Rob Levy's Posts


Rob Levy's Photo I've hosted Juxtaposition on KDHX since 1995. Each Wednesday night at 8:00 pm (CST) I feature new music, forgotten favorites and sound collages of great music past and present. I focus on both new and old independent releases while presenting emerging artists before they get heard elsewhere. I am a freelance film reviewer and writer and also host several DJ residencies throughout the city.

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Love Lies Bleeding in Opera Theatre St. Louis’ Don Giovanni

opera-stl.org

Don Giovanni, one of the most performed operas in the world, is a two-act opera by Mozart that skillfully blends comedy, melodrama and the supernatural. Despite being widely performed, Opera Theatre St. Louis has nonetheless boldly added it to its repertoire for the current season.

Widely considered a masterpiece the opera Mozart’s tale revolves around a charismatic nobleman named Don Giovanni who spends most of his time satisfying his rapacious appetite for women. Conquest follows conquest, until finally he becomes devoid of moral character, becoming a vain and vacuous husk.

The plot revolves around Don Giovanni’s tragic decline and fall. His insatiable appetite for deviance has broken hearts and made enemies determined to have their revenge. As the opera progresses he moves closer and closer to a horrific end.

He finally gets his comeuppance after three attempted liaisons go terribly wrong. First there is Elvira, a scorned woman who despite everything that he has done to her still believes in him. Second is Anna, the daughter of the Commendatore, whom Don Giovanni murders while attempting her seduction. A distraught Donna Anna must delay her marriage to her intended, Don Ottavio, who as a result is displeased with the scoundrel. Finally there is Zerlina, whom Don Giovanni unsuccessfully tries to steal from her fiancé, Masetto.

His actions are not without consequence as an alliance between Donna Elvira, Donna Anna, and Zerlina is forged. Stuck in the middle of all of this is Don Giovanni’s faithful servant, Leporello who puts up with way too much from his master.

The alliance runs into a rough patch because some girls just like bad men. This is the case for Elvira whose lust for revenge wanes when she gives pause to believe that reconciliation with Don Giovanni is possible. Her attempt meets with catastrophic results.

The tension builds throughout the second act as the lothario is hunted down and sought out by his enemies. Eventually Don Giovanni’s actions result in his supernatural destruction which forever changes the lives of those who have been avenged.

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Posted by | June 25, 2011 | Culture, Music | Comment 

Pelléas and Mélisande dazzles the stage and mind at Opera Theatre St. Louis

Pelléas and Mélisande

Courtesy of Opera Theatre St. Louis

Pelléas and Mélisande is a confounding opera. While it presents a simple story of love, passion and jealousy, it also remains a conundrum, because it doesn’t really answer any of the questions raised by its characters.

But the joy of Opera Theatre St. Louis‘ production of Pelléas and Mélisande lies in both the presentation and the personal interpretation of the work by the audience.

Debussy’s opera is part of the French Symbolist movement that began in 1885. This movement was pervasive in Europe and emphasized the use of symbols and images for meanings while focusing on the esoteric and minimal in presentation. It also rejected traditional ideas of realism in the narrative and score, allowing the audience to develop its own interpretations and fill in its own gaps of perception for the work. Debussy’s musical works, including this opera, have been likened to “musical impressionism,” although the composer himself intensely disliked this notion.

This tricky opera opens in a forest where Prince Golaud comes across a beautiful, mysterious and terrified young woman named Mélisande. Golaud notices that she has lost a crown in a spring. Although smitten, her pleas to ignore it puzzle Golaud. Nonetheless he marries her and brings her back to a once regal castle owned by his grandfather, King Arkel of Allemonde. This is where the audience encounters the first of many unanswered questions about the back-story of these characters, which sets the tone of the production.

Mélisande soon discovers that the palace is place of melancholy and overwhelming apprehension. It is ancient, gloomy and dark. To make things worse, the royal family is seriously dysfunctional and distant. The King, who has taken ill, inexplicably carries a large box around with him.

Although Mélisande and Golaud are both lost souls, it is his brother Pelléas who develops an intensely mysterious relationship with Mélisande. Mélisande’s peculiar relationship with Pelléas infuriates the covetous Golaud who is driven to obsession to discover the nature of their relationship. Unhinged with jealousy Golaud takes measures into his own hands to discover any shred of knowledge about the relationship between Pelléas and Mélisande.

His paranoia reaches a fever pitch when he employs his son Yniold, to spy on the couple.

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Posted by | June 10, 2011 | Culture, Music | Comment 

The Daughter of the Regiment marches on at Opera Theatre St. Louis

Opera Theatre of St. Louis - Daughter of the Regiment

opera-stl.org

To call Opera Theatre St. Louis’ production of The Daughter of the Regiment an over-the-top spectacle would be overstating the obvious. Nonetheless it is a completely enjoyable production that never relents. Heartstrings are carefully manipulated as the two cultures clash, reminding the audience that “love always matters.”

After the lengthy tension of Don Giovanni, Daughter of the Regiment is a needed respite. This comedic opera, composed by Gaetano Donizetti, while living in Paris, is a relentless assault of sugar and spice. The opera’s dizzying momentum may be a reflection of the composer’s time in the City of Lights.

The story centers on France’s 21st Regiment, a close-knit and feared band of soldiers who find an abandoned infant on the battlefield and decide to raise her as their own daughter. They name her Marie and she is adored. The 21st becomes her family and she grows up with them as they march in victory across Europe. After a relatively easy childhood things get bumpy after she informs her foster father, the crusty but warm Sergeant Sulpice, that she is in love with Tonio, a Swiss peasant who saved her life.

This greatly upsets Sulpice and the 21st Regiment who are adamant that she marries one of their own. The problem is resolved when they meet Tonio who agrees to enlist in the Regiment to be with his beloved Marie.

Like all good opera, things take a turn for the worst; in this case, near the end of Act One. Marie is heartbroken to learn that she is the niece of the Marquise of Berkenfeld. Sulpice and the Regiment are devastated when she is spirited off to the Marquise’s chateau where her hand in marriage is promised to the son of the Duchess of Crackentorp.

In Act Two things begin to look up. As Marie, Tonio and Sulpice wrestle with their dire situation a long held secret is revealed which neatly ends the tension and allows the couple to live happily ever after.

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Posted by | June 2, 2011 | Culture, Music | Comment 

Remix deluxe: An interview with Penguin Prison

myspace.com/penguinprison

Chris Glover is a Manhattan-born musician and remixer who has risen to prominence via his Myspace page and sterling reviews from various indie blogs. Two of his songs, “Golden Train” and “Animal Animal” became indie radio darlings almost overnight and Glover’s remix work for artists like Goldfrapp and Marina & the Diamonds vaulted him into the big leagues of remixers for hire.

He has recorded an EP and toured under the moniker of Penguin Prison. His initial success has made him a person of interest in the changing electronic music community.

Influences like Prince, Q-Tip and the Jackson 5 give his recordings a sprinkling of soulful funk that moves him away from the traditional blip-blip and loops of the electronic music genre. His music combines R&B vocals with new wave synths and snappy percussion.

Being offered a high-profile opening slot for Girl Talk has helped him bring his music to the masses.

I spoke to Penguin Prison after his opening set for Girl Talk at the Pageant on Tuesday.

Rob Levy: From listening to your records and seeing the live show it is obvious that you are a mult-instrumentalist. How many instruments can you play?

Chris Glover: I think I can play just about any instrument. If I can just pick it up and look at it for a second then I can just play it. Guitars, bass, drums, keyboards, percussion, saxophone, those are the ones I actually have played. I first learned guitar then I taught myself bass, piano and drums.

How has digital software helped you as a musician and as someone who uses it to create music?

I like organic instruments but they are also limiting. So when you add in electronic stuff like synthesizers you get these sounds that cannot be made on another instrument like a guitar or bass or whatever. It adds a lot of sounds.

How do you incorporate your music into a live show?

When I make an album I don’t think about the live show at all when I am making it. I just do whatever I want to do. When it becomes time to do live shows I figure out how I am going to do it. So it just becomes trying to figure out how to make 4 people, 4 human beings make the sounds. I probably need more then 4 human beings to really do it.

The Internet has worked well for you as an artist with getting your music out there and heard. When you started to record and remix music did you set out to use it as the tool it is now?

I guess I knew a little bit about it. It was not some master plan. It was just one step at time. I made a remix for Marina and the Diamonds and it went on the Internet and it went crazy. Then people started asking me to do remixes, and people keep asking me.

How do you approach doing a remix?

Most of the times they just ask you to make it and you just make it. Maybe once in awhile they say a little about making a few changes or they don’t use it at all. But most of the time they just like it. I just try to make it good from the beginning. I don’t hand it into them until I think it is something they are going to like.

The label you are on, Neon Gold, is really hot right now. How has that helped you as an artist and remixer?

A bunch of the blog posts about me, some of them don’t mention Neon Gold but a lot of them do because Neon Gold puts stuff out. It’s a good thing to be involved with them of them.

You have an EP out now. Are you putting out a full-length album in 2011?

There is going to be a full-length album that will come out in spring of 2011. I just want to tour all over the place this whole year and just go crazy.

Girl Talk used your vocals on ‘Happen.” How did you guys hook up?

That was along time ago. Basically I met him when I was in college. He came to my college and played a show. He was totally different back then. He was using popular music but he wasn’t using it exactly like this. I met him and I was rapping back then and he asked me for some rapping vocals so I gave him some vocals and he used them on his album. We’ve known each other for a long time and he just asked me to open for him for this tour.

Is the new record basically done or are you still working on it? What is next for you?

The record is done. Now it is just waiting for it to come out basically. I am working on other stuff while that is happening and touring. Doing remixes still.

What would you like to do as an artist that you have not done yet?

Probably just go places I’ve never been and work with artists that I look up to. Work with like Prince or something. I don’t know if he’d want to do that because he’s so crazy now.

Posted by | January 20, 2011 | Music | Comment 

Juxtaposition’s Best Movies of 2010

From as young as I can recall I have loved going to the pictures. Thus it is no surprise that in the course of a year I end up seeing a lot of movies.

In this age of Netflix and movie channels I still love seeing films in theaters with an audience who is experiencing the same sensory adventure that I am. Call me old fashioned but I think that is the way the medium works best.

As I think about movies in 2010 it reminds me of why I like them to begin with and why I sit in the dark and wait for them to begin. I expect to be wowed or entertained.

As a lover of cinema, I can appreciate a well-crafted work of art as much as a kicksplat orgy of action. However I do expect a movie to not insult my intelligence — which in today’s film culture can be asking for the impossible.

This is because Hollywood has abandoned telling stories. It has become a slave to aiming for the lowest common denominator. It also has gone green, recycling every TV show, comic book and franchise it can find. This is tragic.

I think I saw over 300 films in the theater in 2010. Many times I caved in and saw things that my friends wanted to see. Other times I saw retro re-releases or indie films. But I would like to think I am pretty diverse in my taste and interests.

I also, whenever possible, support the local indie theater or art house movie palace. These theaters are in a fight for survival and need support.

Grumbling and grousing aside, here are my favorite films of 2010, in alphabetical order.

Inception

Although I hate rating things in order I will say that Inception was probably my favorite film of the year. I loved its texture and really was amazed by its depth. Like the plot the film had so many layers that made it an interesting film. It really sticks in head after you see it. It ran a bit long but overall the fact that it kept you on your toes was pretty great. Inception also was a film that tried to be something more that it appeared on the surface. It is almost several films on so many levels. It took the basics of a caper film and added a Freudian psychology element to the story and then threw in some action.

I think the acting was superb. Christopher Nolan continues to develop more and more with each film. I also really enjoyed the score; it added to the overall resonance of the film.

Toy Story 3

It did everything it needed to work and expanded its universe to add new characters. It also didn’t miss any of the charm of the first 2 films. I do hope however that these guys are smart enough to call it a day on the franchise.

The King’s Speech

Colin Firth is an amazingly solid actor who is good in every film he is in. The King’s Speech should get him an Oscar for his portrayal of King George VI, a king who stammered and then hammered to lead his nation during WW2. Geoffrey Rush is a shoe-in for a nomination as well. Here he is back in top form, providing both levity and heavy drama to the story.

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Posted by | January 4, 2011 | Video/Film | 1 Comment 

Please Give: An Intensely Potent Drama

Please Give is a film very about living, breathing and dying in New York City. The plot revolves around two families and one soon to be empty apartment.

Andra is 91 and in the twilight of her life. The apartment she owns is in a cramped Manhattan building filled with neighbors eager to get their hands on more space. She raised her two granddaughters, Mary and Rebecca, who live in the building and help care for her. This is no easy task as Andra is mean spirited and cantankerous. Her youngest granddaughter, Rebecca, is her main caregiver. She visits with her and checks in on her regularly while Mary stays at a distance. Alex and Kate live next to Audra with their daughter Abby. Kate and Alex own their own antique furniture business and acquire most of their inventory by buying furniture from the families of the recently deceased and then marking them up for resale. The couple, desperate to add space, have purchased Andra’s apartment before her death. This makes things awkward when the two families get together to celebrate Andra’s birthday.

Kate (played were perfect pitch by Catherine Keener) is a character struggling with the ethics of her business and the materialism of her world. Kate is obsessed with helping people and oftentimes gives money to random street people believing them to be homeless. Kate also suffers from a malaise in her family life. She is always at odds with Abby and the passion in her marriage is gone. Alex (played with a creepy shrugged solider obliviousness by Oliver Platt) is so self centered that he becomes oblivious to her problems.

Rebecca (Rebecca Hall) is a shyish, single woman who goes through a regimented life without surprise. She cares for Andra and lives with Mary (Amanda Peet) who is everything she is not, compassionate, warm and friendly.  Mary is a tour de force of anger and resentment. Damaged from her last relationship, Mary works in a spa, which just happens to be near the shop where the new girlfriend of her ex works. She often looks in on her to see what her ex could see in his new girlfriend that is different from herself.

The drama ratchets up after Andra passes. Her passing accelerates Kate’s desire to reignite her life. She realizes she must find a way to connect with her daughter and rectify her issues about her profession while keeping her marriage intact. Andra’s passing gives Rebecca the freedom to date the handsome son of a client she has interest in. Things become even more intense between Alex and Mary as both of them come to terms with how they deal with relationships.

In Please Give, the apartment serves as a metaphor for space and personal freedom. Kate and Alex covet the apartment to give literal new dimensions to their living space. While Mary sees the Andra’s apartment as closure for her tenuous relationship with her grandmother. Rebecca sees it as an opportunity to move on with her life. Andra’s death and the subsequent sale of her apartment force each of the characters to become a better person in a city where poverty, homelessness, and sadness are always outside their doorstep.

The cast is terrific and works well together. The dynamic between Keener and Platt propels most of the tension in the film. Platt does a great job of being uncaringly sleazy while Keener’s inner brooding and yearning give Kate layers. The relationship between Mary and Rebecca is completely different. They are always battling and bickering. As actors, Rebecca Hall and Amanda Peet couldn’t more different in technique. Nonetheless, they balance each other out well onscreen. Hall is quiet and mopish in the early part of the film, awakening and become more alive in the second half. Peet portrays Mary’s damage really well by making her edgy, mean and generally unlikable until she slowly opens up as the film progresses. She gives mary a quiet rage that festers and grows as the film progresses.

The result is a drama that unfolds very much like a theater production. The plot is ripe with tense personal struggles and characters that must change to defeat personal demons. It also has the staging and pitch of a play in that the camera shots always are tightly framed within spaces.  Although the screenplay is terrific the real joy of seeing Please Give lies in watching these actors sink their teeth into these characters to make them come alive.

While not the most upbeat film of the year, Please Give is a solid drama that relies on well-crafted dialogue and character development. Despite taking a while to get to the end watching it unfold is worth the journey.

At The Tivoli from 6/10.2010

www.landmarktheatres.com

Posted by | June 10, 2010 | Video/Film | Comments Off 

A red letter day for Eugene Onegin

Image courtesy of Opera Theatre St. Louis

Opera Theatre St. Louis’ production of Eugene Onegin is an intensely powerful production. The company has taken Tchaikovsky’s lyric opera (based on a novel in verse by Pushkin) and given us a tantalizing anti-hero in Eugene Onegin. Onegin is a great character because his many layers give him a rough edge not seen in many traditional operas.

When Eugene Onegin visits a country estate with his friend Lensky a chance meeting with the young Tatiana becomes more than he bargains for. Tatiana, a hopeless romantic, falls head over heals for Onegin and pours her heart out to him in lengthy prose. Onegin chastises her for writing such a letter and spurns her, explaining that a lesser man would manipulate her emotions against her for selfish purposes.

Lensky’s fiancé Olga is the sister of Tatiana. Lensky’s heart burns for her and he will stop at nothing to protect her. They have a classic romance that seems perfect, until Lensky invites Onegin to a ball. Onegin, not content to be one of the crowd, looks down on the proceedings and decides to get revenge on Lensky for bringing him to such a blasé event by flirting and dancing with Olga. Oblivious that this is a joke, Lensky becomes enraged and feels dishonored by his friend. The situation spirals out of control and climaxes with a duel. The following morning cooler heads do not prevail and as a matter of honor Onegin kills Lensky.

Broken and shattered by what he has done Onegin flees abroad and travels across Europe. Six years pass and he returns to St. Petersburg where his friend, Prince Gremin has invited him to a ball. He sees Tatiana again, who is now with the much older Gremin. This time it is Onegin who becomes enraptured and realizes that he has missed out on something special. Onegin turns the tables and pours out his emotions to her, pleading with her to leave Gremin. This confrontation brings things to a head as Tatiana and Onegin meet one final time.

Opera Theatre’s production is lead by a trio of incredible performers. Christopher Magiera is an astounding baritone who captures the essence of Onegin in his OTSL debut. He gives Onegin a terrific blend of aloofness and turmoil that makes him believable in the part. Although Onegin is not a very nice guy , Magiera’s performance compels us to watch.

Sean Panikkar is dynamic as Lensky. He works well with Magiera and his voice is simply fantastic. His solos are extraordinary and his raw presence onstage gives Lensky a dynamic mix of sorrow, rage and jealousy that serves as the catalyst for much of the drama in the first two acts. Panikkar’s performance builds on his scene stealing turn in his OTSL debut last year in Ghosts of Versailles.

Also debuting on stage is Dina Kuznetsova as Tatiana. She has an amazing voice and matches up well with two male heavyweights, Magiera and Panikkar. As Tatiana matures as a character Kuznetsova makes this transition believable by giving her poise and providing subtle nuances in her performance that make the character develop seamlessly. Kuznetsova gives the audience a strong willed female lead that is agonized in her heart but determined in spirit.

Opera Theatre’s production of Eugene Onegin is twisting and turning tale of rejection, longing, love and humility perfectly seasoned with an outstanding score and a minimalist set that ideally frames the drama onstage. The ensemble may be the tightest of the season thanks to the performances of the lead actors. This perfect gives the audience a complete opera where everyone is on top of their game, resulting in one of the most solid and enthralling productions of recent years.

Performances are at the Loretto-Hilton Center (130 Edgar Road)

Performance Schedule: June 10 and 25 at 8 p.m., June 27 at 7 p.m. and June 19 and 23  at 1p.m.

For more information visit Opera Theatre St. Louis.

Posted by | June 4, 2010 | Culture | Comment 

Opera Theatre of St. Louis Triumphs With The Marriage of Figaro

Opening the season with Mozart’s seminal classic The Marriage of Figaro was a bold move by Opera Theatre of St. Louis. The Marriage of Figaro is a stunning achievement of strategy, seduction and vengeance filled with doses of irony and laughter for good measure. Each layer of intrigue is contorted and shifted brilliantly into place creating an exciting dramatic crescendo in the final act.

Based on a play by Beaumarchais, the Mozart version is a sequel of sorts to Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. As the story opens, Figaro is now a servant of Count Almaviva and engaged to Susanna, the maid of the Countess Rosina. Things begin to go downhill for Figaro when The Count, who has his designs on Susana, reinstates and old custom that would allow him to sleep with her. The opera focuses on Almaviva’s manipulations to stall the nuptials. Much to the chagrin of Figaro.  Meanwhile an enraged Countess is determined to teach her husband a lesson and forms an alliance with Figaro and Susanna against the Count.

As the libretto unfolds, Almaviva’s scheming to prevent the marriage backfires, culminating with hilarious misfortune after the identity of Figaro’s parents is revealed. If that were not enough Figaro also must fight off Dr. Bartolo’s devious scheme for revenge after Figaro shattered his chances with the Countess Rosina.

One of the delights of this opera is that everyone at court seems to be gunning for Figaro. Thus Figaro sets the tempo for The Marriage of Figaro. As much as he believes he is in control of things he really is not. In fact during a day filled with madness he is merely a puppet that serves as the epicenter for parallel storylines. Fortunately for Opera Theatre Christopher Feigam’s Figaro provides the foundation for the production. He gives Figaro some depth and rounds him out. He also gives the role a perfect blend of drama and comedy. Beneath the bravado he gives Figaro a sense of vulnerability essential to the role.  Interestingly, Feigam played Figaro in last season’s OTSL production of Ghosts of Versailles.

Soprano Maria Kanyova is perfectly cast alongside Feigam as Susanna. In every one of her scenes she makes this role her own with perfect comedic timing and a great voice. Baritone Edward Parks shines in his OTSL debut as the Count.

One of the great things about Opera Theatre is that they always have amazing sets to work with that wow the audience and make them scratch their head as to how the whole thing gets put together. This rings true with Bruno Schwengl’s set. He helps set the tone of the opera by having the first half of the production feature an open stage with light colors and bright lets. He then balances this in the second half where he clutters the stage a bit and adds black to richer, darker colors and more muted lighting. The result is a stage design that organically works itself into the production.

Mozart’s composition for The Marriage of Figaro has become a classic in its own right. It oftentimes is performed as an orchestral piece separate from the opera. However to achieve the best emotional effect the music and production must be synchronized. Fortunately the Opera Theatre musicians have things well in hand.

Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ production of The Marriage of Figaro is a well crafted, perfectly executed production with high caliber performances from the company along with a gorgeous score and sumptuous costuming and set design.  Opera Theatre has mounted an incredibly refreshing production of one of the classics of opera that shuld not be missed.

Performances are at the Loretto-Hilton Center (130 Edgar Road)

Performance Schedule: June 3, 12, 23 at 8pm, June 20 at 7pm and June 16, 26 at 1pm.

For more information visit the Opera Theatre Web site.

Posted by | May 29, 2010 | Culture | Comments Off 

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