Adès - Powder Her Face / Gomez, V. Anderson, N. Morris, Bryson, Almeida Ensemble, Adès

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com's Best of 1998
In search of a topic for his first opera, Thomas Adès originally turned to Lolita before being drawn to the ironic morality tale of sex, privilege, and the media that furnished the basis for Powder Her Face. Nevertheless, he exudes a Nabokovian delight in the rich possibilities of his allusive musical language. Most winningly, Adès's detailed portrayals of character and mood add depth to the tabloid fall-from-grace story that was the opera's germ. --Thomas May

Amazon.com
Simply put, Thomas Adès's chamber opera Powder Her Face will likely be one of the strongest, most compelling pieces of contemporary music you've heard in a long while. The libretto, at once tragic and savagely funny, is by the acclaimed young English novelist Philip Hensher and addresses a resonantly scandalous topic: the glamor-drenched life and downfall of Margaret, Duchess of Argyll, whose divorce trial in the '50s set benchmark lows for publicizing someone's sex life. Adès's... read more

Adès - Powder Her Face / Gomez, V. Anderson, N. Morris, Bryson, Almeida Ensemble, Adès

Adès - Powder Her Face / Gomez, V. Anderson, N. Morris, Bryson, Almeida Ensemble, Adès, Music, Thomas Adès, Jill Gomez, Valdine Anderson, Niall Morris, Almeida Ensemble, Roger Bryson, British 20th/21st Century Opera, Classical, Classical Music, Opera, Opera / Operetta / Oratorio, Opera/Operetta
Adès - Powder Her Face / Gomez, V. Anderson, N. Morris, Bryson, Almeida Ensemble, Adès
Average customer rating: 3 out of 5 stars
  • Not Bowled Over by This
  • Phenomenal composition
  • A New Direction
  • Love in a circle
  • refreshing
 Adès - Powder Her Face / Gomez, V. Anderson, N. Morris, Bryson, Almeida Ensemble, Adès
Thomas Adès , Jill Gomez , Valdine Anderson , Niall Morris , Almeida Ensemble , and Roger Bryson
Manufacturer: Angel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

GeneralGeneral | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
EnglishEnglish | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
OperettasOperettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:
  1. Ades: Catch/Darknesse Visible/Still Sorrowing/Under Hamelin Hill/Five Eliot Landscapes/Traced OVerhead/Life Story
  2. Thomas Adès: America: A Prophecy
  3. Thomas Adès: Living Toys
  4. Ades: Asyla, These Premises Are Alarmed, etc. / Rattle, et al
  5. Peter Lieberson: Neruda Songs

ASIN: B00000DFNX
Release Date: 1998-11-03

Tracks:

  1. Overture
  2. Oo Aa! Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha
  3. I See. This Is What Is Has Come To
  4. Take It From Me
  5. Interlude
  6. Of Course She's Done Well
  7. I Could Never Grow Bored Of Dukedoms
  8. I Hear Him Coming (Pantomine)
  9. Interlude
  10. Fancy, Fancy Being Rich
  11. Interlude
  12. ...Mm...Ah!...How May I Help You? ...Mm...Ah!...Room Service?
  13. What Have You Got There?
  14. Come Here
  15. Interlude
  16. Is Daddy Squiffy?
  17. Are You Saying The Duchess Is A Whore?
  18. Ha Ha Ha Ha... (Paper Chase)

Tracks:

  1. Did She?...Of Course She Did
  2. Order. Silence
  3. But Now I Have Heard Something New
  4. Did You Hear - What He Said?
  5. So That Is All
  6. Interlude
  7. I'd Like To Make One Thing Entirely Clear
  8. Ah! None Left
  9. Interlude/Fifty-Eight, Seventy-Nine
  10. Agh - Who Are You?
  11. That Will Do. You May Go
  12. Broken. It's Broken
  13. Enough...Or Too Much!

Amazon.com's Best of 1998

In search of a topic for his first opera, Thomas Adès originally turned to Lolita before being drawn to the ironic morality tale of sex, privilege, and the media that furnished the basis for Powder Her Face. Nevertheless, he exudes a Nabokovian delight in the rich possibilities of his allusive musical language. Most winningly, Adès's detailed portrayals of character and mood add depth to the tabloid fall-from-grace story that was the opera's germ. --Thomas May

Amazon.com

Simply put, Thomas Adès's chamber opera Powder Her Face will likely be one of the strongest, most compelling pieces of contemporary music you've heard in a long while. The libretto, at once tragic and savagely funny, is by the acclaimed young English novelist Philip Hensher and addresses a resonantly scandalous topic: the glamor-drenched life and downfall of Margaret, Duchess of Argyll, whose divorce trial in the '50s set benchmark lows for publicizing someone's sex life. Adès's score is a bona fide masterpiece, combining a broad palette of styles and influences, from tango and Cole Porter to Berg's Lulu and mordant atonality, all scored with brilliant invention for an ensemble of 15 musicians (here conducted by the composer). But Adès, born in 1971, succeeds where others have stumbled: he's a true man of the theater, and there's no pastiche in the music, which rises above the level of collage (except for one purposely inserted camp tune) and instead coheres into a seamless, thrusting, witty, highly dramatic whole. The four-member cast, led by Jill Gomez as the Duchess, is right on target. Valdine Anderson portrays a series of mocking antagonists (given high-wire acrobatic vocalisms) who precipitate the downfall, while Niall Morris and Roger Bryson bring engaging variety to their multiple roles as the male figures in the Duchess's world. An event not to be missed. --Pierre Ruhe

Customer Reviews:

2 out of 5 stars Not Bowled Over by This.......2003-09-23

When hot new composers are discussed in learned critical circles, one name that frequently appears is Thomas Ades. Ades is a young British composer and pianist who has made quite a stir with his brilliantly orchestrated, eclectic compositions, which feature elements from popular music, but filtered through a strongly modernist prism. Ades has created an impressive resume, with major commissions for full-scale work from around the globe, and has gained such champions as Sir Simon Rattle, who will be performing Ades' orchestral work, Asyla, in his New York debut with the Berlin Philharmonic. Not bad for a young composer only just barely thirty.

Naturally, when a young talent such as this writes an opera, it is considered a major event. Unfortunately, despite the critical praise that Ades has received from some quarters, particularly from noted critic Paul Griffiths, I can't find much to celebrate in Power Her Face. Despite the witty orchestral writing, and some attractive use of tango material, to me, Powder Her Face is mostly devoid of dramatic and musical interest.

The plot of the opera was derived from the life of the Duchess of Argyll, who led a scandalous sexual life, which is depicted rather graphically in the opera, before her downfall in a public trial and ultimately her disgraceful end. Outside of the shock value, I'm not sure what exactly attracted Ades and librettist Phillip Hensher to this subject. The characters in the opera are mere ciphers, not fully realized human beings. If they were going for the alienation techniques of Brecht, they missed one key element in Brecht's aesthetic, the fact that no matter how horrible the characters in a Brecht play, there is a fully drawn human being underneath, one that you end up having sympathy with despite yourself. In Powder Her Face, this dimension of humanity is almost completely absent. The only time the Duchess is anything but a caricature is in her final aria, which is just too little, too late for me. And ultimately, there is no point to the opera besides prurience. When Brecht put his lecherous or greedy characters on stage, there was an underlying social point being made. If there is a social point to Powder Her Face is it a pretty flimsy one, and one that has been made with more wit and style by more talented creators.

Musically, Ades does show promise. The instrumentation is, as usual for the composer, quite innovative. Powder Her Face is called a "cabaret opera" a genre which Ades does get credit for inventing, though it's roots are in the Brecht/Weill collaborations of Three Penny Opera and Happy End. Ades is fascinated by the popular music of the time, and in between highly modernist phrases you hear snatches of Noel Coward-like melodies or tango tunes. The writing for voices is more problematic. Ades is not a bad setter of words. The language can always be heard, even without recourse to the libretto. That's a sure test of skill in prosody. However, except for some set pieces in popular style, and the Duchess' last aria, the work is devoid of anything memorable. Opera need not be glowing with melody. Debussy proved that 100 years ago with Pelleas. But it needs something musical to draw the ear in, and Powder Her Face just doesn't have this. All in all, it gives the impression that it would have been much better as a play with some background music. Nothing in the work sounds as if it was compelled to be sung.

Lest it be though that I am not a fan of Ades, I am. I like Asyla and some of the other instrumental pieces a lot. Though I don't think he is quite at the level that his supporters claim, I do think that, if he ignores some of the hype that has been attached to him, he will grow into a composer of real stature. But my sincere hope is that, when he tries another opera, and he should, that he examine more carefully the choice of subject, and try to go for something that really makes a statement. Shock value wears rather thin after a while.

5 out of 5 stars Phenomenal composition.......2001-02-06

"Powder Her Face" showcases Thomas Ades's amazing facility for invention. As was Britten before him, Ades is absolutely bursting with phenomenal and far-reaching ideas. The libretto can at times be offensive to some, but Ades's settings can keep the listener glued to his seat for the length of the opera. I eagerly await new material from this young composer.

4 out of 5 stars A New Direction.......2001-01-01

It's typical of the classical music establishment that there are so many vitriolic reviews on this page. Ades' use of pastiche and reference does not belittle his unique musical approach. Give him a chance - he was only 24 when he wrote this intruiguing and compelling work, and I have no doubt that his compositional style will mature into something very special. And no, I am not his mother!... ps. the "Fancy Being Rich!" "aria" is a joy to sing - he really understands the capabilities of the voice (something many modern composers - namely Tavener - cannot grasp!...)

1 out of 5 stars Love in a circle.......2000-04-26

I felt suckered by having bought this disc and having succumbed the relentless marketing hype surrounding it. All I can say is, don't. You might be misled into believing that this opera will endure, but only if you are overly impressed by 1) the composer's youth; 2) his technical skill at imitating various pop-song formats in an orchestral setting; and 3) his grasp of form and structure that indubtedly earned him high marks back in his conservatory days.

I have no problem with the fact that the opera is noisy; heck, I love noisy music! My problem is that it's so bloodless. The only thing that makes this opera notable is that it's one of the grandest, most astonishingly protracted public cases of self-love I have ever had the misfortune to witness, and if you're tempted to join in with him, do so at your peril.

5 out of 5 stars refreshing.......2000-03-13

Reading some of the harsher reviews of Powder Her Face, I feel compelled to express a contrary opinion. Powder Her Face is a refreshing piece, one that manages to present familiar themes--as the review below notes, "thirties-style ballads"--in a novel, unfamiliar way. It is not overly avant-garde, nor does it have any of the banal, protypical "soundtrack" feel of many musicals and operas today. Is it "the opera of the future"? Perhaps, perhaps not. However, it is an excellent work, one whose quality is not borrowed from the ubiquitous influence of minimalism, avant-garde, or Sondheim-Webber-MGM-Etc. It is rare to find a contemporary piece that is not easily characterized by one of those three labels; Powder Her Face is one of them.

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