Customer Reviews

Nyman: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

then "The Man..." is a good example for this. I feel that Nyman achieves an important level of dexterity handling minimalism techniques. He makes a beautiful chamber opera with very touching melodies and themes using few instruments and voices, resulting in a pure and crystal sound. If you have not begun with contemporary music I'd reccommend you to start with this recording. Also, if you are interested in psychology and how a guy can fit in the world living only through music, you will place this recording among your favorites.

A modern msterpiece by one of Britain's most undersung composers. This is however, a one act opera, which is probably why it isn't produced more often.

THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIS WIFE FOR A HAT is a disturbing, but by no means humorless true story about a well known musician and teacher who began displaying signs of Aphasia and various associative disorders. He eventually had to be institutionalized and passed away. The ultimate diagnosis was Alzheimer's Disease. Michael Nyman's minimalist score rattles on in a bland and attractive way and totally fails to come to grips with this dark tale. For once here is a subject that would be ideally suited to an operatic post serial expressionist language, but one only gets empty and repetitive musical patterns. (I suppose that a case for the patterns representing Obsessive Compulsive Disorder could be made.) Nyman makes a further mistake by upstaging himself with an extensive quote from Schumann's song "Ich Grolle Nicht" from DICHTERLIEBE. The Schumann melody totally outshines any of Nyman's inventions.
The sonic ambiance of the recording is odd. Although composed for a small chamber grouping, the vocal soloists seem to be having to struggle to make themselves heard. Was this intentional ? Sarah Leonard in particular, a past mistress of difficult modern works, seems to be having a hard time making the words "tell".
The packaging and libretto are very attractive.