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I am a huge Rinde Eckert fan - to me, his work practically defines "interstitial," and his performance is always electrifying. We went tonight w/Chiara to see his "Orpheus X" at TFNA, where it's playing through Dec. 20th. I don't think Chiara moved a muscle for the entire 90 minutes. The moment Rinde appeared, opened his mouth & let out that voice (and that passion), I practically started crying from pure joy.
deliasherman will probably write it all up with all her erudite observations from the subway trip home.
All I can say for now is that he & director Woodruff rang some terrific changes on the story: He's a popstar (in a near-future world meltdown), locked in his apartment; She's a small-press poet who died in his arms when his taxi hit her in the rain. She goes into the Underworld desperate to write ("When you're dead, they take away your pens and pencils") and is given chalk by the Queen of the Dead (played by a man who doubles as Orpheus' manager on earth - they also have an adorable [to a relative degree - the whole show is pretty intense!] duet about what it's like to sit at your desk & write.... "And then it's done?" the Queen says, and Euridice gently corrects her: "And then it's begun."). Too tired to say more now, but I wanted to let you know that, at least. There's a good interview with Rinde while he was developing the show for ART here; I just wish TFANA would put online his program notes for the current version, which are excellent.
Now I'm listening to the entire Monteverdi Orfeo on YouTube - just so I can find the heartrendingly glorious [well, damn! I've played the whole thing, and he never sang The Song! And there's no way even on Google to look up "the tune that goes daaaa-dum, da daaaa dum....."!]
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All I can say for now is that he & director Woodruff rang some terrific changes on the story: He's a popstar (in a near-future world meltdown), locked in his apartment; She's a small-press poet who died in his arms when his taxi hit her in the rain. She goes into the Underworld desperate to write ("When you're dead, they take away your pens and pencils") and is given chalk by the Queen of the Dead (played by a man who doubles as Orpheus' manager on earth - they also have an adorable [to a relative degree - the whole show is pretty intense!] duet about what it's like to sit at your desk & write.... "And then it's done?" the Queen says, and Euridice gently corrects her: "And then it's begun."). Too tired to say more now, but I wanted to let you know that, at least. There's a good interview with Rinde while he was developing the show for ART here; I just wish TFANA would put online his program notes for the current version, which are excellent.
Now I'm listening to the entire Monteverdi Orfeo on YouTube - just so I can find the heartrendingly glorious [well, damn! I've played the whole thing, and he never sang The Song! And there's no way even on Google to look up "the tune that goes daaaa-dum, da daaaa dum....."!]
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Date: 2009-12-11 05:51 am (UTC)Ask an early music specialist; it's possible that the piece (aria?) was simply cut from the performance you watched.
ETA: Seems your elusive tune is not Monteverdi. ...you might want to flip through the official brochure to another international festival guest, the American Repertory Theatre, whose edgy and bitter Orpheus X is not the dulcet-toned musical hypnotist of Monteverdi’s libretto, but a touring rock star. The composer Rinde Eckert didn’t take his Orpheus from Monteverdi, but he did feel its influence in his composition: “What I find interesting in Monteverdi is this refined sense of spiritual beauty, and those fantastic dance rhythms that modern rock can’t even begin to match.”
Mark Morris did a lovely Orfeo a few years back.
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Date: 2009-12-11 02:03 pm (UTC)Saw the Morris Orfeo (Gluck's) - loved it, but waited the entire time for "my" song to come on....
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Date: 2009-12-11 12:09 pm (UTC)As a consolation, I bring you the glorious Janet Baker singing "Che Faro" from the Gluck version of the story. Although it's the wrong century, it will bring joy to anyone who listens.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brGYq97Of6w
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Date: 2009-12-11 02:01 pm (UTC)Baker is indeed glorious. We saw the Mark Morris version of the Gluck last year, and i waited the entire time for them to sing my song then, too . . . .
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Date: 2009-12-11 12:53 pm (UTC)