Last night I finally got to see Gustavo Dudamel at the Hollywood Bowl. He was conducting Bizet's "Carmen" - his American opera debut.
He was in a word, dazzling. I now see what all the fuss is about. His movements were sharp at times and languorous at other moments as he coaxed the music from the orchestra. Most of the audience appeared to be in attendance to see him. He did not disappoint and received the largest ovation. Carmen was cool too.
If you're interested in seeing Dudamel, the Bowl is probably your best bet... He will conduct the LA Philharmonic this week on 8 p.m. Tuesday (Gerswhin and Bernstein) and 8 p.m. Thursday (“Bolero” and other Latin music). $8-$99. (323) 850-2000 or www.hollywoodbowl.com
Doggy insom loves large stuffed animals. He drags them around, sleeps with them, places them in his mouth and thrashes his head around from side to side... they're his big buddies. But the thing he loves most to do with his big buddies is to rip them apart. Sometimes he'll run upstairs and bark at a closed door. Once opened, he runs inside and grabs his stuffed animal and drags it back downstairs. He loves those things.
His favorite stuffed animal is this large Boxer that we found at Target. Once we saw how much doggy insom loved it, Mr. Insom bought like four of them. Why would he need to buy so many, you ask?
The Boxer starts out like this. Cute, no? We called him Marmaduke.
The first thing to go is Marmaduke's tail. Then the eyes. Then the cheeks. Then an ear. Then doggy insom rips open the mouth or throat and spews stuffing everywhere, digging into the gaping wound to remove clouds of stuffing piece by piece.
To try and keep Marmaduke in commission, Mr. Insom will perform a series of corrective "surgeries". We call them surgeries because the only needle and thread we have in our possession consists of suture kits.
So Mr. Insom will grab a pair of clamps and instead of doing this
Does this
Doggy insom sits at his feet, expectantly awaiting the outcome. At times he will place a concerned paw on Mr. Insom's knee, as if to say, please take heed, doctor.
The results are deemed a success because they close up all the gashes, but create a rather Frankendog appearance. Doggy insom is given Marmaduke again and over time, rips him open again. Mr. Insom takes the injured Marmaduke and stitches him up again, but with each surgery the outcome gets worse and worse. The cycle repeats. Mr. Insom gets frustrated at seeing his handwork ripped apart, but I think it's hilarious.
Here's Marmaduke after repeated surgeries. Yikes.
He basically consists of four legs and a ear. I told Mr. Insom that we should just bring out a new stupid Boxer (I think we have two left), but he insisted could he repair the damage. He's all about rationing the Boxers. lol This didn't even look like a dog anymore.
At any rate, sensing vulnerability (or perhaps making the ultimate play to get a new Boxer), doggy insom went to down on Marmaduke, much to Mr. Insom's chagrin. Poor Marmaduke was on borrowed time and only had three days left.
I love summer in Los Angeles... so many opportunities to hear music outdoors. You have the Hollywood Bowl, the Greek Theater, the Ford Amphitheater if you feel like paying for music, and then you have all sorts of FREE venues where you can enjoy listening under the stars without the dent in your checking account.
My introduction to Grand Performances came under the umbrella of the LA Ring Festival (yes, more Wagner!) To celebrate the LA Opera production of the Ring Cycle, there were dozens of events sponsored by cultural institutions and groups around the city as part of the LA Ring Festival. You could listen to the principal singers discuss the challenges of singing Wagner at the Hammer Museum, ponder the ethics of doing performing Wagner in a multicultural community like Los Angeles, watch the "Light of the Valkyries" planetarium show at the Griffith Observatory, or check out an exhibit at LACMA that explored the myths behind Der Ring.
I decided to attend a performance of Gangsta Wagner by the daKah Hip Hop Orchestra - a fusion of hip hop and motifs from the Ring Cycle at Grand Performances. I had never heard of Grand Performances, but it is a concert series located at California Plaza in the heart of downtown Los Angeles that "presents free performing arts that reflect the best of global culture and inspire community among the diverse peoples of Los Angeles." Sounds good, no?
Here's what I've learned after going to one concert:
Show up early. This is probably an obvious one, but this place fills up quickly. We got there 10 minutes beforehand, I wound up sitting on a damn planter for the entire evening.
If you get there early, there are lots of different seating options - a sort of amphitheater set up, plastic chairs, or there are always planters.
You can bring food. The food shops at CA Plaza stay open during the concert, but it looked like most people brought there own stuff.
You can bring booze. This probably should have been number one.
So the concert I saw featured Double G (aka Geoff Gallegos, co-founder/conductor/composer) and daKah Hip Hop Orchestra DaKah - was great... the group features youngish musicians of a variety of backgrounds with one main interest - a love of classical and a love of swagger. lol
Gangsta Wagner
And not to disappoint the hip hop heads in attendance, DaKah played a nice selection of more contemporary music. To commemorate the passing of Guru, they played a medley of Gang Star.
I was feeling it. The crowd was feeling it. At various points the fountain behind the performers would shoot out bursts of water which created a really nice effect.
One of my favorite things about this performance was the diversity of the audience goers. Different ages, different races, different interests, families, seniors out on the town, hipsters... it was quite beautiful.
Every once in a while I get that "only in LA" tingle. I got it that night.
I saw Double G at Die Walkure (the second opera in the Ring Cycle) at the Dorothy Chandler the following week and I was able to tell him in person how much I enjoyed the performance. It was cute - he was with his wife and some other people and they were all, "oh - look at that! How nice!" after I left. I probably was the only person in the Founders Circle that recognized him. lol
I totally plan on seeing either the Lula Washington Dance Theater this weekend or Pacha Massive and Non Stop Bhangra. There will even be a 7:30pm Bhangra dance lesson before the show. Aaaaalll riiiiight! Plenty of opportunity to make use of the dance floor they provide. lol
Memorial Sunday was spent listening to music. Before I checked out Flight of the Conchords at the Bowl, I went to the UCLA JazzReggae Festival. The festival is held over two days at the Intermural Field on the UCLA campus - students get in free and the tickets are fairly reasonable $26/day for hours and hours of music. Headlining the Jazz or Hip Hop day were Raphael Saddiq and Q-Tip. Previous headliners have been The Roots, Lupe Fiasco, Eyrkah Badu, and Jill Scott - basically any of the "conscious hip hop heads"... Young Jeezy, need not apply.
It was hella hot, but nice to see so many folks out and about.
UCLA doesn't typically look like this. lol
This old guy was busting a move.
Lots of places to get food and stands to buy stuff. I ate a chicken patty. Yum.
I caught Foreign Exchange on the stage. They were good. I really should have cropped these pictures, but I'm feeling lazy.
Unfortunately I couldn't stay for any of the headlining performances. Shame. I love Bonita Applebum and Electric Relaxation.
The Reggae day featured Damian Marley and Nas who were performing songs off their recently released album "Distant Relatives".
One of my favorite songs from the duo is Road to Zion
Marley performed "Welcome to Jamrock" - a sure fire crowd pleaser and I overheard them doing their encore performance of Bob's "Could You Be Loved?" while walking Doggy Insom when I returned to UCLA the next day.
I really should have gotten tickets for the Reggae day of the festival. I'm sorry I missed this :(
So last week marked the ending of my first Ring cycle. Sadness. My dad and I attended the last opera, Gotterdammerung, the grand finale where everything goes up in a blaze of glory.
It was bittersweet. On the one had I was looking forward to seeing more of Freyer's magnum opus, but on the other hand, I was so sad it was ending. It's been a great run. Because I've been sitting in the same area of the concert hall for each performance, I've seen the same people over and over again. I had lunch with them, chatted during intermission, and by the end of the cycle we were hugging goodbye. It was sweet. Most of my companions are a lot older than me, and I think they think I'm some sort of young protege. lol I even bumped into someone from my alma mater - go figure!
So it begins with Siegfried and Brunhilde happy and in love. Brunhilde is sort of tamed - she's all, go forth and have adventure, I'll mind the house and have dinner on the table when you come home. The two sing this beautiful and touching duet while holding this cloth as a symbol of their union ("Apart, who shall separate us? Separate, we shall never part!").
Of course this is opera, so you know trouble's a-brewing...
And this guy's the trouble brewer barista.
His name is Hagen and he's the half-brother of Gunther and Gutrune. He's like, I have a great idea! You guys want to get married right? Gunther, you can marry this hottie named Brunhilde and Gutrune, you can marry this guy named Siegfried. One small problem is that they're currently in love with each other, but I can fix that. I'll give Siegfried a magic potion and he'll forget all about Brunhilde and fall in love with Gutrune. And this potion is so amazing that Gunther can make Siegfried hook up him with Brunhilde.
Hagen is like the worst matchmaker ever! But Gunther and Gutrune must be really desperate because they're like, when do we start?
At first Hagen's costume seemed sort of cute - his short fake puppet legs dangle. But as the opera wore on, Hagen started to become this twisted demented image of evil - a tribute to the acting skills of the singer.
But will Siegfried fall for such a dastardly trick? Well, he almost got poisoned in the third opera and it's been well established that he's sort of an idiot. He spent the last opera trying to figure out what the hell fear was, so that gives you an idea of his mental capacity.
As he wanders about searching for adventure, he stumbles into Gunther and Gutrune's house. Poor guy has no clue his life is about to be totally screwed. They give him the potion, he drinks it - apparently ignorant of the lessons learned in various afterschool specials. The potion works - he forgets all about Brunhilde and is totally in love with Gutrune.
Not only that, since Siegfried is the only one that can breach the magic fire to get to Brunhilde, he tells Gunther that he will alter his appearance with a magic hat so that he looks like Gunther. He will take Brunhilde by force, claim her as his wife, and then give her to Gunther The two pledge a blood oath - slitting their wrists in the process.
Meanwhile, evil Hagen is visited by his dad - none other than Alberich, the dwarf that stole the ring in the first opera and started this whole damn thing. *spoiler alert!* Hagen promises his dad that he'll kill Siegfried. The two are really pleased by this because they are EVIL.
Brunhilde's sister (one of the Valkyries) comes down from Valhalla to warn her of the evil nature of the ring and instructs her throw it in the river to give it back to the Rhinemaidens. Brunhilde's like Oh you don't - Siegfried gave this and it's a token of his love.
Siegfried comes a-knocking disguised as Gunther and wrenches the ring out of poor Brunhilde's hand. He drags her back to Gunther's house.
When Brunhilde is brought the castle, she realizes that the guy who conquered her was in fact Siegfried when she sees him holding the ring. She is PISSED. She's even more pissed when he goes off with Gutrune. She feels betrayed and she accuses him of infidelity. Gunther is upset because his honor has been tarnished.
Hagen's whips up an army of vassals into a blood thirsty rage. He suggests that Siegfried swear an oath that he's never touched Brunhilde, knowing that Siegfried doesn't know what he's doing because he's all drugged up. If he's proven a liar, he dies.
Brunhilde's so pissed that complains to all the vassals and enters into the plot to kill Siegfried with Hagen. She tells evil Hagen that Siegfried can be killed with a stab in the back.
The truth comes to light and armed with the knowledge of Siegfried's Achilles heel, Hagen prepares to strike.
Hagen, Siegfried, and Gunther go hunting. Guess who doesn't make it back from the trip? Hagen stabs Siegfried in the back with a spear and goes about his business.
The death of Siegfried was really moving and has some of the most striking music of the entire cycle. Lots of drama. lol
Gunther is kind of upset by the whole nasty affair and when he raises an objection, Hagen kills him too. So now there are two dead bodies on the stage.
At this point, Brunhilde's like - okay, things are pretty bad now. She starts a funeral pyre and jumps on her trusty horse and rides into the flames, intending to purify the ring with her burnt ashes for the Rhinemaidens. The Rhinemaidens claim the ring, drown evil Hagen, and the entire world is consumed by fire.
Fade to black.
How this is played out in Freyer's opera is that everything comes crashing down. Cutout ravens float away to reveal the prompters cuing the singers. Lighting rigs fall on to the stage and a large spotlights shines out into the audience. Puppet cutouts sail upward, spinning crazily. The entire world that Freyer has created gets destroyed. It was thrilling and my heart was literally pounding with the excitement.
To see this all from the best seats in the house for free has been so amazing and I am completely grateful to my benefactor. :) I can say without hesitation that to date, this has been the most amazing musical experience that I've had in my entire life, even better than this night. And gott damm, do I love this friggin city.
The dwarf Alberich starts the whole thing in motion by stealing the gold from the Rhinemaidens. The Rhinemaidens are seductive young beauties and as Alberich flirts with them, one by one they clown him and call him ugly. He gets pissed. When they brag about the gold and tell him that the only way someone can take it is if they renounce love, he's like - sure, why not? It's not like I'm getting in love from you guys. Screw love!
Only problem is that this gold when fashioned into a ring makes the ring holder super powerful. And power is like a drug.
Meanwhile, Wotan, god of everything, has got the two giants Fasolt and Fafner to build Valhalla, his pimped out crib. Once completed, the giants are all - hey give us our payment! You said we could have Fricka's sister! (Fricka is Wotan's wife.)
Wotan's like oh eff - my wife will kill me. His buddy Loge (god of fire) tells him about this ring that Alberich has and the two go down to Niebelheim (land of the dwarfs) to steal it. And they do - remarkably easy, too.
Alberich is pissed and puts a curse on the ring.
Since its gold gave me measureless might, now may its magic bring death to whoever wears it! ... Whoever possesses it shall be consumed with care, and whoever has it not be gnawed with envy! Each shall itch to possess it, but none in it shall find pleasure! ... Thus, in direst distress, the Niblung blesses his ring!
Sure enough when Wotan gives the gold/ring to the giants Fasolt and Fafner as payment for services rendered, they start fighting and one of them kills the other. Just like Cain and Abel. Fafner turns himself into a dragon and sits on the gold and ring.
Wotan's like, oh shit. Maybe this curse thing is for real, after all.
Fade to black.
Opera 2: Die Walkure
So this one woman Sieglinde is in this really lousy marriage. Her husband hits her and is all "serve the meal for us men!" One day this hot guy named Siegmund comes knocking at her door and there are instant sparks. Unfortunatley, Siegmund is running away from people who wanted to kill him (red flag #1). Then Sieglinde finds out that the people that are chasing Siegmund are acutally related to her hated husband who now wants to kill Siegmund as well (red flag #2). And then Seligmund finds out that Siegmund is actually her twin brother (red flag #3).
But Wagner is a total romantic, and their love and resulting duet is one of the highlights of the cycle. Placido Domingo at the ripe old age of 67 knocked this out of the park. The half black/white face thing symbolizes their twin nature as well as their half divinity.
Sieglinde points her brother/lover to Notung, his trusty sword that was stuck in a tree by his (her) father Wotan, Excalibur style. Many men have tried to remove the sword, but all have failed. He pulls it out with ease, symbolizing their union. Now he has something to fight the husband with.
Wotan wants to protect his son Siegmund, so he asks his daughter, the fierce warrior Brunhilde of the Valkyries, to lend a helping hand.
But there's trouble. Fricka, Wotan's wife with the crazy long arms, is the goddess of marriage and fidelity. She was like, "uh huh - oh no they didn't! Bitch cheated on her husband and they're twins. This is some Jerry Springer shit, yo! Turn your back on your boy. Don't even think about helping him anymore." Wotan's like, "Fine. Slow your roll." But he's sad about it.
Brunhilde was fully prepared to ride into battle and defend Siegmund. But now her dad Wotan was like, absolutely not. You can't because my wife said it wasn't cool. But Brunhilde knew what her Wotan really wanted, so she helped Siegmund anyway. That's my girl.
Brunhilde helps and tells Siegmund that he must come with her to the saftey of Valhalla, but he doesn't want to leave his love (sister) Sieglinde. Brunhilde is touched and protects Siegmund from the jealous husband's spear.
But you can't go against Wotan. He finds out and he pissed. He breaks Siegmund's sword and vows to punish Brunhilde.
Brunhilde tries to get shelter from her Valkyrie sisters as they ride into battle to pick up fallen heroes. No dice. Loved their costumes and their horses. The figure in the middle is a symbol of Wotan.
Wotan arrives and sentences his brave and fearless daughter who rides with her sisters in battle to the life of a mere mortal. She is to be put to sleep and awakened by the any man that stumbles across her. Her dress changes from black and white to black, white, and red - symbolizing her new found mortality.
She begs forgiveness and explains that she was just trying to do what Wotan really wanted to do deep inside. She wanted to protect Sieglinde and her unborn child. She was touched by the fact that Siegmund didn't want to leave Sieglinde behind when she came to take him to Valhalla.
Wotan relents, and changes his punishment. Instead of being woken up by any man, she will be awoken by a true hero.
Farewell, you bold, wonderful child! You, my heart's holiest pride. Farewell, farewell, farewell!
If I must reject you and may not lovingly greet you again with my greeting, if you may no longer ride beside me, or bring me mead at table; if I must lose you whom I loved you, laughing joy of my eyes: then a bridal fire shall burn for you, as it never burned for any bride! A blaze of flame shall burn round the rock; with devouring terror let it scare the fainthearted; let cowards run away from Brünnhilde's rock!
I'm not going to lie - tears here.
He gets Loge (the devil looking fire man) to encircle her rock with a magic blue fire that can only be broached by someone who knows no fear.
Die Walkure ends. LOVED this one.
Opera 3: Siegfried
This one's kind of like a fairy tale.
Okay, Siegfried is the incestuous child of Siegmund and Sieglinde. He's also the hero.
He's been raised by the dwarf Mime and Mime's basic goal is to get the hero to win back the infamous ring. But he hates Mime and minces no words about it.
Much you've taught me, Mime, and much I've learned from you; but what you most sought to teach me I never succeeded in learning: how to tolerate you.
Ouch. Total dysfunctional relationship. It gets worse. lol
Siegfried knows that his father had this great sword, but that it got broken. So he decides to forge it again himself, in my favorite male aria. Super catchy with the ho hai!s
Seigfried needs to learn fear, so Mime takes him to the dragon Fafner that is guarding the gold and the ring. He's crafty, that one.
After he conquers the dragon, Mime plans to poison Seigfired so he can have the ring all to himself. Seigfriend kills the dragon/Fafner pretty easily with his fancy new sword/light saber.
After he licks the dragon blood off his hands, he can understand Mime's murderous thoughts. So he kills him too.
Then a bird tells him about a beautiful woman (Brunhilde) guarded by a magic fire that can only be awakened by someone that has no fear.
When he sees her, he is overcome by her beauty. He kisses Brunhilde and she awakens with one of my favorite arias of the entire cycle.
So beautiful. (This is the part when the guys sitting next to me burst out in racking sobs. Tears are one thing - but keep that shiz quiet.)
They sing a love duet and awakened by the love of a woman, Siegfried changes colors. That is quite the consummation.
A Los Angeles native gets reacquainted with her city after being away for 15 years. She also tries to eat food that resembles plants on a semi-regular basis.
