2023 Feb.04 (Sat)

OperaWire
https://operawire.com/prototype-festival-2023-review-note-to-a-friend/
“The opera felt spookily realistic and incorporated the humorous bite that most of Akutagawa’s writings embody at the core. Overall, his genius was matched by David Lang’s intuitive and intelligent investigation.”
“Most notable was how Lang’s postminimal composition strategically aligned each performer, including the lead singer, Theo Bleckmann, and the musicians, Kyoko Ogawa (Violin I), Tomotaka Seki (Violin II), Ayako Tahara (Viola), and Ayano Kaminura (Cello), in a very rich and beautiful atmosphere of continuous music paired with the libretto. In fact, every moment of this opera was an active connection to the music, with every single note being excruciatingly heartfelt, thoughtful and penetrating to the soul.”
“Director Yoshi Oida’s perception of Lang’s music also proved to be genius, in this case. He transcended the immemorial barrier between life and death by incorporating the beautiful aesthetics of Bleckmann’s fluid voice and physical movements”
“The ability of this opera to honor the valuable presence of every cast member in the performance, including the musicians, made “note to a friend” special and undeniably remarkable. It felt like an intimate gathering of the most brilliant souls. “
“‘Note to a friend’ left a lasting impression in every sense. It resonated with the core of what it means to be human and how an opera can reflect the beauty of self-examination in a most uniquely present way.”

101 Operas
https://101operas.com/2023/01/13/note-to-a-friend/
“This is not a role someone could just go thru the motions with – It is laden. He brought a gravita and tenor of voice that really got inside me. I give Mr. Bleckmann a lot of credit for his full commitment.”
“This is the point of the opera however, to call out the judgement and the dismissive platitudes that surround suicide. To make it a conversation that respects another humans agency over their own death.”
“This deeply effecting opera is about existential suffering and by extension the ethical and legal conversations that surround assisted suicide.This is the point of the opera however, to call out the judgement and the dismissive platitudes that surround suicide. To make it a conversation that respects another humans agency over their own death.”

Classical Voice North America
https://classicalvoiceamerica.org/2023/01/20/the-delicacy-of-suicide-as-lyric-reflection-in-langs-note-to-a-friend/
“Immediately disarming, Bleckmann’s warmth, candor, and endless spools of legato guided and regaled listeners on his inner journey, with a narrative generosity indicative of his cabaret experience… Bleckmann’s dead man was so magnetic and accommodating as to inspire hope that he might remain among the living, but he maintained an otherworldly distance, reaffirming where he now belonged.”
“Lang’s score, for string quartet and vibrantly brought to life by young players from the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, bolstered the libretto with a sensitivity characteristic of his text settings… the strings unfolded immediately into a rich tension before melting into a solitary, hymnlike reflection.”
“Following its New York run, this production of note to a friend goes on to Tokyo and then Taiwan. It would be interesting to know what other worlds the piece might evoke there and beyond.”

The Theatre Times
https://thetheatretimes.com/note-to-a-friend-at-prototype-2023-festival/
“Lang’s music, comprised of a string quartet, exudes an ethereal quality that unsettles at times.”
“Lang’s hauntingly beautiful musical language paired with Oida’s evocative staging approaches a difficult subject with great empathy, opening up new kinds of experiences for audiences today.”

Berkshire Fine Arts
https://www.berkshirefinearts.com/01-18-2023_david-lang-at-the-prototype-festival.htm
“…Bleckmann is a mesmerizing performer.”
“Lang has taken a bold step into the future with his customary modesty.”

Interludes
http://www.adriandimanlig.com/viewpoint-prototype-2023-continues-to-be-a-fertile-incubator-for-the-development-of-important-new-works-of-music-theater/
Rounding out the festival’s in-person opera productions this year was Pulitzer Prize-winner David Lang’s Note to a Friend (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) (the festival also included the fantastical animated opera Undine, which viewers were able to stream for free), which was presented at Japan Society. Collated and reimagined from a trio of texts by Japanese writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa, the opera is a clear-eyed, fiercely empathetic take on the act of suicide. Lang’s accomplished score — performed with elegance and delicate grace by Japanese — is a wonder of melodic economy and emotional clarity. A longtime desciple of Peter Brook, Yoshi Oida staged the piece with the austerity and deliberate artistry that was the trademark of the legendary British director. As the spectre who is hauntingly resurrected through a letter to his living friend, distinctive New York-based vocalist Theo Bleckmann hauntingly evoked immense wisdom and ethereal calmness.

I Care If You Listen
https://icareifyoulisten.com/2023/01/prototype-2023-probes-dark-corners-humanity-imagines-world-beyond-civilization/
“The meeting of American and Japanese sensibilities created a truly unique piece of Western chamber opera influenced by kabuki theater and a perception of suicide that is uncommon in the West…Lang’s score carefully balances minimalistic repetition with through-composed narration; his translucent string quartet writing and the occasional orchestral surge allowed Theo Bleckmann’s pristine singing to shimmer somewhere between sprechstimme and the Baroque.”

Musical America
https://www.musicalamerica.com/
“The prologue is vintage Lang, superficially familiar, but with details that surprise and intervals that threaten to coalesce into a typical ostinato but never quite getting there.”
“Bleckmann’s white, low-vibrato voice has deepened with age. He mostly maintained his familiar, confiding mezzo-piano until his character triumphed over his need to live, as expressed in an extremely effective fortissimo. Also impressive was his treatment of the protagonist’s final word “gone,” which faded slowly, remarkably mirroring the slowly extinguishing flame described earlier in the text.”

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