joshua shank: dominick argento vs. 80's aerobic goodtimes

Jocelyn and I went to the Minnesota Opera's production of Dominick Argento's opera buffa Casanova's Homecoming last night (that's a lot of apostrophes in one sentence) and it was a fantastic show performed impeccably. The best part was the opera-within-an-opera thing in the first act that worked frickin' perfectly. Since the action takes place in Casanova's Venice the music had to be reminiscent of opera from that time period. It must have been fun to "try on" that harmonic language and style while manipulating it to his own devices.

I found a picture of the set design from that particular scene on the Internets. Here you've got the opera's opera being performed in the middle and then the actual plot happening in the boxes on either side (Casanova is on the left and the antagonist, the Marquis de Lisle, is with his crew on the right).

Okay, now I'm about to throw something mildly sacrilegious out here--at least here in the Twin Cities--so everybody take a breath. I don't really like Argento's music all that much. Some people flip out over his vocal works and, honestly there are some pieces out there that I really like ("Walden Pond" and "Dover Beach Revisited" are amazing choral works) but I've never heard anything that made me feel certain that I liked it on the very first hearing. Casanova's Homecoming changed this for me because the entire thing was designed to make the audience have a great time.

And that's exactly what I had. It was hilarious and I'd see it again in a heartbeat. I may even jump online later today to see if I can find a recording I know is floating around from the Houston Grand Opera's production.

Someone told me beforehand that it was an incredibly long show (three acts and two intermissions) and I was like, "Oh no. I'm going to be really tired by the end." But I think he broke it up perfectly. There should be two intermissions in everything.

There was a great review in the Star Tribune a couple of days ago that, amongst other things, stated that the opera was, "a meticulous, spirited production that argues powerfully for the work's place among the best modern comic operas." And I think that sums up my feelings about the entire thing.

Now, going back to my previous statement about Argento's music, I think I sometimes respond so negatively to it because it's incredibly erudite (I'm not the first person to make this accusation) and I tend to like music that wears its emotions on the surface. For better or for worse, Argento doesn't write that kind of stuff.

It should be noted, however, that this didn't keep him from forging an amazing career in classical music. I'm so glad I got to see this show and also wish I could rock the glasses like Dr. Argento.