyrics with
relatively unknown performers, which is still superior to any of
the subsequently released cast albums.) He's almost assured of
commercial success (I can't walk into a record store any more
without hearing Placido's Hosanna :-)), but has made every critic
dip his or her pen in venom - I've never read such savage reviews!
=> ...Yet the music cannot
=> support the ambitiously chosen text; and the obviously talented
=> performers ...outclass rather than redeem the composition.
The implication here seems to be that if a composer can't come up
to the standards of Mozart, Brahms or Verdi, he/she shouldn't even
attempt a Requiem (but if you just mean that Placido Domingo should
stick to those composers rather than John Denver, I'll go along :-))
Lloyd Webber is obviously not in the same league as those composers,
but neither that fact nor the sour taste produced by all the hype
are reason enough to dismiss the music itself out-of-hand.
=> What do YOU think? I know I'll be tuned in on Friday...
I also tuned in on Friday (April 5 on PBS). Domingo's part - with the
exception of the Hosanna - sure is uninspired ("cheesy," according to
Newsweek :-)) and the orchestra is given so little to do that one
suspects that ALW is playing it safe. I still, however, like many
of the choral parts and the woman and boy sopranos' parts - and
their duet in the "Pie Jesu/Agnus Dei" is simply lovely (although I
was horrified after the *live* performance when our local PBS station
then showed "Pie Jesu - The Video" - all soft-focus and lip-synch,
with a strange sub-plot involving children weeping at the scene of
a bombing or something >gag< ).
So, to summarize, I * Hate the hype
* Like the music
* Look forward to the stage show (:-))
--
rod williams | pacific bell | san francisco
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{ihnp4,ucbvax,cbosgd,decwrl,amd70,fortune,zehntel}!dual!ptsfa!ptsfc!rjwgreg@olivee.UUCP (Greg Paley) (04/24/85)
> > It's a fascinating piece, very dramatic and often quite moving. > Domingo's part is the least interesting of the soloists', but > he sings beautifully, although his Spanish-accented Latin is > rather exotic in comparison with everyone else. Sarah Brightman > is magnificent - her part is fiendishly difficult in places - > and the boy sings like an angel. > I had missed the original telecast, and finally saw a repeat last night (Apr. 23). I deliberately avoided reading any reviews before hearing it. I gave up on it about half way through. There was no original music in it. No, a composer shouldn't be prevented from even attempting a "Requiem" just because he can't match the level of Mozart, Verdi, Berlioz, etc. However, he should have something of his own to say on the subject. This particular work seemed to me blatantly derivative of the work of other composers, specifically Orff and Britten, with other "borrowings" from the Italian verismo school. I wouldn't mind if someone took thematic material from others and fashioned them into a coherent statement that could, itself, stand as a separate work of art. What I heard in this case was a mishmash of styles that never cooperated to make a statement. Domingo's Latin was not Spanish-accented. It was classic "church Latin" of the Roman school (as opposed to the German tradition) which approximates contemporary Italian pronunciation. I suspect that Brightman's voice has a freak high register which makes this music relatively easy for her and would make it nearly impossible for most other sopranos. Her middle register was tremulous and unsteady, the low register nonexistent. The part seemed written to capitalize on her unusual top notes. Nonetheless, "fiendishly difficult" as it may sound, the insistent hammering away at the top octave is poor vocal writing, creating a sense of monotony and aural fatigue (even if the singer can handle it) and making verbal definition impossible. If this had been a new text, I would defy anyone to understand what was being sung from listening to her. Domingo was also strained by passages that required him to scream insistently at the top of his range, but the steadiness of his vocal production in other sections contrasted badly with the unevenness in Brightman's. I surmise from articles posted that many critics did hatchet jobs on the work. My own irritation on hearing the talents of Maazel, Domingo, etc. wasted on something of this caliber was heightened by the knowledge of how difficult (and politically involved) it generally is to get a new work performed at all. - Greg Paley