Klarinet Archive - Posting 000540.txt from 2004/10

From: orm1ondtoby@-----.net (Ormondtoby Montoya)
Subj: Re: [kl] Opera productions that should be damned
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2004 10:48:47 -0400

"Respect" and "disrespect" are (imo) our own emotions that we add
*after* we've decided that the new version was either good or bad.
It's always tempting to cite "disrespect" when a modernization doesn't
work. But really "respect" is not the key ingredient, in my opinion.

It seems to me that some performances have great appeal to many people,
and other performances don't. If a great opera (or any other use of
music) is modernized and it still appeals, then it's still great music.
The mere fact that it was modernized, or that the new version
"respected" the original, is not the determining factor.

One example that sticks out in my mind is "The Wiz", which did not
satisfy me either musically or theatrically, whereas the sets & songs &
dancing in the original Wizard of Oz certainly did. "Five Seasons"
(Eddie Daniels) is a part-good-and-part-bad modernization for me. It
has some attractions and also some repulsions, but the repulsions are
because portions of its jazz additions twist the context too drastically
and too suddenly. The mere fact of adding some modern jazz to "Four
Seasons" is not the problem. There are plenty of jazz versions of the
classics that appeal to me in their own right without losing their
connections to the originals. Some of Ramsey Lewis is an example of
jazz modernizations that appeal to large audiences (Brahms Symphony No
3, and one of the Bach suites), although you need to s-t-r-e-e-e-t-c-h
your imagination in order to remember the originals. "Sing Sing Sing"
is certainly an example of re-casting an ancient tune into modern style,
and it still appeals.

"Respect" is (imo) a word that we add after we've decided whether we
like the result.

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