What OV's Angel is Doing Now

January 29, 2008 - For those of you who might want to know more about David Walker and his artistry, here is a review of his current performances of another Jonathan Dove opera called Flight at Pittsburgh Opera. The critics are wild about him and Dove's work so don't miss your opportunity to hear both right here in Baltimore. Call or go online for tickets now. - John Bowen

In Their Own Words: BBC4 Interview with Jonathan Dove and the cast

January 25, 2008 - Wow! So my ongoing search for promotional materials unearthed this BBC4 interview from 2004 with Jonathan Dove and cast of one of the UK productions. Absolutely fascinating and compelling. Follow the link above, scroll down about half-way on the page and then click on Listen Again. And don't miss out on your opportunity to hear this phenomenal work for the first time on this side of the Atlantic. Order your tickets today! - John Bowen

The Thoughts of Others: Reviews of Previous Tobias performances

January 24, 2008 - As part of my preparations for media coverage of the evermore anticipated North American premiere, I've been culling the web for information about the UK productions. Here are a few links that I found very interesting:

From Seen and Heard International (a European equivalent to our area's Ionarts) there's a review of the world premiere.

MusicOMH.com provides a review of the 2006 production which opened the newly renovated Young Vic Theatre.

And finally a brief article from Musical Pointers that talks about the show in the context of Dove's other operatic works.

Intrigued? Order your tickets today for this truly unique experience. See you at the opera - John Bowen

An Absolute Genius - Pirates Preview in the Sun

January 23, 2008 - Just a quick post to hook you all up with a preview article by Mary Johnson of the Anne Arundel section of the sun. As to the comment about me, I'll let the audience decide, but thanks Doug. See you at D'Oylyland. - John Bowen

Pirates and Angels and Blogs, Oh My!

January 21, 2008 - Well, my friends, sorry I haven't posted in the past few days, but the rigors of the productions that I'm involved in currently have had to take pride of place over keeping my faithful blog readers informed. Of course, so few of you comment, I can only assume that you are faithful readers, so consider this a word of encouragement to comment. Anyway, today begins production week for Opera AACC's The Pirates of Penzance and unfortunately, production week is where the difference between professional and community companies really shows. Both groups might have talented performers, but community groups rarely have the technical infrastructure that professional groups have so many of the singers have been drafted into scene painting, prop gathering, stage crewing and the like and are consequently pretty exhausted. Thank God they have a dark night on Thursday to rest up for opening night. All in all though, it's turned out to be a very funny show filled with a lot of shtick and scenery chewing so if you're looking for a night of not terribly profound but really enjoyable entertainment this is the show for you.

On the Tobias and the Angel front, preparations are really starting to get down to the nitty-gritty part, e.g. the Fish dancers will enter from underneath the stage right platform, Ashmodeus' costume will be form-fitting and in deep purples, vermilions, and oranges, the percussionist needs at least 15 square feet to set up her battery of instruments, etc. Things are also ramping up in the publicity department with board members and volunteers actively engaged in setting up radio interviews, pitching preview stories to the press, and figuring out the logistics of trans-Atlantic telephone interviews. I continue to be astounded at the amazing sense of communal effort that this piece brings out. Tickets are going fast, so order now!

Well, that's it for now. I have to go decide whether Major-General Stanley's daughters will wear bunny slippers or open-toe mules with red maribou for their sleepwear look. See you at the opera! - John Bowen

"What a delightful night" - A Demon's Simple Joys

January 15, 2008 - In Ecbatana, Sara (the daughter of Raguel and Edna) wakes to find that her husband has died, his body covered in wounds made by tiny hands. Dissonant organ chords and agitated woodwind outbursts accompany the family's reaction: Sara distraught, Edna despairing, Raguel furious. This is Sara's seventh husband to die under mysterious circumstances, circumstances which are soon revealed by the cause of death itself: the demon Ashmodeus. Over a softly rocking flute and clarinet figure punctuated by voluptuous harp chords, Ashmodeus reveals that he has spend "a delightful night" in his "favorite house". He has lived nine hundred years and yet has only ever loved two lips, two eyes, ten fingers, and one neck. As he sings of Sara's beautiful neck she begins to strangle herself; Ashmodeus is possessing her body. Raguel instructs his men to bury the body in the orchard.



Meanwhile, back in Nineveh, Tobias returns home to find that his father is blind. He is overcome with guilt. At this point we have the first of the great ensembles in this piece "Lord, I am pure". Jonathn Dove is a master at writing ensembles and this quintet of lamentation is no exception. Over low tolling harp notes, funeral marchesque drumbeats, and long sustained string chords, Sara sings "Lord, I am pure. I have no sin, release me, take me out of the earth"; Tobit sings "Lord, I am old, let me become as earth"; Edna and Anna sing "We have much sorrow"; and Tobias sings "Lord, each step I take is a false one".



Tobit tells Tobias that since he is unable to work, Tobias must go to Ecbatana and ask his cousin Raguel to repay his debt to Tobit. Tobias is reluctant to go, saying that he does not know the way. The stranger from the marketplace however does, so the journey begins. . .

"I spent my money on a barrel of stout" - Worldly vs. Divine Things

January 11, 2008 - Lured by the raucous strains of fiddle and accordion, Tobias carouses with the crowd in the marketplace. In the midst of the drinking and dancing, Tobias encounters a stranger who dances a mysterious dance to a gently glowing accompaniment of flute, vibraphone, and strings. Tobias is puzzled by the stranger's dance as well as by the stranger's cryptic injunction to "Listen for the silence in the song." Bored by the stranger and weary from his revelry, Tobias sleeps in the market while the stranger continues his introspective dance. Dawn breaks over the graveyard, and Tobit is awakened by a flock of sparrows (children's voices accompanied by chirping woodwind and xylophone) who shit in his eyes and blind him. Meanwhile in the distant town of Ecbatana, evil lurks. . . .

"Here I will write" - An Entry into Tobias and the Angel

January 8, 2008 - Since our upcoming production of Tobias and the Angel is the North American premiere, I thought it might be interesting to give my readers a "guided tour" of the piece. Hopefully my descriptions will whet your appetite to hear this astonishing piece live.

Tobias and the Angel opens with an brief invocation of soaring strings and chiming percussion followed by Tobit of the Spirit's injunction to write his story (this is after all based on an episode from the Book of Tobit, a part of the Apocrypha - books that are equally claimed or disclaimed depending on how you look at it by Christianity and Judaism). In the town of Nineveh, Tobit sings "Here I will write how all my days I have walked in the ways of truth" over a contemplative harp pattern and tolling bell-like chords. This meditative mood is suddenly broken by thudding timpani and sharp chords over which a chorus shouts the horrid reality of Tobit's world: "The king kills Jews. Their bodies must lie unburied and rot." In spite of the risk to him and his family, Tobit, with the help of his son Tobias, buries a slain Jew. Exhausted by the work, and not wanting to defile his home, Tobit sleeps the sleep of the righteous by the graveyard wall; Tobias however is drawn by the wild sounds of the marketplace. . . .

A Dove, An Angel, and a Good Fairy

January 4, 2008 - The new year has started with a flurry of activity surrounding our upcoming production of Jonathan Dove's Tobias and the Angel. World-renowned countertenor David Walker's travel plans have been finalized (he arrives on February 4th from Pittsburgh Opera where he'll be performing in another Jonathan Dove opera called Flight), the various choruses and chorusmasters (there are three separate choral ensembles in this piece - an adult professional choir, an adult amateur choir, and a children's chorus) have begun rehearsals, housing has been found for all our out of town artists, and our costume designer Melanie Clark has come up with some fantastically innovative ways to represent the cosmology of this piece which runs the gamut from demons to angels via the natural world of mountains, trees, and men. Her solution to the revelation of the Angel moment is particularly ingenious and beautiful. As a side note, it's very interesting to me how prominently angels have been figuring in Baltimore's cultural life this season. Anyway, since our production will be the North American premiere of this stunning work, it has also been attracting attention from companies and individuals outside the Baltimore area. I've received inquiries from Palmetto Opera and Cincinnati Opera and hope that they will mount this uplifting work so that both its fame and that of Jonathan Dove will grow in this country. Dove will be attending the final performance of the show, and I can't wait to get his reaction.

On another front, I attended a performance of Puss in Boots performed by the newly formed Pantolites. One of the many, many highlights of this charming production by founder Roger Brunyate was Jennifer Blades as the Good Fairy Proverbia in a fiber-optic wig. The show runs through Sunday at The Theatre Project. Don't miss it. But if you do miss it, be sure to catch Ms. Blades as the formidable Public Opinion in Opera Vivente's April production of Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld. See you at the opera - John Bowen