NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/rec/music/classica/19411

Internet Message Format | 1992-12-28 | 1.6 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!noc.near.net!hri.com!spool.mu.edu!uwm.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!news.acns.nwu.edu!mac51.ed.nwu.edu!user
From: [e-mail] (Barry Grant)
Newsgroups: rec.music.classical
Subject: Re: FYI: Lovely Music....
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 28 Dec 92 18:55:48 GMT
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
Sender: [e-mail] (Usenet on news.acns)
Followup-To: rec.music.classical
Organization: Northwestern University
Lines: 22
Nntp-Posting-Host: mac51.ed.nwu.edu


 (Edgar Erwin) wrote:
> Can I coax someone into posting a review of this opera [Improvement]? Opinions, or
> JustTheFacts would be appreciated.

Since buying Perfect Lives on the recommendation of Fanfare, I've tried to
buy everything on CD of Ashley. Nothing so far is as wonderful as Perfect
Lives. I've listened to it 5-6 times all the way through, even bought the
libretto, and I can still barely figure out what's going on. I don't mind
that much: I like the piece because it shows how strange the world is. So
why should I be able to "figure it out"? Instead I discover things in it
and enjoy the rhythms of its words. I've listened to Improvement  a couple
of times. It's not as wonderful as Perfect Lives. It's "stiffer" and the
music is not as hypnotic. It seems weighted down with intended meanings,
where PL seems more spontaneous, more playful. I don't like Thomas
Bruckner's singing either. But I'll say for him that  now whenever someone
says "Wait a minute please" I hear them sing it like he does.

Barry Grant
Northwestern Univesity
Evanston, Illinois
[e-mail]