Scene from the opera Moby-Dick, see below. (Via The Metropolitan Opera's website).
Chapters 110, Queequeg in his Coffin” to 116, "The Dying Whale."
Some pretty good passages in this week's section of the novel, as the Pequod sails toward the final confrontation with the Great White Whale.
Chapter 110
It's kind of a trope in science fiction to compare voyages in space with voyages on the ocean. I loved this passage: "For not only do they believe that the stars are isles, but that far beyond all visible horizons, their own mild, uncontinented seas, interflow with the blue heavens; and so form the white breakers of the milky way. "
Chapter 111
The contrast with the beauty of the Pacific Ocean with the violence and suffering also associated with it reminded me of all of the histories I've read about World War II in the Pacific theatre.
I thought this section of the novel has passages that sounded pagan, e.g. "Lifted by those eternal swells, you needs must own the seductive god, bowing your head to Pan," and also the blood sacrifice to christen Ahab's new harpoon, and the reference in Chapter 113 to "the Three Fates."
"Bashee isles," they are in the Phillippines.
Moby Dick, the opera
As I don't follow opera news closely, I did not realize until now that there is a well-reviewed, contemporary opera based on Moby Dick. The opera Moby-Dick features music by Jake Heggie with a libretto by Gene Scheer. It seems to have gotten good reviews; here is a review in the New York Times after it premiered in 2010 in Dallas. I have not been able to find an audio recording. There's a DVD that's hard to buy, Moby-Dick apparently may be the most-staged recent contemporary opera.
While most of us won't be able to see it, unless you can get to New York for this month's production at the Metropolitan Opera, it will be broadcast on the radio on March 29, on all of the radio stations that carry the Saturday afternoon matinee broadcasts from the Met. Here is the radio station finder, with a link for the live webstream.
The Met has an on-demand streaming option, so I would guess Moby-Dick should become available at some point. Bits of the opera are available on YouTube.
Next week: Please read Chapter 117, "The Whale Watch," to Chapter 124, "The Needle."
No comments:
Post a Comment