HUH. So I would never have known about these if I hadn't randomly clicked onto Operavision's "Digital Operas" page--they hadn't been promoted anywhere else on the site; just slipped in there apparently in the dead of night. They're not actually exclusive to Operavision; you can also watch them on The Opera Story's own youtube channel--though given that, as of this writing, they have all of seventy subscribers, they don't seem to have much market penetration, so it would be fine for Operavision to boost the signal--if they were actually doing that. WEIRD.
These are more or less obliquely COVID-inspired short pieces along the same lines as #OperaHarmony, although these are shorter and a bit less ambitious, on the whole--the longest is four minutes; the shortest, a mere ninety seconds. There are twelve of them, but that's only a total of thirty-six minutes. Well, let's have a look.
Episode 1: Skype Call (Vahan Salorian)
Two women talking over each other on a Skype call, with piano accompaniment. Most of these only have piano accompaniment. I understand that it would be unreasonable under the circumstances to expect a full orchestra, but it's still a bit boring to me. This is well-done, I suppose, but honestly, the whole "people having trouble videochatting" thing is just such a cliche at this point, and the piece doesn't do anything interesting with it.
Episode 2: Song of the Rocks (Lucie Treacher)
Lots of footage of rocks, and also water and stuff. It's about the natural world reasserting itself during COVID. Pretty good. I like both the lead singer and the wordless chorus in the background, along with the ominous, whatever, clonking sounds.
Episode 3: Glass Number Three (Dani Howard)
Footage of a woman looking like it was taken in a phone's portrait mode. Switching from her face to her bottom half, and particularly her hand holding a glass of wine. She's freaked out that she might lose a loved one to (presumably) COVID. And THAT is why she's on, wait for it, glass number three. The music is really minimal here--kind of just one sustained, high-pitched note. Hell, if it were longer than two minutes, it might be unendurable, but it's pretty okay as it is.
Episode 4: Soy Sauce (Alex Woolf)
Narrated by, yes, a bottle of soy sauce, who is unhappy because they used to be popular and useful for people everywhere, but now they're forgotten; people don't use them anymore. It's certainly a novel premise, but I don't exactly understand it: are people not using soy sauce because of COVID? Where does that come from? Is it because people aren't going to sushi restaurants as much anymore? That seems questionable, and there's no hint that that's the point anyway. Points for novelty, I guess, but I'm doubtful about the whole idea, and not a huge fan of the piano backing.
Episode 5: Egg (Vahan Salorian)
This is sort of the same thing, oddly enough. This egg wants to be eaten, but no one will eat them! Oh no! Is there a problem with people not eating eggs? I eat eggs all the damn time! Or is it some sort of metaphor for people trapped inside under COVID? I don't get that impression. But...well, otherwise, it's even weirder than the soy sauce thing. Nice egg animations, but again, I really doubt the premise, and the music doesn't transport me.
Episode 6: Got Your Goat (Alex Woolf)
There are some baby goats. Yes, I know they're called "kids," but if I say "there are some kids," no one will know what I mean. They're talking about how, with all the people inside, they're able to munch on the plants with impunity. Hey, you get to look at footage of cute kids for a few minutes. Who could object? Again, the music is just, eh, but it's fine.
Episode 7: Cookies (Joaquim Badia)
A woman is going crazy about websites asking her to accept cookies. She does not want to. She's against cookies, I guess because she's supposed to be on some kind of diet. But then, in the end, she eats a cookie anyway. Caught! It's not really related to COVID except maybe in the sense that people are online more, but it's cute enough, AND HEY, it features a string trio, which to me is a lot more interesting than just the piano. Whoo!
Episode 8: Three Two One Ready or Not (Noah Mosley)
People--as represented by animated hands with faces on them--are playing hide and seek. It's kind of inexplicable, but it has an appeal, especially when the one hand keeps going "you'll never find me Janet, you'll never find me." Still, I feel it could do with a bit more context. Blah blah, more piano.
Episode 9: Nature - Water and Air (Dani Howard)
Water and air sing about how people need them over attractive nature footage. They suggest that disasters like this may remind us how we're their guests, and we should respect them. Yeah, fat chance. We're really super great at never learning anything ever. Still pretty okay, though. Music features violin, cello, and flute, which I like.
Episode 10: Love and Light (Vahan Salorian)
A youtuber talks to their audience--as facebook reaction icons float across the bottom of the screen--solicits paypal donations, then, off-air, bitches about how they're not getting all they might want, only it's not actually off-air. Doh! Different than most of these, so that's all right. Of course, youtubers always want you to send them money (or more specifically, join their Patreon), so is COVID relevant? Eh, it's fine. Again, more diverse music than the norm, so good for that.
Episode 11: Life Is Sweet Life Is Shit (James Garner)
A couple waking up in the morning. He sings about how life is sweet, but she's of another opinion because she's required to go back to work. They question their relationship. But they decide that they really do like each other, probably. This is really the only one of these that has a sort of linear story, in micro. For that reason, I liked it, though again with the piano.
Episode 12: Don't Just Clap (Lucie Treacher)
Images a series of stoops (clearly somewhere in the UK). The singer does not know what to do in these circumstances--not just the disease but generally environmental degradation and the like. A little bit banal, but its heart is in the right place.
--
So what did we learn from this? Not a whole hell of a lot! Some of these are okay, but none of them are anywhere near as good as the best pieces from #OperaHarmony, I'm sorry to say. Should I choose my favorites? I'm not going to choose least favorites; I don't want to be negative here. Okay, top there:
1. Life Is Sweet Life Is Shit
2. Three Two One Ready or Not
3. Nature - Water and Air
Maybe? I mean, I know the entries on these are kind of lukewarm. But I guess that's my feeling about the whole thing! The Opera Story also has a few full-length pieces available; perhaps I will give one of them a try.
No comments:
Post a Comment