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3 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Poorly Conceived Opera, July 2, 2003
This is just a poor opera all around.The 'orchestra' is sort of a jazz orchestra. However, this doesn't go well with the kind of opera lines Davis is writing. The vocal lines just go this way and that... all lost with no clue where it's going to end up. Normally the orchestra and the voice compliment one another, but in this opera they are in an embittered way which makes you want to permanently silence the stereo. The opera plot is also bad. Based around the Patty Hearst ordeal, this opera actually seems to lack a plot. The opera opens up with her laying on her bed with some guy watching television. Eventually the closet sucks her up into some unknown "evil" void where she eventually emerges pointing a gun at the guy. Oh, but it gets better!! The answering machine gets to sing! Whoooo whee, It doesn't get any better than that! There were notes in the booklet commenting about the revolutionary ideas in opera that this encompasses. Next thing you know we'll have operas where the "You've Got Mail!" guy gets his own aria. Overall, I listened to parts of the opera, wrapped it up, and sold it. I've only sold two CDs before out of my 300 some collection: this one and a CD I got a duplicate of. And being very much into modern American opera, that should tell you something. If you don't believe me how bad this opera is, listen to some of the opening excerpts.
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