Blinded by the Light
A death in the family; a star turn; a storm blown over
Name That Tune
This week’s Name That Tune is a Maestro Will special. Is it another populist contender? Well, a case could be made that this composer was the most populist composer of their century. But the clip still might throw you for a loop. That’s your hint!
As always, your goal is to provide as much accurate analysis as possible. First try to get the nationality, year, and genre, then make educated guesses about the composer and — if possible— the piece. If you know the piece immediately, send us an email at toneprose@substack.com instead of commenting so the rest of us can have fun guessing.
Last Week’s Results
Tone Prose 56
Francis Poulenc, Cello Sonata
Much success this week! Listener Kevin — and I (Will) myself — both knew the piece immediately. But that’s always far less interesting than the people who use their ears + their logic, and in that regard, credit must be given to Listener Eric, who sussed out the piece using just those tools.
As Joey mentioned in the NTT hint, I’ve got a concert coming up featuring Poulenc’s Gloria so I’ve been digging into his music and his biography. Did you know that the melody of “Les Chemins de l’Amour” is just the Rosenkavalier waltz repurposed??
Think you can stump your fellow Listeners? Go ahead and try!
Head to our Google Form to upload a 30-second clip of an unidentified piece of classical music for us to try to identify.
RIP “La Cieca”
RIP James Jorden, aka “La Cieca,” the irreverent, DIY opera critic was found dead at the age of 69, per the New York Times. His hausgemacht opera zine was the legendary Parterre Box, which Jorden first disseminated by leaving copies in the men’s room of the Metropolitan opera house.
In his moving obituary tribute, friend of the pod Zach Woolfe writes:
With a four-page inaugural issue published in December 1993, it was likely the world’s first “queer opera zine,” as it described itself. Parterre Box embraced both the sublime and ridiculous aspects of the art form with a breathless, over-the-top tone familiar to the gay fans who kibitzed during intermissions at the Metropolitan Opera.
Maria Callas was on the cover of that first issue (and, as Medea, graced the back of Mr. Jorden’s left shoulder in tattoo form). The contents included intense poetry; parodied the columns in more strait-laced publications like Opera News; imagined Cecilia Bartoli starring as the Long Island temptress Amy Fisher in “Cavalleria Suburbiana,” a takeoff on “Cavalleria Rusticana”; and made cutting observations about less-favored divas.
“Parterre Box,” Mr. Jorden wrote on the second page, “is about remembering when opera was queer and dangerous and exciting and making it that way again.”
I (Will) only ever interacted with Jorden on Twitter, a social media platform that seemed to bring out both the best and the worst in him. (In fact, I think he actually got kicked off at one point... oy.) I enjoyed our repartee very much and I consider his death a great loss. I would love to have seen what a final career chapter looked like for him.
Jolie to Star as Callas in Biopic
Angelina Jolie stars as ‘La Divina’, the legendary opera star Maria Callas, in a new biopic set during the singer’s final days in 1970s Paris, and due to be released in 2024.
Maria, led by Chilean director Pablo Larraín (Jackie) and with a screenplay by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders), will tell “the tumultuous, beautiful and tragic story of the life of the world’s greatest opera singer, relived and re-imagined during her final days in 1970s Paris”.
Maybe we’ll get a flashback to the ‘53 Medea at La Scala with Bernstein, and Brad Cooper can strap on the ol’ nose for a cameo from the pit!
The Latest CIM News
First off, my (Will’s) apologies to CCM for my mistake in confusing that institution with CIM last week (which I have to think is among the most widely made mistakes in the conservatory world.) In fairness, I’m surprised that the thing happening in Cleveland right now hasn’t already happened in Cincinnati!
From the tone of that email (🤢) it seems that the top brass at CIM are in it for the long haul. The strategy will be to wait out the controversy, assume that the senior students will graduate, new students will matriculate, and the whole thing will blow over.
But at the moment, the protesting students (and their faculty supporters) have won the battle, and with it they’ve bought themselves time for further activism. It seems that regime change in the administration is their only recourse; it’s not impossible, but it’s hard, so they’re going to have to keep up the pressure.
Tone Praise
Ludomir Różycki, Piano Quintet in C minor, op. 35
From the random YouTube algorithm suggestion pile comes this extraordinary chamber work of 1913. Apparently this composer (whom I’d never previously heard of) was part of a little gang known as Young Poland; Szymanowski was also a member. This piece is an absolute gem and I (Will) will hope against hope that it gets a resurrection in the coming years.
Tone Prose is a co-production of William White, Joseph Vaz, and the Listeners (i.e. you.)
Well, I (Will) clicked on the wrong button, so you all got your dishy classical news early this week. Enjoy!
Różycki must be in the air! I just heard his name for the first time this week from a cellist who was playing a chamber work of his (perhaps this??).
As for the NTT: I would second Tamara's Dvořák (and the idea that the 19th century is the century being discussed here). I take almost no implication from Will's hint, as he would make a "case" for a good number of things. To the bucket containing Dvořák I will add Rimsky-Korsakov and Louis Moreau Gottschalk (a well known populist).