Daugherty: Jackie O: The Opera.This project marks the dubious transition from CNN opera to National Enquirer opera. Wayne Koestenbaum's musings on Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis have inspired pop classicist clas·si·cist n. 1. One versed in the classics; a classical scholar. 2. An adherent of classicism. 3. An advocate of the study of ancient Greek and Latin. Noun 1. Michael Daugherty to devise an 80-minute confection con·fec·tion n. A sweetened medicinal compound. Also called electuary. on the unmerry widow that the Houston Grand Opera The Houston Grand Opera (HGO) is a Houston, Texas-based opera company. It was founded in 1955. David Gockley was its longtime general director, serving 33 years from 1972 to 2005 before moving to the San Francisco Opera on January 1, 2006. deemed worthy both of production as well as recording. Unlike the title characters in John Adam's great theater work on Richard Nixon or Michael Korie and Stewart Wallace's homage to Harvey Milk, the protagonist here rarely reveals herself, and we're left with a parade of gay icons from the 1960s (Maria Callas, Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, Andy Warhol) and a portrait of the former first lady that she spent the final three decades of her life attempting or eradicate. Even as a lament for a lost age of hope and innocence, Koestenbaum's elliptical el·lip·tic or el·lip·ti·cal adj. 1. Of, relating to, or having the shape of an ellipse. 2. Containing or characterized by ellipsis. 3. a. libretto (which was adapted from his book) just doesn't make it. It feels more like an exorcism exorcism (ĕk`sôrsĭz'əm), ritual act of driving out evil demons or spirits from places, persons, or things in which they are thought to dwell. It occurs both in primitive societies and in the religions of sophisticated cultures. , a lament for the author's youth and the destruction of his fantasies. Daugherty, however, knows how to craft a tune that will stick with you--at least for a few minutes. The 19-member chamber orchestra pounds out all those ancient dances as if they really mattered. What's next? An opera about Princes Di? |
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