It's not like I expect a rehash of Heartbeats or anything. But I know that left field and experimental can still yield melody and chorus in the form of Fever Ray (The Knife's own Karin Andersson no less). But when it comes to giving hugely experimental opera on an ambitious scale a fair crack of the whip I'm pretty limited in the goodwill department.
It's probably a matter of context. The point of this collaborative operatic effort - telling the story of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species - wasn't really meant for the confines of the MP3 player or the stereo. And listening to it, no matter how intently, feels like only part of the story - there's a whole mass of accompanying visual data missing.
You can argue the merits of Olaf's forays into the rain forest to collect sounds. Or the fascination premise whether you think it's a successful endeavor or not. But ultimately it's a difficult listen at the best of times. Impenetrable occasionally.
There are perhaps a working narrative and the drama plays out in a semi-traditional opera format whilst the music and vocals shift around this with a life of their own. Trouble is you have to listen a few times to make these connections and I just haven't got the stamina to go that route.
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