ByGD
Elizabeth Llewellyn (Bess) and Kevin Short (Porgy). Philip Newton photo c/o Seattle Opera
Porgy and Bess, the first opera in Seattle Opera’s new season, is either loved as a pillar of the opera canon or reviled as a racist tool of oppression. Earlier this week I talked about the reasons for the differing opinions. Today I want to talk about the one thing everyone can agree on – the quality of Seattle Opera’s production of the divisive Porgy and Bess.
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Nils Frahm (obviously my photo)
The down side to living in Seattle is that you just can’t keep up. I started March with the excellent Decibel Festival, but missed half a dozen other concerts I wanted to see. Odesza, Nils Frahm, and Russian Circles all performed in Seattle last week. I was burned out from the past two weeks (school orchestra performance, school play, Seattle Symphony, musical theater, a musical cinema event, and the ballet). So I missed three really good concerts. But I really liked listening to the music all week at home.
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Image from Gratisography
Last week tickets went on sale for the second annual NW Terrorfest. I had planned to buy full three day passes as soon as they went on sale. But then I looked at my balances and thought, “Maybe I’ll wait.” While waiting, I checked out a lot of the bands on the schedule. I haven’t heard everything yet, and I liked most of what I heard, but a few bands made a stronger impression. Read More
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Recent events have alerted me to the importance of civic engagement. To better understand this political system we have inherited, I’m making a careful study of the Constitution. I’m sharing here in case others similarly engaged might want to discuss it. At the very least, making my study public holds me accountable to stick with it. After all, in a functioning democracy we should all be Constitutional scholars. Read More