Beowulf and Grendal

[Helene]

In the September issue of Opera News, there is a review of Beowulf and Grendal, a new opera by Elliot Goldenthal, directed by Julie Taymor, with designs by George Tsypin, which premiered in June by the Los Angeles Opera.

Alo McKinnon wrote, "Beowulf is a mute role, stunningly danced by Desmond Richardson and choreographed -- as was the rest of the opera -- by Angelin Preljocaj." According to McKinnon, among the singers, Denyce Graves' Dragon was the audience favorite, while Grendel, Eric Owens was "the real champion."

According to the review, the designs "travelled with the production to New York's Lincoln Center Festival in July. Did anyone attend?

[zerbinetta]

In the September issue of Opera News, there is a review of Beowulf and Grendal, a new opera by Elliot Goldenthal, directed by Julie Taymor, with designs by George Tsypin, which premiered in June by the Los Angeles Opera.

Alo McKinnon wrote, "Beowulf is a mute role, stunningly danced by Desmond Richardson and choreographed -- as was the rest of the opera -- by Angelin Preljocaj." According to McKinnon, among the singers, Denyce Graves' Dragon was the audience favorite, while Grendel, Eric Owens was "the real champion."

According to the review, the designs "travelled with the production to New York's Lincoln Center Festival in July. Did anyone attend?

Yup & enjoyed it enormously .. except for the music. There was no individual composer's voice to my ear, more a pastiche of Bernstein, Wagner, Strauss, a little Britten, a little Schoenberg. I don't know what Goldenthal sounds like, only which composers he favors. And, as I find all too often with contemporary composers, he does not understand the singing voice & what could do damage to it. Not as inconsiderate of the voice as Thomas Ades, whose Tempest I just heard in Santa Fe, but the concept of tessitura is foreign to him.

But the production & performances were wonderful & we would have gone back had it not been the last performance that we did see.

'

I wouldn't say Graves was the audience favorite as Eric Owens' curtain the night we attended was pretty overwhelming & entirely deserved. Graves was wonderful & managed a few bass baritone notes we didn't know she had (nor did she, I'm thinking, before this role). Desmond Richardson, as always, was riveting.

Eric was beyond amazing. Onstage for virtually the entire 2-1/2 hours, required to climb all over the towering set (there were no problems here, as in LA), to dance, to make sense of an enormously difficult role & he sounded glorious. This is a role comparable to the Siegfried Siegfried but composed to take advantage .. & beyond .. of Eric's enormous vocal range. In LA he had 2 days off between performances but in NY he had only one day off between & then ended with 2 performances in a row. "Stalwart" doesn't begin to describe it.

There is talk of an LA reprise in late 2007 if anyone regrets missing it. And Eric Owens' performance alone is worth going.