tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949086046279498177.post96393765640167102..comments2023-12-27T09:38:56.562+01:00Comments on Opera Cake: Nixon in China opens at Théâtre du Châtelet in ParisOpera Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08940773671378765685noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949086046279498177.post-15319441423425310922012-09-20T03:36:19.221+02:002012-09-20T03:36:19.221+02:00After watching the Live Feed, Franco Pomponi perfe...After watching the Live Feed, Franco Pomponi perfectly embodied Nixon with sweat and hand gestures. At times though, he looked more like Ronald Reagan. I would still love to see a production with Act III in it's original setting: The Hall of the People. I have pictures in my head of the Nixons draped in an American flag bedsheet on one side and The Maos in a Chinese Flag. A little obvious, I know. Thank you for this great review!Justinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17006940900604501409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949086046279498177.post-42591090021226109292012-04-19T18:13:04.110+02:002012-04-19T18:13:04.110+02:00Thank you for your well-written and insightful rev...Thank you for your well-written and insightful review. I watched most of the online feed yesterday, and while I thought the performers, staging, conductor, and orchestra fantastic (La June! La Sumi!), after about an hour Adams' music gives me a pounding headache. The endless underscoring of EVERYTHING in that atonal "no aural guideposts here!" fashion, and his seeming refusal to break up the story of his music into chapters, instead of one long tone poem, drives me mad. The audience seemed stunned that they were finally allowed a breathing space to applaud after Ms. Jo's fiendish aria. (Insert quote from Peter Shaffer's "Amadeus" here.) Perhaps it would have been different seeing it live, as I really want to like his work...Anonoglindenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949086046279498177.post-23843621380524222872012-04-17T12:57:31.189+02:002012-04-17T12:57:31.189+02:00And me who was totally convinced "Zheng"...And me who was totally convinced "Zheng" could not be the first name... Thanks! <br /><br />This is often frustrating as many Asians reverse the order and put their first name first. Since we have hard time distinguishing the first from their last name (except in some specific situations)... <br /><br />I am pretty sure he will have more success in his career as he has that Asian sensibility, had his share of hardship in China and in the US, where he must have struggled at the beginning... Tough moments in life regularly shape the artistic sensibility and open the artist more to the world around him. <br /><br />An opera based on "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" would be terrific!Opera Cakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08940773671378765685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949086046279498177.post-31409329568165747822012-04-12T20:20:13.083+02:002012-04-12T20:20:13.083+02:00Great review. Thanks!
BTW, Chen Shi-Zheng's f...Great review. Thanks!<br /><br />BTW, Chen Shi-Zheng's family name is Chen, not Shi-Zheng. In Chinese, Japanese, Korean and other Asian cultures, the family name goes before the given name. (You probably already knew this. But when their names are translated into English, some Asians choose to keep their custom while others do what the Romans/English do, thus the confusion. :)<br /><br />A decade or so ago, Chen staged a Chinese opera "The Peony Garden" at the Lincoln Center. There is a documentary about the show available. (I showed bits of it to my students, just to help them get some ideas about what a Chinese opera looks like).<br /><br />I am waiting for someone to turn Dai Sijie's "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" into an opera, and Chen Shi-Zheng could be a perfect candidate to stage it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com