Fw: "A Most Unlyrical Diva" (Jan.14/11)

 

This appeared in The Guardian Weekly (Jan.28/11)

A Most Unlyrical Diva

            Anna Nicole Smith may have been a sexy prima donna, a Playboy Bunny, and a TV celebrity. Yet is she worthy of an opera? Even referring to her as a diva, unlyrical or not, is a blot on the noble title of "diva" altogether. By definition, a diva is an operatic goddess. A prima donna, on the other hand, is merely the leading female soloist in an opera, or any performer who is temperamental and conceited, as Ms. Smith certainly was. Yet she was no diva. The media portrayed her at various times as an American femme fatale, a trophy wife, a courtesan, a drug addict with a lifelong eating disorder, and an uninhibited vulgarian with a vast vocabulary of scatological expletives.   

            Courtesans and fallen women have always been favorite subjects of painters, authors, and opera librettists. Yet when I think of Bizet's Celeste Mogador (who wrote novels), poetess Veronica Franco, and the many gifted singers, dancers, actresses (for example, Sarah Bernhardt and Coco Chanel), whose lives also came from tawdry beginnings, I doubt that I could appreciate an opera about Ms. Smith,--- unless Mr. Turnage's orchestral score and soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek's singing is so wonderful that I could just listen to the music. Nonetheless, with the ROH director's warning that Richard Thomas's libretto contains "extreme language, drug abuse and sexual content," I foresee a mass exodus of disgusted opera lovers, including myself, who believe that extreme profanity has no place on the opera stage.

 

Les Dreyer

(Retired violinist of the Met Opera Orchestra)

 

 

Fw: "Butt of the orchestra gets a makeover" (05.11.10)

This letter appeared in The Guardian Weekly, Dec.3, 1210.

----- Original Message -----

From: Leslie Dreyer

To: weekly.letters@guardian.co.uk

Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 2010 1:30 PM

Subject: "Butt of the orchestra gets a makeover" (05.11.10)

The revolutionary design of the contraforte may someday render the traditional contrabassoon obsolete, as well as relieving bassoonists from being the unfortunate butts of orchestral jokes. Yet I recall one contrabassoonist---a deceased colleague of mine who played for many years in the pit of the Metropolitan Opera House—who was probably the sole bassoonist in orchestral history never reviled or joked about. I refer to Hugo Burghauser, who was invited to join the Vienna Opera Orchestra by no less than Richard Strauss in 1917. Mr. Burghauser was President of the Vienna Philharmonic from 1933 to 1938, and during his regime hired Arturo Toscanini, Karl Boehm, Herbert Von Karajan, and Bruno Walter. His complex journey into the Met orchestra pit began when he fled the Nazis in 1938. Practically penniless, he ran into Carla Toscanini in Paris, where she was on a shopping spree. Without hesitation she gave him money for a boat trip to America, where she and Arturo were also headed the next day. In New York, the director of the Metropolitan Opera, Sir Rudolf Bing, (who was an opera-buff clerk in a Viennese bookstore in 1934, while Burghauser was indisputably the most powerful figure in the music world), heard of his plight and offered him the Met orchestra position of contrabassoon.

            Whenever maestro Boehm conducted at the Met and spied Burghauser sitting in the rear of the pit, there were invariably nostalgic embraces and moist eyes. Sadly though, the former President of the Vienna Philharmonic was not the same virtuoso bassoonist hired by Strauss in 1917. I recall maestro Boehm conducting a series of Beethoven's Fidelios, in which there is a notorious brief solo for contrabassoon. As Ms. Midgette notes in her article, the contrabassoon is known for its "sometimes flatulent sound." Now whenever that solo came (even at the broadcast!), what emitted from Burghauser's Heckel instrument can only be described as sheer flatulence. Yet not one musician laughed or even breathed during those few catastrophic moments, while Boehm, who was known to fly into a rage over musical mishaps, merely tossed his old comrade a faint smile and a wink. It saddens me that the contraforte was invented over a half century too late for poor Burghauser.

 

Les Dreyer

(Retired violinist with the Met Opera Orchestra)

180 West End Ave.

NYC 10023  USA

 

Fw: "Snooze and you lose all in the stalls" (On Theatre, Oct.29.10)

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Leslie Dreyer

To: weekly.letters@guardian.co.uk

Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 2010 9:05 AM

Subject: "Snooze and you lose all in the stalls" (On Theatre, Oct.29.10)

My first violin teacher (a cantankerous old Russian, yet highly respected in the music world), had an interesting theory why people fall asleep at concerts:  If the artist is not world-class, the audience worries that at any moment there might be a musical disaster--like a memory lapse, or botched technical passage, or missed note---so the listener is nervously alert.

    Yet if the artist is a reliable superstar (like a Heifetz or Horowitz), then the listener relaxes, comforted that nothing can go wrong, and pays the artist the ultimate homage---by falling blissfully asleep.

 

Les Dreyer

(Retired violinist of the Met Opera Orchestra)

 

180 West End Ave.

NYC 10023  USA

NYTimes.com: The Mystique of Ballet

This page was sent to you by:  ldreyer@nyc.rr.com OPINION   | September 28, 2010 Letter:  The Mystique of Ballet A response to an article about making ballerinas more accessible to their audiences. Advertisement Copyright 2010  The New York Times Company | Privacy Policy

Fw: Is a feminist who wears make-up a hypocrite? (10.09.10)

Published in The Guardian Weekly (Sept.24/10)

----- Original Message -----

From: Leslie Dreyer

To: weekly.n&q@guardian.co.uk

Sent: Friday, September 10, 2010 11:50 AM

Subject: Is a feminist who wears make-up a hypocrite? (10.09.10)

    An unmarried feminist who dabs lipstick on her pale lips or a dash of powder on her shiny nose, with the innocent intent of appearing more attractive to a lover, is by no means a hypocrite. Yet a married feminist (no oxymoron intended!), who drains the family bank account to indulge in costly hair-do's and cosmetics, manicures, pedicures, fur coats, and jewelry---all of which may well culminate in divorce and alimony--is indeed a hypocrite and an anathema to the feminist movement. Moreover, if she is not physically or mentally disabled ---  yet prefers to collect alimony instead of supporting herself with a job ---she is worse than a hypocrite. She is a kept woman

 

Les Dreyer

 

180 West End Ave. 

NYC  10023  USA 

NYTimes.com: Young Conductors: Old Fires Burn, Too

This page was sent to you by:  ldreyer@nyc.rr.com ARTS   | July 18, 2010 Letters:  Young Conductors: Old Fires Burn, Too Mr. Tommasini praises the recent trend toward young symphony conductors. Advertisement Cyrus - An official selection of the Sundance Film Festival. Starring John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, and Marisa Tomei. Now Playing Click here to view trailer Copyright 2010  The New York Times Company | Privacy Policy

Juilliard Private Teacher Directory

Please note: The Juilliard Private Teacher Directory lists 39 violin teachers online (including me) at: www.Juilliard.edu/ptd  I prefer to coach advanced players for auditions, and highly motivated intermediated students. No beginners please, or children fresh out of Suzuki method classes.