A person of the church, not the theater, Bach didn’t write for dance. However dance was at his core. His instrumental suites, partitas and concertos, fabricated from dance varieties, can embody a number of the most profound music of this most profound of composers.
Bach didn’t write opera both. But drama too was at his core. His sacred cantatas and passions, and none extra so than the “St. Matthew Ardour,” embody a number of the most profound drama by this most profound of composers.
To bounce to Bach comes naturally, as Jerome Robbins, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and lots of others have lovingly demonstrated. To stage Bach doesn’t come as naturally. However Peter Sellars, particularly, has powerfully proved it may be not simply potential however important.
In 1980, seven years after changing into the director of Hamburg Ballet, American choreographer John Neumeier staged the “St. Matthew Ardour” as a balletic medieval ardour play within the metropolis’s St. Michael’s Church after which introduced it to the opera home. In 1983, it was seen as avant-garde sufficient for the Brooklyn Academy of Music. By 2005, it had change into a traditional that suited the glitzy Baden-Baden Pageant.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Instances)
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(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Instances)
Now, 4 many years after the ballet’s creation however nonetheless not often seen outdoors of Hamburg, Neumeier’s “St. Matthew Ardour” has reached Los Angeles Opera, elevating the additional query of the place dance, sacred ardour and opera intersect. To make issues all of the extra intriguing, Dance on the Music Heart invited Hamburg Ballet to carry alongside its “Bernstein Dances” to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for 2 further evenings.
Bernstein, it so occurs, carried out and recorded Bach’s Ardour with the New York Philharmonic in 1962 in a what was seen then as a controversial strategy and nonetheless is. Bernstein lower Bach to reinforce the Ardour’s theatricality and carried out the German textual content in English. He handled the recitative narration of Christ’s final days as inescapably vivid drama. He delivered to Bach’s large choruses and solemn chorales the grandeur of Greek choruses. He unleashed uncooked operatic ardour in soul-searching arias fairly than a churchly Ardour.
Bernstein questioned every part. The “St. Matthew” was, for him, dwelling, respiratory, human theater. However its religious essence additionally received underneath Bernstein’s pores and skin. That led to his direct confrontation with God in his Third Symphony, written within the wake of the Kennedy assassination, after which in his musically and spiritually transgressive 1972 “Mass.”
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Neumeier doesn’t precisely put all this collectively. “Bernstein Dances” follows Bernstein’s profession from his earliest dances and Broadway reveals as much as “Mass,” however solely its “A Easy Music” and “Meditation 2” have a look at the religious aspect of Bernstein. Together with present tunes and small incidental piano items, the principle orchestral music consists of the violin concerto, “Serenade After Plato’s ‘Symposium’” and dances from “West Facet Story.”
There are giant projections on stage of Bernstein famously conducting with extravagant feeling, one thing the corporate’s conductor, Garrett Keast, aggressively makes an attempt to match with a pit orchestra.
For “St. Matthew,” James Conlon extra reverently — and extra fairly — conducts the L.A. Opera Orchestra and Refrain together with the Los Angeles Kids’s Refrain. The vocal soloists come from the world of opera however sing from the pit.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Instances)
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Instances)
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Neumeier is sassier with Bernstein, extra stylized with Bach; in “Ardour” his dancers, wearing pristine white, create photos of elegantly thought of classical motion. Bach’s wondrous contrapuntal complexity, filled with numerical symbolism and mathematical purity, is mirrored on stage with the dancers assuming architectural set items of nice magnificence.
In each circumstances, makes an attempt at narrative work much less nicely. Bernstein sits at his piano, tormented, ecstatic and far in between, dreaming of dances that come to life. In a single blink-or-you’ll-miss-it instantaneous, Bernstein throws himself on the piano, arms out as if crucified on the keyboard. It’s greatest to blink.
The incompatible distinction between “Bernstein” and “St. Matthew” is the usage of music, the principle topic of each. In a single there’s a mishmash of Bernsteinian aptitude with two singers and pianist on stage, the temper, the strategy and vitality all the time assorted. In “St. Matthew” the music feels much less free. The very constraints of dance imply that dancers must study choreography to sure tempos. All the things has to suit the motion on stage.
Music requires much less expression to let dance have extra. That robs character from the singers, who stay within the pit, hidden to many within the viewers. On the March 12 opening, Susan Graham got here closest to capturing a palpable depth of feeling within the fervid alto aria, “Erbarme Dich” (Have mercy). Ben Bliss proved a penetrating tenor via all of it. However Kristinn Sigmundsson, a worthy Jesus on recording, floundered as bass soloist. Soprano Tamara Wilson sounded misplaced within the lengthy Ardour’s first half however rose extra to the event within the second.
Within the recitatives, through which the Evangelist narrates the Ardour and Jesus exclaims within the first particular person (Joshua Blue and Michael Sumuel, respectively), the singers boomed to make their presence felt if not seen. Nothing can hold down the opera’s magnificent refrain, though putting it behind a scrim upstage, removed from Conlon and the orchestra within the pit, diminished its effectiveness.
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Dancers of the Hamburg Ballet.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Instances)
Dancers carry out as part of “St. Matthew Ardour.”
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Instances)
All of this places an enormous weight on the dancers’ shoulders. Paradoxically for opera, anyway, they’re most emotionally efficient when least expressive. After they transfer with a Bach-directed grace, they might make you imagine they had been God-directed, and the Ardour takes on a gracious spirituality.
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However Neumeier’s makes an attempt at symbolism and narrative may also obtain the unlucky reverse. The dancers aren’t at their greatest when they’re proven, in a single scene, as shackled or required to take care of a saintly disposition whereas posed as if on the cross. Jesus seated cross-legged because the Buddha in meditation, nevertheless, registers as an attention-grabbing different. Upended benches, the versatile important stage properties that maintain the character of Jesus captive, make him look as if he’s in a cellphone sales space calling heaven. Chest-beating and bedlam at Jesus’ loss of life has much less energy to tear at your coronary heart than Bach’s music.
Jesus could proclaim that the spirit is keen however the flesh is weak. For Neumeier, the flesh isn’t weak, and the spirit isn’t all the time keen.
And that simply is perhaps the choreographer’s nice secret. For all his combined messaging, Neumeier creates a ritual that over 4 hours grows right into a spectacle of ceaseless, wealthy imagery and motion. Dancers with the stamina and style to maintain slowly change into brokers of astonishment. With additional performances, the musicians could really feel a little bit freer.
Combat Neumeier in the event you should. Gripe all you want {that a} Bach Ardour has no place on the lyric stage. Bach wins. This “St. Matthew” winds up being particular when it has the precise to be and, miraculously, when it doesn’t. St. Lenny doesn’t get off so simply.
‘St. Matthew Ardour’ and ‘Bernstein Dances’
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The place: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 S. Grand Ave., L.A.
When: “Bernstein Dances,” 7:30 p.m. March 19; “St. Matthew Ardour,” 2 p.m. March 20 and 27, 7:30 p.m. March 23 and 26
Nanban Oruvan Vantha Piragu Movie Synopsis: Anand lives in a happy, little world teeming with love from his family and friends. But when life deals him a bad hand and he keeps floundering, he is forced to make some decisions that will change his life’s course.
Nanban Oruvan Vantha Piragu Movie Review: As if Anand (Meesaya Murukku fame Anant Ram) has recorded daily vlogs of his life or has written a personal journal, noting intricate details, Nanban Oruvan Vantha Piragu captures every stage of his journey with the utmost patience (the viewer too is expected to stay patient to reap the joy of watching this film). He unpacks the events right from 1992, which marks the debut of two people: Anand’s birth and AR Rahman’s entry into Tamil cinema. So, like a twin, Rahman’s songs always tag along with him.
Peppered with the 90s magic of Colony Friends, games like Seven Stones and WWE trump cards, Superstar and Thala references, CSK vs MI street fights and more, the delightful template of Tamil cinema’s coming-of-age film is brightly apparent. There isn’t much innovation either. Instead, Anant trusts the story of this man and the nostalgia it evokes – seeing someone wrestle with life’s obstacles and finally accomplish is any day audience’s favorite. The only trick is to get the emotions right, and with a dedicated cast and sincerity in writing, Anant smartly makes us root for him. He also has a knack for humour and isn’t hesitant to use memes in a film to convey the character’s thoughts. Sample this: When a scared young man enters the premises of his engineering college and is taken aback by the half-built premises, stone-like food, and other disappointing events, it’s compared to a scene from Chandramukhi where they detect the presence of evil. As if on cue, you’re in splits, reminiscing all your college memories. This sequence also plays right after an emotional conversation he has with his father and the shift in mood is so seamless. With Elango Kumaravel passionately playing the role of Anand’s father and VJ Vijay breathing life into the role of a cherished best friend, we are just drawn to empathise and relate to this world that’s formulaic but sweetly familiar.
The viewing experience of the film feels like reading a personal journal within two hours – intriguing but tiring – because of the film’s pace and detailing. You understand the need to show each stage of Anand’s life and how the people around him shape it – every time he falls, someone helps him get up; when he financially faces troubles, his best friend is always ready to pitch in; his parents don’t have the power to get him a job but are willing to spend all their life’s earnings to ensure he gets the best education possible. However, even with so many people trusting and supporting him, Anand fights and flounders. For most of the second half, Anand is seen crying, unable to iron out all the kinks and probably, we all see a little of us in him. We’re also reminded of too many films, thanks to the countless stories in this genre and Anant’s determination not to try anything different. But because we see a semblance of ourselves, our friends, and our own lives on screen, we are ready to overlook the slow pace, the unnecessarily dragged-out sequences, the overfed montages of memories, and the film’s several other flaws.
Anand yearns to get back home, relish the simplest of joys, and be around his friends and family, and at the end of the day, that’s what we wish for too. So, having taken a trip down memory lane, we walk out of the theatre happy and hopeful, and like Venkat Prabhu (in a cameo) tells Anand, “Isn’t life all about these little moments?”
Sandy Bresler, who served as actor Jack Nicholson’s agent for six decades, has died at age 87.
The industry veteran died Thursday in Santa Monica after a short illness, his family said in a statement, adding that he had “established the gold standard for personally curated talent representation.”
“Sandy was a unique person, generous with his time and knowledge,” John Kelly, Bresler’s partner at Bresler Kelly and Associates, told The Times on Friday. “And always a great deal of fun!” The two co-founded the agency in 1983.
Bresler was born on Jan. 20, 1937. He met Nicholson when the two bunked together in the California Air National Guard. The son of “Casino Royale” producer Jerry Bresler, he was “another second-generation Hollywood kid,” Patrick McGilligan wrote in “Jack’s Life: A Biography of Jack Nicholson.”
“Like Nicholson, Bresler was a diehard film buff, raised on a steady diet of movies,” the biographer wrote. “He had the connections to check 16mm prints out of studio libraries and show them in Jack’s living room. That was part of their friendship.”
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That friendship grew into a professional partnership when Bresler began representing the three-time Academy Award winner in 1961 — a year after he started his career as a secretary at William Morris Agency.
“For over a decade, Nicholson suffered from unaggressive and unimaginative representation,” McGilligan wrote. “The agent problem was to be eventually resolved, at the time of ‘Easy Rider,’ in the person of Sandy Bresler.”
“There is only one agent who has stayed with me, guided me, tolerated my tantrums, my operatic behavior and so forth,” Nicholson said while accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes in 1999.
“His name escapes me,” he joked, continuing, “Sandy Bresler, my pal and comrade in arms!”
After leaving William Morris Agency, Bresler worked at ICM, eventually leaving to establish Bresler, Wolff, Cota & Livingston, later known as the Artists Agency, Deadline reported. He was a lifelong member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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He also served on the board of the Assn. of Talent Agents for almost three decades, and was president of the ATA for more than a decade.
“Throughout Sandy’s remarkable tenure, as a friend and leader, he demonstrated unparalleled dedication and visionary leadership, guiding the association through a period of significant growth and transformation,” ATA’s Executive Director Karen Stuart said Thursday in a statement.
“Under his stewardship, ATA expanded its reach and influence. Sandy’s unwavering commitment to the talent agency profession were instrumental in advancing the interests of our members and elevating the industry as a whole,” Stuart continued. “Sandy was a mentor to many and he leaves behind a lasting impact that will be felt for years to come.”
Bresler is survived by his wife of 58 years, Nancy; son Eric; daughter Jennifer Galperson; and his twin grandsons, Brandon and Jonah.
Harold and the Purple Crayon, based on the book series of the same name, isn’t terribly impressive or imaginative. But it is a great first movie for young children.
Harold and the Purple Crayon, the new film, isn’t terribly impressive or imaginative as its title character. But it is a harmless story that will delight young children, and its the rare title that would make for a great first visit to the movies.
There are dozens of modern children’s films that are cheap, crass and annoying. Harold’s best quality is that despite its simplicity, the story and its presentation is wholesome and appropriately exciting for its target market.
Inspired by the now 70-year-old picture book series of the same name by Crockett Johnson, this (mostly) live interpretation of the book series a now adult Harold (Zachary Levi) jump out of the picture books and into the real world in a quest to find the author and meet the man who first drew him.
This doesn’t follow any specific plot from any of Johnson’s barely plotted books, but it is an interesting premise for a G-rated, 80-minute, big screen adventure. It also provides some morality and wisdom to justify a sufficient enough story to justify Harold’s leap into reality.
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Cute and cuddly is the best way to describe Harold’s antics with his friends and new child he’s inspiring named Mel (a warm debut from Benjamin Bottani). The danger is never really dangerous, but the effects (and especially the crayon drawing!) are passable for a movie of this scale.
This film is the live action debut of former Blue Sky Animation director Carlos Saldanha, and his whimsy makes Harold a suitable project. He’s best known for the Rio franchise and 2017’s career high Ferdinand. A highlight here is the film’s hand-drawn animated prologue, where Saldanha’s animation experience gets to shine.
Much of the supporting cast delivers its weird, magic crayon premise with gusto, with sometimes surprisingly funny turns from Lil Rel Howery and Jermaine Clement. The scene stealer, however, is English theatre vet Tanya Reynolds as Porcupine, who’s fully committed, sweet, honest and hilarious across every scene she’s in.
Adults should be warned while Harold is warm, forgettable fun for those aged 4-10, the plot is shamelessly predictable and obvious. It’s still far more palatable than other recent family films, such as the recent Despicable Me 4.
I really enjoyed hearing the giggles and seeing the wide-eyed wonder of a Kindergarten aged audience member seated near me watching Harold and the Purple Crayon. That optimistic imagination is exactly the spirit to see the movie with, even if there’s nothing else on the page.
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Harold and the Purple Crayon
5 out of 10
Rated G, 1hr 30mins. Family Fantasy Comedy.
Directed by Carlos Saldanha.
Starring Zachary Levi, Zooey Deschanel, Benjamin Bottani, Lil Rel Howery, Tanya Reynolds and Jermaine Clement.
