For the last few weeks, I've been sharing my favorite works of art. These were not necessarily my answers to "What is the best movie/tv show/song, etc.?" They merely represented some of my favorite pieces that, perhaps, have shaped me. It's been nice to share them with you.
Favorite Rock Opera:
The Who, Quadrophenia
The rock opera had a very brief time as a living organism. I wish it had caught on more. While the Who's Tommy is obviously the first, I prefer the more mature effort on Pete Townshend's Quadrophenia. But it could be either, really. In a way, I'm not sure anybody ever did the concept album better than the Who. As rock operas, go, the first real rock opera, if we're just being technical, was Jesus Christ Superstar as it was the first one to be staged traditionally. More modern rock operas are no more than musicals or rock albums that have no business being staged.
Favorite Television Series:
Twin Peaks
Although lasting only two original seasons, Twin Peaks was the first television series to bring the visual technique of film to the small screen. It is the only television series I have gone back to in the way I've gone back to novels, poems, and plays for more things to discover. In the first episode, the character of Donna Hayward describes her 24-hour ordeal of learning of her best friend's death and learning she is in love. She describes it as the most beautiful dream and the most horrible nightmare happening all at once. This describes Twin Peaks in spades.
Favorite Television Mini-Series:
The Civil War
This was difficult as Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Berlin Alexanderplatz pretty much trumps all art that falls under the television mini-series. However, for my money, Ken Burns' The Civil War is life-changing television. The highlights are almost always the anecdotes of Shelby Foote.
Favorite Opera:
Philip Glass/Robert Wilson, Einstein on the Beach
In the mid-1970s, opera had been dying for years. The two men who revived it were director Robert Wilson and composer Philip Glass, the latter of which was shortly to become the name in our culture most synonymous with opera. Einstein on the Beach is traditionally operatic only in scope. It consists of spoken texts (by poet Christopher Knowles, choreographer Lucinda Childs, and actor Samuel M. Johnson), lyrics which are only solfege symbols and numbers, and slowly moving stage images inspired by the life of Albert Einstein. The creators expected the meaning of the piece to be “completed” by the audience. If only most writers and composers could be so bold.
Favorite Operetta:
W. S. Gilbert/Arthur Sullivan, H. M. S. Pinafore, or The Lass That Loved a Sailor
The 19th century, in theatrical terms, was as dead as the period between Rome and Shakespeare. However, the best theatre was undoubtedly the Gilbert and Sullivan Savoy Comic Operas, such as The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. Their first great success, H. M. S. Pinafore bursts with wit, charm, and glorious music. The libretto and music match each other in richness and never was the Savoy more full of frivolity.
Favorite Musical:
Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine, Passion
Stephen Sondheim was my Shakespeare. It is to his lyrics I go when I need bolstering in this world. Light years beyond everyone else, Sondheim gave us the first truly dramatic stage musical in Passion, a piece inspired by the novel Fosca by I. U. Tarchetti and the film Passione d’Amore by Ettore Scola. While largely misunderstood in its premiere production in 1994, I feel it will outlast most of Sondheim’s work—it is as ingenious as Follies, but more eloquent in its portrayal of humanity. Despite the troubles of its lead character, it is one of the few works that can make you believe in love—even if that love turns the blood cold.
Favorite Play:
Henrik Ibsen, The Master Builder
The theatre reaches its pinnacle with the work of Henrik Ibsen. Yes, Sophokles and Shakespeare were important in many ways, but Ibsen is the true master at bringing poetry and dramatic structure together. I choose The Master Builder because it is the play that is a perfect merging of his early poetic work (like Brand) and his later, naturalistic work (like Hedda Gabler). Hedda may be more fun to watch, but The Master Builder will be the one to turn to when the ultra-naturalistic plays go out of style.
Comments