Word: musics
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Sellars boasts, with obvious irony, that his is "Boston's first complete Wagner Ring cycle." It is actually an anthology of the Ring, the most famous and most inspired passages spliced together from each opera, with the gaps in the music and plot filled in either by stage gimmickry or by Sellars' own entertaining, if self-conscious, narration. He uses good commercial recordings of the works, and provides surprisingly good reproduction for them. The cutting is drastic, though, and will disturb those who know the music too well. Sir Thomas Beecham used to complain of the "bleeding chunks of Wagner...
...purists this approach is sheer heresy--they remember Wagner's demand that his works be called "music-dramas." But most scoff at that today, and take the music much more seriously than the drama. Sellars does the opposite, and compensates for the loss in musical clarity with wonderfully adroit stagecraft. Sometimes it descends to the level of slapstick pot-shots at Wagner's Nibelungs, Gibichungs, forest-birds and bears, but at least as often it sensibly comments on the eternal production problems of the Ring...
MOST effective are David Claris's colorful puppets, which represent most of the characters. Members of the company wave the muppet-like Rhinemaidens about in time to the music, and open their mouths as they "sing"--even "swimming" a little bit higher for the really high notes. Life-size dummies manipulated by two actors apiece "play" Siegmund and Sieglinde about as well as most opera singers; the hand gestures and postures brilliantly satire the declamatory incompetence of most heldentenors and dramatic sopranos...
Dylan's real savior on this album is the music. With all the divinely inspired lyrics, one might expect other-worldly music as well. Instead, a very mortal Mark Knophler of Dire Straits plays impressively of Slow Train Coming, and many of the melodies, like the melancholy "I Believe in You" and forceful "Precious Angel" carry the lyrics. Most of the music on the album, in fact, is very well produced and performed. But no one is going to say that any potential classics are hiding in this album. From the very weak "When He Returns" to the strong "When...
...being sarcastic. On the other hand, Dylan may be following John Lennon who made fools of the record-buying public when he sold an album of noises uttered by Yoko Ono. If Dylan is out to humiliate us all, at least we can say, we bought if for the music, Bob, we really...