A Streetcar Named Desire

Guido · January 21, 2009, 10:52:10 AM

I just heard it and I have to say I liked it a great deal more than the critics did - it got absolutely slated in most of the national newspaper reviews that I read. I don't know the original play, so I can't comment on whether it is as good as that or not, but I think it works on its own terms. Yes its old fashioned and not terribly original, but some of Blanche's arias are really very beautiful, even if it touches on the kitsch a few times. Not one of the great operas but I get the feeling that it suffered a bit like Barber's Antony and Cleopatra - hugely hyped before the premier and then not the piece that everyone thought it would be or wanted it to be (though Barber's opera was ridiculously overproduced of course - most critics did not blame the music for its failure).

Thoughts?

Tsaraslondon · January 22, 2009, 01:09:26 AM

I was in the opera (as one Kowalski's cronies and the doctor who takes Blanche away at the end of the opera) when the LSO did a semi-staged version on the occasion of its British premiere back in 2003 and I have to say I enjoyed it immensely. Hard to be objective about something you're involved in, but it certainly didn't deserve the reviews it got at the time. Anna Picard's review in the Independent was particularly bitchy and can be viewed at http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/a-streetcar-named-desire-barbican-hall-londonbrjonathan-lemalu-britten-sinfonia-wiltons-music-hall-london-745478.html

Most of the critics seemed to criticize it for not being modern enough. True it's not Birtwistle, but then I know which one I prefer. Incidentally, so did most of the audience. Unashamedly tuneful much of the time, it delivers up at least two beautiful arias for Blanche (I want magic and the hauntingly Straussian I can smell the sea air). Some of the music hardly rises above illustrative film music, but it is very superior film music. Does it do the play justice? I'd have to say, probably not. It certainly isn't a great operatic adaptation of a theatrical masterpiece in the manner of, say Verdi's Otello, but is very enjoyable in the theatre none the less. I'm still not absolutely sure why it warranted so much vitriol from the London critics. Whilst not exactly glowing in their praise, most of the American critics were a little more measured in their responses. In Picard's review, even Fleming, who sang divinely by the way, comes in for some decidedly nasty carping.

Not a masterpiece then, but something I enjoy listening to once in a while.

Guido · January 22, 2009, 11:05:56 AM

Interesting to read your comments.
The Guardian review is just as dismal
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2003/jun/27/classicalmusicandopera.artsfeatures6

bhodges · January 22, 2009, 11:54:27 AM

I have seen the play and the film a number of times, and have the CD of the opera (and have seen excerpts from the DVD). IMHO the opera is much better than some gave credit for, particularly the scenes with Fleming. The two arias Tsaras cites are indeed quite lovely. (Fleming's disc I Want Magic! includes that particular aria.) Also her monologue at the end--a sort of "mad scene" in which she describes what happened to her former boyfriend--is beautifully written, both delicate and tense.

And I agree with Tsaras: if the music perhaps sounds more like film music, it is very, very good film music. And based on the parts I saw from the DVD, it is very effective onstage.

--Bruce

bricon · January 22, 2009, 01:07:08 PM

This opera had a very successful run in Sydney a couple of years ago with generally fairly positive reviews. I tend to agree with this review from The Sydney Morning Herald – the opera suffers from too much Williams and not enough Previn.

Guido · January 22, 2009, 03:25:20 PM

Quote from: bhodges on January 22, 2009, 11:54:27 AM
The two arias Tsaras cites are indeed quite lovely. (Fleming's disc I Want Magic! includes that particular aria.) Also her monologue at the end--a sort of "mad scene" in which she describes what happened to her former boyfriend--is beautifully written, both delicate and tense.

And I agree with Tsaras: if the music perhaps sounds more like film music, it is very, very good film music.

Absolutely agree.

There's a very lovely aria by one of the male characters too, though I wasn't paying attention to the track number, so I'll have to listen to it through again in order to find out which one it is.
Edit: I think its I'm not a boy.

Tsaraslondon · January 22, 2009, 03:36:00 PM

Quote from: Guido on January 22, 2009, 03:25:20 PM
There's a very lovely aria by one of the male characters too, though I wasn't paying attention to the track number, so I'll have to listen to it through again in order to find out which one it is.

I think you'll find that's Mitch's aria (beautifully sung by Anthony Dean Griffey

Guido · January 22, 2009, 03:47:56 PM

It is I'm not a boy, isn't it? Didn't see your post when I edited mine.

Guido · February 21, 2009, 06:32:32 AM

Have been listening to the piece with the score and my admiration for it has only grown. There's a lot of very beautiful music indeed -the whole act 2, scene 2 for instance is quite wonderful - Mitch's declaration and Blanche's description of her early marriage to a young gay man is very moving and beautifully done. What are people's complaints with Renee Fleming?

Tsaraslondon · February 21, 2009, 09:30:38 AM

Quote from: Guido on February 21, 2009, 06:32:32 AM
What are people's complaints with Renee Fleming?

I wish I knew. She has her limitations, but what great singer doesn't or didn't? I find her superb in Mozart and Strauss, but less so in the Italian repertoire. I have many of her recital discs, and the one that works least well for me is the Bel Canto disc. Though she has no real technical problems in this music, for me she fails to sparkle, as, say, Sutherland does in Bel ragigio from Semiramide, or truly get inside the character of the simple Amina in La Sonnambula, as Callas did. On the other hand I love the disc of Handel arias she did (has Semele ever sounded quite so sexually seductive?), though I'm sure the purists would cavil. Her most recent recital disc (Homage) is a good example of her strengths and weaknesses. The Strauss and Korngold items are glorious, so too are the Russian and Czech items (a perhaps surprisingly successful scene from Jenufa, for one), but the Italian items don't really work. In French, we have one hit (Massenet's Cleopatre) and one miss (the waltz song from Mireille, a natural for Sutherland).
She has a beautiful presence and a natural stage demeanor. I really don't know why she comes in for so much carping. The voice itself must surely be one of the most naturally beautiful before the public today. Admittedly, more now than when she first started out, she can have a tendency to croon (something her compatriot Anna Moffo also suffered from), but I would still call her one of the most important voices of the present generation.

Guido · February 21, 2009, 12:36:41 PM

I might have to get that Hommage CD.

What is crooning in a classical sense?

Tsaraslondon · February 21, 2009, 01:05:48 PM

Quote from: Guido on February 21, 2009, 12:36:41 PM

What is crooning in a classical sense?

It's a sort of lazy portamento, where singers slide and swoop about too much, rather in the manner of jazz. Not too noticeable in Streetcar, of course, because much of the music would seem to ask for this style of singing.

Portamento used correctly can bring life to a phrase, but used lazily or wrongly it can become just sloppy. It is an art that has been greatly misunderstood, and many modern singers eliminate it altogether, rather than risk charges of swooping. Callas was the absolute mistress of this misunderstood art.

bricon · February 22, 2009, 02:41:25 AM

Quote from: Tsaraslondon on February 21, 2009, 01:05:48 PM
Callas was the absolute mistress

Some (mis)quotes are just too delicious to let pass.

Guido · February 22, 2009, 05:50:53 PM

Quote from: Tsaraslondon on February 21, 2009, 01:05:48 PM
It's a sort of lazy portamento, where singers slide and swoop about too much, rather in the manner of jazz. Not too noticeable in Streetcar, of course, because much of the music would seem to ask for this style of singing.

Portamento used correctly can bring life to a phrase, but used lazily or wrongly it can become just sloppy. It is an art that has been greatly misunderstood, and many modern singers eliminate it altogether, rather than risk charges of swooping. Callas was the absolute mistress of this misunderstood art.

Thanks. I've seen the word used here as a perjorative several times but was never quite sure what it menat.

May I surmise that you might consider yourself a fan of Callas? Two mentions of her in as many posts in a thread that is otherwise not at all related to her.

And the avatar might also be a giveaway!

Tsaraslondon · February 23, 2009, 04:40:30 AM

Quote from: Guido on February 22, 2009, 05:50:53 PM

May I surmise that you might consider yourself a fan of Callas? Two mentions of her in as many posts in a thread that is otherwise not at all related to her. And the avatar might also be a giveaway!

Guido, I've sent you a private response rather than hijack the present thread.

jhar26 · March 05, 2009, 08:36:25 AM

I have the DVD. I admit that I bought it mostly for Renée Fleming (crooning or no crooning - I adore her

). I didn't expect that much from the opera itself, but I was very pleasantly surprised. I think it's a fine piece of work going by how much I enjoy it. If the critics think that it's not 'modern' enough than maybe it won't disappear into the archives after one or two performances like the box office poison they prefer - but I'm probably a bit too cynical.

Guido · March 11, 2009, 10:03:55 AM

The aria I Want Magic! is so much more moving in the context of the opera. I've listened to it more than any other track on the CD, but it's just perfect in the context of what precedes it and what follows... the dangers of excerpting arias I guess!

Guido · September 18, 2009, 06:47:30 AM

After seeing some clips on youtube I decided to get the DVD of this but then looked on Amazon and it appears to be out of print - $58 or £30 is the cheapest copy! Guess it will have to wait.

Tsaraslondon - it must have been a treat to be that close to her singing this music during the London staging. How did you get this gig?

Cato · September 18, 2009, 10:53:15 AM

Quote from: Guido on September 18, 2009, 06:47:30 AM
After seeing some clips on youtube I decided to get the DVD of this but then looked on Amazon and it appears to be out of print - $58 or £30 is the cheapest copy! Guess it will have to wait.

Tsaraslondon - it must have been a treat to be that close to her singing this music during the London staging. How did you get this gig?

When will the Utopia of "on-demand" CD selling happen? Should not everything be available? The company does not need to have a stockpile ready: when an order comes in, the copy is made right then and there.

This is already being done for books and journals. That way we who like more obscure composers or works can have our cake, and the companies still make a profit from our purchase.

Tsaraslondon · September 19, 2009, 02:22:50 AM

Quote from: Guido on September 18, 2009, 06:47:30 AM

Tsaraslondon - it must have been a treat to be that close to her singing this music during the London staging. How did you get this gig?

I knew some of the people at the LSO, and when they needed an actor, they just got in touch with me. It was indeed a treat being so close to her. No doubts about the sheer quality of the voice, she is also a gracious and serious colleague, with no trace of the prima donna (in its pejorative sense) about her.