An Evening With Nico Muhly, 'Two Boys' And Other Works
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- Опубліковано 2 вер 2013
- Opera audiences are well acquainted with all manners of intrigue - whether political, romantic or psychological. The exciting American composer Nico Muhly is updating that paradigm to the 21st century with his opera Two Boys.
This work, commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera, is loosely based on a true story from the 1990s, just at the birth of online culture. It delves into a curious and still very timely tale: a detective's investigation into the stabbing of one teenage boy by another, a crime that unspools within a web of chat room activity. Upon the piece's world premiere at the English National Opera in June 2011, New York Times critic Zachary Woolfe described Two Boys as "Muhly's best work yet." Two Boys arrives for its American premiere at the Met in October.
On May 14, Muhly teamed up with a spectacular group of friends for an intimate evening performance produced by the Met and (Le) Poisson Rouge that anticipates Two Boys' American debut. The performers represented the incredible range of Muhly's musical fluency: tenor and Two Boys star Paul Appleby; soprano Jennifer Zetlan, who starred in Muhly's 2011 chamber opera Dark Sisters and is also slated to sing in Two Boys at the Met; indie folk singer/songwriter Sam Amidon; frequent Muhly collaborator, violist (and Q2 host) Nadia Sirota; and duo violinists Angela and Jennifer Chun. With Muhly's entertaining and illuminating running commentary - and many exciting performances - this was definitely an evening to remember. -- ANASTASIA TSIOULCAS
PROGRAM:
All music by Nico Muhly unless otherwise noted
Hudson Cycle (Nico Muhly, piano)
Etude 3 (Nadia Sirota, viola; Nico Muhly, piano)
JOHN ADAMS: Am I in Your Light (Jennifer Zetlan, soprano; Nadia Sirota, viola; Nico Muhly, piano)
Two Songs: "Last Words" and "Empty House" (Jennifer Zetlan, soprano and Nico Muhly, piano)
"I'm Scared for My Life" from Two Boys (Jennifer Zetlan, soprano; Nadia Sirota, viola; Nico Muhly, piano)
Etude 1 (Nadia Sirota, viola; Nico Muhly, piano
SAM AMIDON: "Wild Bill Jones," "Short Life," "As I Roved Out," and "Saro" (Sam Amidon, voice, guitar and banjo; Nico Muhly, piano
Honest Music (Angela and Jennifer Chun, violins; Nico Muhly, piano)
"I'm Only Sixteen" from Two Boys (Paul Appleby, tenor; Nadia Sirota, viola; Nico Muhly, piano
Skip Town (Nico Muhly, piano)
PHILIP GLASS: Etude 12 (Nico Muhly, piano)
always am coming back to this. Thank you so much for the beautiful music.
This is extraordinary. The composition. The players. Extraordinary. Fresh. I could replay this over and over. Thank you, Nico and the other players!
Great to hear and see Nico's work for the first time. Dynamic stuff that, as heard from the perspective of John Q. Public, I found very interesting. Bravo!
bravissimo.!!!!!!!!!!!!
I sincerely enjoy this Music. Bravo, Sir!
Seriously good, over an hour of just evocative and beautiful music. Also, best sound I've heard all day: 0:41:33
Totally beautiful, enjoyed the talk too.
I saw “ Two Boys” at the MET. Was just amazing.
Wonderful!
Emocionante!
Nico, you're genius! Then again, you knew that already! ;-)
What an amazing soprano!
Found out about his work thanks to his collaborations with Jonsi, Antony Hegarty, and Owen Pallett. Great artist!
I'm a Sigur Ros ' and Nico's fan but didn't know Jonsi and Nico collaborated! Thanks!
Nico is such a great but underrated composer.
Who else came here because they saw Sam Amidon in the thumbnail?
Came here because I've just seen him in Mozart in the Jungle, Season 3, Episode 2!
remarkable for their ages. Muhly may be the successor to Glass.
juxtaposition?
wtf shit is that at 41:33? Seriously? like SERIOUSLY?
It's what some people pretend is classical music in current year.
yeah, there was definitely something...uh..."off" there
Just amidon being amidon lololol
Wild Bill Jones by Sam Amidon is always a wild ride. There are other performances where he does it nearly until passing out
I did *not* enjoy Jennifer Zetlan.
fail.
Vacuous music. That's Mr. Muhly. All I hear is improvised chords, licks and riffs going nowhere. Sure, it's "pretty" in a vapid sense, like the artwork on a Hallmark greeting card. How could responsible, knowledgeable teachers at Juilliard pass a kid with no musical ideas into the higher precincts of so-called certified composers? Well, they did here. The John Adams aria has line, shape, drama within a minimalist framework. Muhly mewls and pules. And Craig Lucas's words are equally simpering.
hi figaro... would love to hear your music, so i can get hear something less "vapid."
Fifth-greatest living composer.
Menopausal women vote, apparently. And not for the people that actually pioneered this stuff 50 years ago.
Yawn. There's a not a single moment of truly inspired composition here. He seems like a nice guy, quite articulate, but bereft of "the touch." For me, he's the composer equivalent of Lena Dunham--a supposed prodigy whose work boils down to very little. Also, how did he get the Met to stage Two Boys? I don't like to write negative things about artists, but there must be--or I hope there are--REAL talents out there whose talents just aren't getting heard. Will be interesting if Ari Picker (Packer), having disbanded Lost in the Trees, has real art-music bona fides. His work with LITT was gorgeous.
+wesleyan97 lmao can you chill for three seconds
HI WESLEYAN 97.... where can i hear some of your music, so i can hear something more inspired?
great! except it was intensely inappropriate to include Sam Amadon ...singing? suffered to skip on. so disgusting ...especially within such frame of glory. sorry, if I said truth:-)