Glorious Music

By Alidë Kohlhaas

Many years ago, I discovered that I could easily live without television, but not without music. Of course, the music I am talking about is not the kind that is usually downloaded through Napster, although it is probably possible. It's just that I have never tried. I am one of those people, who needs what is very loosely called classical. Many musical genres have been lumped into this field since the word has come to mean any music that isn't described as pop. My musical era, so to speak, begins with Beethoven and ends in the present—with some reservations. Today, there are many Canadian composers, who excite the ear, just as there are those, who leave one distressed. There are also many international contemporary composers, who thrill with their musical conceptions, while others fail to capture my interest. Among the latter is Andrew Lloyd Webber. Oh, I am soooo sorry, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. This gentleman produces pop, and mostly not very good pop, which depends on gimmicks to capture an audience. So you won't find any reviews of his works on these pages, at least not written by myself. We do, however, invite others to give their views.

What then is glorious music? These pages will attempt to reveal this through music reviews and stories. They will change with the months as we discover new CDs, attend new concerts or operas, or hear a program on radio that catches our fancy. These stories follow below and on succeeding pages.

Opera on Television

By Alidë Kohlhaas

Up to this week I have avoided watching opera on television. Somehow the small box just doesn't seem to translate well what happens on stage during an opera performance, or so I thought. Then I made the decision to watch the simulcast of the Metropolitan Opera's Tristan und Isolde with Tristan being sung by Canada's own Heldentenor, Ben Heppner. It was recorded last season.

How can one resist this, even if it isn't on Canadian television, but on the American PBS station WNED-TV and on American radio WNED-FM? But then, most of us in the Toronto area don't think of WNED as being foreign. More than 50 per cent of the subscribers of the Buffalo PBS outlet come from our side of the border. Their programming is exceptional. Where else can you watch opera on television? The CBC hasn't presented one in dogs ages, although it gives us plenty of this type of programming on CBCTwo every Saturday afternoon. God bless them for it.

I still haven't changed my mind about TV being a good medium for opera, but this Tristan und Isolde was beautifully filmed, well directed, and gave the viewer one advantage that someone in the audience at the Met will never have: a full view of James Levine conducting. What a pleasure, what an experience to see this amazing man literally live the music as he conducts it. Such deep emotion, such complete involvement. One can only say "Bravo" to this fine conductor, who understands the music of Wagner so well.

The set of this production was exquisite in its simplicity. Just white on white sheets resembling sails in the background that also served as the endless sky that one encounters at sea, and one central sail to indicate the location of the action of the opera, a ship. A few simple props to show the changing locations of the action on the ship, and magnificent lighting. I am only sorry that the titles were too small for me to catch the names of the designers. Kudos to them.

Now to the two main characters of this tale of hopeless love. Jane Eaglen sang Isolde. This powerful soprano gave it her all in this production. She captured both the fury and the glory of Isolde, who at first is set on revenge against Tristan for the death of her betrothed, Morold, and then becomes consumed by the love for him. Eaglen has a clear voice that can be both brittle in its brilliance and soft in its full emotive power.

Thanks to the excellent costumes, one forgets that Eaglen is physically not really the ideal image of Isolde. That is why opera is so wonderful. When all things come together, the music, the voices, the sets, the lighting, then nothing else matters. Opera is now the only visual performance medium where the artistry is more important than the physical look of an individual. Film and television have long since replaced talent with looks. The stage still holds fast toward talent, but it, too, is slowly succumbing to the look over the talent in some cases.

Ben Heppner must now truly be the most outstanding Heldentenor of our time. His voice is beyond reproach, his diction superb. He was the only one whom one could fully understand at all times during this broadcast. When he sang, the English subtitles were not required. At all other times—because German is not easily understood when sung even by the best—the subtitles came in handy to understand what was being said. This huge man, I must say it once again, can bring one to tears with his ability to show tenderness, in voice and action. His was truly a magnificent Tristan.

Thank you WNED!