Search - Cage, Long Beach Opera :: Europeras 3 & 4

Cage does it again,bringing the world of opera to music

04/28/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The best way to listen to these two operas 3 & 4 is right now while sitting at the computer also with the television on. Cage makes us think about opera again. It is not that opera is over, but saturated. Opera has always inhabited a house one step away from a parody of itself. Adorno said that. So Cage merely shook down the thin veil. Vocalists here are asked to sing their favorites, composers are asked to play 300 old 78's, 75 lights, 3256 cues, Six singers each singing six arias, 140 1-16 measure excerpts from Liszt's "Opera Phantasien" two pianists, fragments of 300 78's on 12 victrolas, 70 minutes. All this seems to work together in spite of itself. The piano seems to accompany, as if we just walked into a rehearsal. In fact you never sense a beginning, a middle or an end. Perhaps not in that order anyway. There are odd wave-like surges where everyone crecendoes toward you. Revealing a deep emotion is not part of this, so obvious. You do listen to the singing, and you've never heard singing like this. "Europera 4" starts hautingly, like people haven't arrived yet. Cage does it. If you are an opera buff this may be a bit condescending, but fun all the same. Cage proves that Opera should be (like children) seen and not heard."