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SEQUENZA21/
340 W. 57th Street, 12B, New York, NY 10019

Zookeeper:   
Jerry Bowles
(212) 582-3791

Managing Editor:
David Salvage

 Contributing Editors:
Galen H. Brown
Evan Johnson
Ian Moss
Lanier Sammons
Deborah Kravetz
(Philadelphia)
Eric C. Reda
(Chicago)
Christian Hertzog
(San Diego)
Jerry Zinser
(Los Angeles)

Web & Wiki Master:
Jeff Harrington

Latest Posts
Ruth Schonthal - the loss of a unique voice
Capital M at Full Force Festival
It's a Wide, Wired World
Finding ecological balance in our everyday lives
Blogging for the Greater Good
Is Jay Greenberg the 21st Century Mozart?
Slow New York
As If People Mattered
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Remembered
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, 52


 

Record companies, artists and publicists are invited to submit CDs to be considered for review. Send to: Jerry Bowles, Editor, Sequenza 21, 340 W. 57th Street, 12B, New York, NY 10019

Friday, July 14, 2006
Happy Bastille Day


Grendel was more enjoyable than I expected, given the decidedly underwhelming reviews it has gotten. If nothing else, it provided an opportunity to see Eric Owens (as Grendel) perform the most demanding bass role I've ever seen on the stage and Denyce Graves do a hilariously campy turn as The Dragon, a character that emerges from the head of a snake. Ms. Graves appeared to be playing a woman playing a man playing a woman, hitting baritone notes that were truly scary.

The main problem with Grendel is not that it's bad or dull or without a certain degree of artistic merit, the problem is that it is too much of everything, including the now fabled 18-ton stage set. Composer Eliot Goldenthal, director Julie Taymore, and main librettist J.M. McClatchy all seem to working at cross purposes, each one determined to make his or her individual element dominate. It's like getting the three brightest kids you know in a room and having them work on a project in which there is only one prize and winning requires squashing the others.

It's like putting Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker on stage together. The result is more like a war, than a performance. It's fun to watch but at a certain point you want to yell "Why don't you kids all play nice together."
posted by Jerry Bowles 7/14/2006



 
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