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PEOPLE & ARTS Thursday 19 July 2018

Russian rarity revived at Bard College

By MIKE SILVERMAN thing other than what her
Associated Press family has given her. In your
NEW YORK (AP) — Lonely own mind you could cre-
demon meets beautiful ate an option considerably
girl and falls in love. Girl is more interesting.”
ambivalent. Demon kills In his staging, “The demon
off girl’s fiance. Girl flees and the angel have actual
to convent. Demon pur- forms,” he said. “They in-
sues her. Girl dies and teract with her, they have
goes to heaven. Demon a physical presence. But
is condemned to eternal whether they exist when
solitude. Stripped to its es- she is not communicating
sentials, that’s the plot of with them is another ques-
Anton Rubinstein’s 1871 tion. I don’t show them
opera “Demon,” adapted onstage having a rich life
from a poem of the same when she’s not there.”
name by the Russian ro- Because she’s attracted
mantic writer Mikhail Ler- to the demon, Strassberg-
montov. The lushly melodi- er said, “she starts to feel
ous opera remains popular guilty. ... It all starts to be-
in Russia, but it’s little known come a metaphor for filial
elsewhere — making it a duty, for what you’re sup-
natural choice for Bard This photo provided by Bard Fisher Center, from top, Nadezdah Babintseva, Efim Zavalny and posed to do versus free
College’s 15th annual Sum- Olga Tolkmit perform in “Demon.” agency.” Strassberger said
merScape festival of the Associated Press it’s important to note the
arts, which specializes in City. “Ninety-nine percent cusing on the heroine, Ta- riage,” Strassberger said. opera is titled “Demon”
staging what founder (and of people coming to Bard mara, a Georgian princess “The wedding was never rather than “The Demon.”
college president) Leon will be seeing it for the first who never meets the man really about her being in “Leon is very insistent on
Botstein considers unjustly time.” she’s engaged to. At the love with this guy. It’s a trick this,” he said. “In Russia
neglected works. Strassberger acknowledges demon’s instigation, the fi- a patriarchal society can there are no article adjec-
“We don’t have any con- that, taken literally, the sto- ance is killed by Tatars as use on a young girl’s im- tives, ‘the’ or ‘a.’ So if it’s
straints here because ry might be hard for mod- his caravan is crossing the pressionable mind.” ‘The Demon’ then it’s like
we’re doing it exactly as ern audiences to swallow. Caucasus Mountains on his As for the demon’s intru- there’s a baritone who’s
we want to,” director Thad- “You can’t just walk out the way to the wedding. sion into her life — as well standing there and he’s the
deus Strassberger said in door in 2018 and have con- “The engagement is kind as an angel who ultimately demon. But if it’s ‘Demon,’
an interview earlier this versations with angels and of strange, it’s very similar rescues her — Strassberg- then it seems to us much
month during a break from demons or people think to Lucia (di Lammermoor er said, “It isn’t necessar- more conceptual as to the
rehearsals on the campus you’re a little bit crazy,” he in the Donizetti opera) or ily something that visits her. existence as some sort of
90 miles north of New York said. So Strassberger is fo- any kind of arranged mar- She’s interested in some- negative force.”q
Ty Segall & White Fence reunite for frenzied ‘Joy’

By PABLO GORONDI deficit hyperactivity disor- tory, “Beginning,” has bird
Associated Press der. Get distracted for a noises, surf-rock drums,
Ty Segall & White Fence, minute or two and whole angelic singing and gui-
“Joy” (Drag City) songs may have passed tars in stereo, while the
The ever-prolific Ty Segall you by. There’s a lot of brief “Room Connector”
reunites with White Fence great music on “Joy” but sounds like the instrumental
(Tim Presley) on “Joy,” a the interludes unnecessarily demo version of a catchy
freaky, fragmented album break the flow. song. “Body Behavior” and
where squeaks and barks While this album’s “Other “Good Boy” both cross the
interrupt delightful harmo- Way” and the 17 seconds finish line around the 2-min-
nies and psychedelic pow- of “Prettiest Dog” are remi- ute mark, packing a wealth
er pop, totaling 15 tracks in niscent of its predecessor’s of rhythms, guitars and
just over 30 minutes. “Crybaby” and “Scissor weird lyrics.
“Joy” is a slightly less frenzied People” in their intensity, “A Nod” could be an out-
follow-up to their 2012 col- the duo also emphasizes take from “Tommy,” a re-
laboration, “Hair.” In parts, the layers of Who-like vo- flective moment from the
the album is like sweeter- cals and plenty of acoustic pinball wizard/spiritual
sounding 13th Floor Eleva- guitars. “Do Your Hair” is a leader: “My friends say I
tors and the tunes could be prime example of this ap- need followers/But I want
excerpts from a rock opera proach. to believe in me.”
for people with attention- The psychedelic introduc- The lovely, heartfelt “My
Friend” — “I see you fall- This cover image released by Drag City shows “Joy,” a release
ing down again/But I’m still by Ty Segall & White Fence.
around my friend” — is a Associated Press
melange of acoustic gui- to become one of the al- if you listen to the album
tars and stays around long bum’s most gratifying high- on repeat it creates a loop
linda.reijnders@cspnv.com enough, nearly 4 minutes, lights. Bird sounds end it, so with “Beginning.”q