The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 05, 2003, Page 10, Image 10
10 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, November 5, 2003
CONTACT ITS • THEY SAID IT
1 u u SHEL SILVERSTEIN: “Put something silly in the world/
Story ideas? Questions? Comments? That ain’t been there before.”
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OPERA REVIEW
USC group brings a bit of culture
to Columbia with its rendition of
Donizetti’s opera Don Pasquale’
“DON PASQUALE”
Opera at USC
★ ★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆
BY KIT CURTIN
THE GAMECOCK
■>* . .
Gaetano Donizetti was an
Italian composer known for his
speed in composing operas. He
could produce an opera every
few months, and wrote more
than 50 in the course of his ca
reer. However, because he wrote
quickly, not all of his operas
show the same level of ingenuity.
Critics often said that his work
sounded like that of other com
posers. In the case of “Don
Pasquale,” such a comparison is
obvious. ;
The work sounds similar to the
operas of Mozart or Rossini.
Though somewhat uninspired,
the music remains pleasant, well
suited to its subject matter and
has its moments of brilliance.
“Don Pasquale” tells the story
of Ernesto and Norina—a young
couDle that hoDes to marrv — and
Don Pasquale, Ernesto's tyran
nical uncle. When Don Pasquale
decides to marry in hopes of hav
ing a son who will disinherit
Ernesto, he throws Ernesto out
of the house.
This puts Ernesto in a finan
cial situation that makes mar
riage impossible. Norina and
Pasquale’s doctor, Malatesta, de
vises a plan to destroy Pasquale’s
wedding plans and unite Norina
and Ernesto. Dr. Malatesta offers
his submissive sister, Sofronia,
to Pasquale. Sofronia, however,
is really Norina in disguise.
After they are married,
Sofronia transforms herself into
a brash, controlling wife who
wastes Pasquale’s money. She
makes Pasquale’s life so miser
able that at the end of the opera,
he is glad to divorce her and is de
termined to give her away to
someone he hates. Luckily, he
hates Ernesto and lets him have
her.
In the end, Ernesto and Norina
marry, the old man is shown to be
the fool that he really is, and the
audience leaves amused and sat
isfied — although possibly still
confused about the difficult-to-fol
low plot.
Opera afUSC’s performance
of this light-hearted work
sparkles with talent and humor.
Director Donald Gray put to
gether a professional-sounding
performance. The title role was
sung by Jacob Will, a member of
USC’s voice faculty with an in
ternational reputation. Will lived
up to his name by delivering a
highly polished and comically
acted rendition of Pasquale.
Jaeyoon Kim, a doctoral student
at USC, sang the role of Ernesto,
Pasquale’s nephew. Kim has a
voice to be relished, and his aria
to Norina in the final scene
was one of the opera’s most
memorable.
The roles of Dr. Malatesta and
Norina were double-cast. During
Sunday’s performance, graduate
students Raphael Rada and
Meredith Nutter performed these
roles. Rada has a rich, powerful
voice, and Nutter sang the role of
shrinking-violet-turned-shrew
with elegance and attitude.
Conductor Neil Casey led the
orchestra in a clean and focused
performahce. The orchestra did
not overpower the singers and re
sponded sensitively to what was
happening on the stage.
Opera at USC consistently pro
duces some of the best opera in the
area. If you have never heard a
USC opera, you are missing out
on one of Columbia’s cultural
treasures.
Opera at USC will be perform
ing “La Boheme” by Puccini on
Feb. 6 and 8. Whether you’re an
opera buff or just curious, plan to
come and hear USC’s talented
singers and musicians.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com
The Beginner’s
Guide to Opera
BY MEG MOORE
THBKAMBCOCKjp
Unlike a musical, which com
bines a play with a musical score, a
opera is a stage drama that is design
to be sung. Opera music does not ac<
the story, but is the story. Develop*
Italy during the late-16th centu
opera has been engaging au
diences for more than 400
years — the first opera
was Jacopo Peri’s
“Dafne" (1594-98).
Incorporating mu
sic, words
design,
genre is a
plex art form
able to convey
characters’
moods,
thoughts and
actions
simultaneously.
An ooera
usually begins with
an overture, an or
chestral prelude
that introduces the
themes. The piece then
combine! recitative numbers
and arias to narrate. A recita
tive section centers on a
speech-like affirmation of a J
character’s feelings and gen
erajly features sparse ac- ^k
accompaniment. Arias are
then traditionally used to ■
W reflect upon the thoughts H
presented. Operas have
evolved from fragmented ■
works into pieces con- H
taining continuous musi
cal expressions. Since the
genre’s inception, opera
has become more exper
imental as composers
vary and adapt the con- ■
ventional structure of
their compositions. ; rW?'.'-?
Comments on this storyiwm
gamecockmixeditor@h(^m
— iryur ruuLiuu
gatheredfrom
http://www.bbc.co.
uk/radio3/classical/
opera/operaguide.
shtml.
PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK
Opera at USC’s production starred Jacob Will as title character Don Pasquale and Meredith Nutter as
Norina.
tr
Forget crowded malls —
just shop eBay
BY CARRIE GIVENS
THE (iAMECOCK
Does USC’s parking problem
make you late to class? Well,
problem solved — you can buy
. your own Bell 47G helicopter for
the low price of $75,000. Since
you can land it on the roof of
most campus buildings, you will
have no problem finding a park
ing space.
EBay can be the ideal shop
ping experience. No crowds, no
rude sales associates and no ear
ly closing times. You can sit for
hours at the computer shopping
for literally anything and ev
erything — including a heli
copter.
To begin shopping, all you
have to do is go to
www.ebay.com and sign in.
First-year international busi
ness student Marisa Niparts is
a veteran eBay shopper. She
says, however, that she really
only use eBay for big purchases
and electronics.
In fact her laptop, speakers
and keyboard all came from
eBay. Niparts brags that she has
probably saved around $1,000 us
ing eBay because “people who
sell computers on eBay often
buy them in bulk, so they end up
selling the computers cheaper.”
Although she continues to use
eBay, Niparts admits that “once
the keyboard she bought had two
i’s and no o.”
However, despite this experi
ence, she has had no problems.
Niparts warns new eBay users
to “try to buy from an experi
enced seller, read comments
from buyers and always use
PayPal.”
Ben Meekins, first-year chem
ical engineering student, agrees
that a buyer should always
check the seller’s reputation.
Meekins, who likes to use
eBay because “it is handy,”
bought a new bumper for his
truck off eBay. He said he saved
at least $200 because he bought
it as a stock part and did not
have to pay labor.
Both Niparts and Meekins sug
gest that eBay shoppers should
wait it out and check back to the
auction frequently.
“Often people will jump in and
outbid you at the last second,”
Meekins says.
But Niparts has found a way
never to be outbid. “If you really
want it,” she says, “you should
just hit the ‘Buy Now’ button.”
Not everyone’s experiences
with eBay have been favorable,
though. Third-year
Baccalaureus student Matt
Wilkinson used to shop on eBay.
He says that he “sent a check to
the seller, who said the item was
broken going to the post office
... then a year later she cashed
the check.”
“Also, it takes too long to get the
items you buy,” Wilkinson warns.
However, eBay, described as
an “online flea market,” is a
great outlet to search for quirky
gifts. Currently, for $1.3 million,
you can purchase the town of
Cornudas, Texas. Meekins
claims that he “has seen a soul .
in a bottle and a guy’s virginity
for sale.”
Wilkinson also recalled that
a couple of years ago, a man put
his kidney up for sale. However,
“eBay had to remove it because
you can’t really sell your or
gans.”
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com
CD REVIEW
Canadian band
expands its borders
“EVERYTHING TO EVERYONE"
Barenaked Ladies
*★** out of
BY SHAWN ROURK
Till-; CAMKCOCK
Barenaked Ladies have been
around since the early ’90s, bring
ing their unique brand of music to
the mainstream as the ambas
sadors of rock from Canada. Their
latest release, “Everything to
Everyone,” is an album that will
likely not change the world, but it
will make some people say, “That’s
a good Canadian band, eh?”
Their album contains a diverse
collection of songs, each different,
yet they work well together as a
complete work. Most of their songs
are still playful in nature and some
what' obscure at times; however,
the band has pulled together some
great songs for this work.
The group samples a number of
different sounds on the CD. For ex
ample, it adopts a more folk feel on
songs such as “Have you seen my
love?” and “For You.” The songs
are some of the slowest on the al
bum and, coupled with the open
ing song, “Celebrity,” show off the
band’s ability to create some very
laid-back tunes.
The songs may be somewhat
slower — with the exception of a
few parts of the first single,
“Another Postcard” — but the al
bum remains upbeat. “Another
Postcard" is a playful song about
♦ BARENAKED, SEE PAGE 11
PHOTO COURTESY KRT CAMPUS
Keanu Reeves takes on the agents of the virtual world as Neo
in “Tne Matrix Revolutions,” the final film In the series.
Reeves aims to expand roles post-’Matrix’
BY DAVID GERMAIN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BURBANK, CALIF. - From
featherhead to virtual-reality sav
ior of humanity. What an odd set of
bookends to the career of Keanu
Reeves.
For more than a decade, no
matter the far-ranging roles and
genres he tided, Reeves was in
escapably identified as the most
excellent but nitwitted dude Ted
of 1989’s “Bill & Ted’s Excellent
Adventure” and its sequel, “Bill &
Ted’s Bogus Journey.”
Now Reeves, 39, faces life after
Neo, the most-solemn messiah of
“The Matrix” trilogy, a demigod
prophesied to lead the remnants
of humanity to victory against
Earth’s machine conquerors.
What does Reeves do for an en
core? The same thing he’s done all
along: Mix things up.
In December, Reeves plays sec
ond fiddle to Jack Nicholson in
the romantic comedy
“Something’s Gotta Give,” as an
emergency-room doctor wooing
an older woman (Diane Kepton).
Already completed is a rol«l as an
orthodontist in the low-budget
comedy “Thumbsucker,” and
Reeves now is shooting the occult
comic-book adaptation
“Constantine.”
A practitioner of Buddhism,
Reeves carries the monkish im
age of the loner, the cipher, a per
sona that nicely complements his
“Matrix” character. Neo’s appeal
l
♦ REEVES, See PAGE 11