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From: d4g4h4 on 17 Oct 2007 03:45 EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) <evgmsop(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*) wrote: > > > EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) <evgmsop(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > > > > [] > > > >>Uhhhh.... In case you hadn't noticed, I, too, am a > >>native-born citizen of that "young, upstart nation". > >>However, unlike you I can perceive my country's faults. > > > > > > Yes, but you exaggerate some of them in my opinion too. > > Probably - but that's usually in response to the "my > country, right or wrong", "love it or leave it" brigade! Ultimately unproductive. > > I've said this > > before, and I'll say it again, for things I'm interested in (e.g. > > classical music, visual arts, serious writing, drama, and gloriously > > cheesy Hollywood movies!) the US is extremely vibrant. And influential, > > but influences work both ways in a vibrant arts scene, and that's > > certainly the case in the US too. I also find it ironic for someone who > > loves opera that you don't seem to have much to say about the modern > > opera scene. [] > Most of my European journeys have been to hear a particular > singer whose career has been largely in Europe. Although he > sang more in the U.S. when he was younger, I didn't discover > him until he was in his late fifties. He has sung a couple > roles with the Met (mostly Golaud in "Pelleas"), but the Met > does not pay as well as the major European houses, Really? Have you got a citation for that? Certainly the orchestra at the met is one of the highest paid orchestral jobs in the world. Given the artists they attract, I admit I'd be surprised by that. [] > > Presumably, it doesn't interest you, but new opera is alive > > and well, and the two most popular opera composers living (and I mean > > that in the audience sense) are Americans, much of their initial work > > being commissioned by US opera houses and then exported. Adams and > > Glass. > > I find Adams more listenable than Glass, but all the > minimalists drive me bonkers with their lack of musical > diversity - how often can one hear the same "deedle, deedle, > deedle" repeated (with minimum variation) before one is > tempted to beat one's head against the nearest wall? (Being > an opera singer manqu�, I prefer my opera to have arias and > ensembles that require well-trained voices - recognizeable > TUNES, from time to time do no harm, either!) Mind you, I > would not deny their works the right to be heard, My point was simply that they are, as modern operas go, very popular, and very exportable. Indeed, many of their operatic commissions now come from outside the US. -- (*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate http://www.davidhorne.net - real address on website "He can't be as stupid as he looks, but nevertheless he probably is quite a stupid man." Richard Dawkins on Pres. Bush"
From: EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) on 17 Oct 2007 17:27 David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*) wrote: > EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) <evgmsop(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > >>Most of my European journeys have been to hear a particular >>singer whose career has been largely in Europe. Although he >>sang more in the U.S. when he was younger, I didn't discover >>him until he was in his late fifties. He has sung a couple >>roles with the Met (mostly Golaud in "Pelleas"), but the Met >>does not pay as well as the major European houses, > > > Really? Have you got a citation for that? Certainly the orchestra at the > met is one of the highest paid orchestral jobs in the world. Given the > artists they attract, I admit I'd be surprised by that. I can only cite the singer himself (Jose van Dam - who certainly is ranked among the great by much of the world). In a published interview, from 1993, he gave that as his reason for not singing more in the U.S. I don't have the article, and don't remember in which magazine it appeared, but I assumed he knew what he was talking about. Perhaps he was only referring to what they proposed to pay him, not the fees they offered to Pavarotti or Domingo or some other over-hyped "superstar".
From: d4g4h4 on 17 Oct 2007 17:38 EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) <evgmsop(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*) wrote: > > > EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) <evgmsop(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > > > >>Most of my European journeys have been to hear a particular > >>singer whose career has been largely in Europe. Although he > >>sang more in the U.S. when he was younger, I didn't discover > >>him until he was in his late fifties. He has sung a couple > >>roles with the Met (mostly Golaud in "Pelleas"), but the Met > >>does not pay as well as the major European houses, > > > > > > Really? Have you got a citation for that? Certainly the orchestra at the > > met is one of the highest paid orchestral jobs in the world. Given the > > artists they attract, I admit I'd be surprised by that. > > I can only cite the singer himself (Jose van Dam - who certainly is ranked > among the great by much of the world). In a published interview, from > 1993, he gave that as his reason for not singing more in the U.S. I don't > have the article, and don't remember in which magazine it appeared, but I > assumed he knew what he was talking about. Perhaps he was only > referring to what they proposed to pay him, not the fees they offered to > Pavarotti or Domingo or some other over-hyped "superstar". I would take his comments with a pinch of salt, myself. (I wonder why he felt the need to change his name from Joseph van Damme?) A Met gig is highly prized... -- (*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate http://www.davidhorne.net - real address on website "He can't be as stupid as he looks, but nevertheless he probably is quite a stupid man." Richard Dawkins on Pres. Bush"
From: EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) on 17 Oct 2007 18:26 David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*) wrote: > EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) <evgmsop(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > >>I can only cite the singer himself (Jose van Dam - who certainly is ranked >>among the great by much of the world). In a published interview, from >>1993, he gave that as his reason for not singing more in the U.S. I don't >>have the article, and don't remember in which magazine it appeared, but I >>assumed he knew what he was talking about. Perhaps he was only >>referring to what they proposed to pay him, not the fees they offered to >>Pavarotti or Domingo or some other over-hyped "superstar". > > > I would take his comments with a pinch of salt, myself. (I wonder why he > felt the need to change his name from Joseph van Damme?) IIRC, his voice teacher's advice, in the early days of his career. "Jose" is a diminutive of Joseph (and was always his nickname), dropping the final "me" of "van Damme" allowed his name to fit on a marquee more readily. (It's certainly better than "Jose Damiant" which was the name he used when he was seventeen and his first singing jobs were in non-operatic venues!) A Met gig is > highly prized... Less so, I think, when one has already achieved international fame - especially if the fame came BEFORE the Met's imprimatur.
From: d4g4h4 on 17 Oct 2007 18:32
EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) <evgmsop(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*) wrote: > > > EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) <evgmsop(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > > > > >>I can only cite the singer himself (Jose van Dam - who certainly is ranked > >>among the great by much of the world). In a published interview, from > >>1993, he gave that as his reason for not singing more in the U.S. I don't > >>have the article, and don't remember in which magazine it appeared, but I > >>assumed he knew what he was talking about. Perhaps he was only > >>referring to what they proposed to pay him, not the fees they offered to > >>Pavarotti or Domingo or some other over-hyped "superstar". > > > > > > I would take his comments with a pinch of salt, myself. (I wonder why he > > felt the need to change his name from Joseph van Damme?) > > IIRC, his voice teacher's advice, in the early days of his career. "Jose" > is a diminutive of Joseph (and was always his nickname), dropping the > final "me" of "van Damme" allowed his name to fit on a marquee more > readily. Oh, come _on_! > (It's > certainly better than "Jose Damiant" which was the name he > used when he was seventeen and his first singing jobs were > in non-operatic venues!) His original name was fine. > A Met gig is > > highly prized... > > Less so, I think, when one has already achieved > international fame - especially if the fame came BEFORE the > Met's imprimatur. Again, what is your source for this? -- (*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate http://www.davidhorne.net - real address on website "He can't be as stupid as he looks, but nevertheless he probably is quite a stupid man." Richard Dawkins on Pres. Bush" |