Philip Glass and Dracula at the Winspear
“It’s not actually repetitive. That’s an illusion,” composer Philip Glass said in response to a question about whether playing his music on a keyboard causes his hands to suffer from repetitive stress syndrome.
Glass’ music generally leaves me cold. In fact, I find if I listen to it too intently the repetition can get maddening. But to have it played live in accompaniment to the 1931 film Dracula, as it was last night at the Winspear Opera House, was tremendous fun. Together the music and the movie (which only a generous critic would call “good”) were more than the sum of their parts. Glass explained during a post-performance Q&A that it was the film’s star, Bela Lugosi–or more precisely the tragic arc of Lugosi’s life–that drew him to want to write a new score for it.
It was my first time inside the performance hall at the Winspear, and it lived up to the hype. My wife only had one small complaint. The air vents beneath our seats were pumping cold air out with such enthusiasm that her legs felt like icicles by the end of the show. She was looking to let the management know afterward, and I had to argue with her to convince her not to force some poor usher to touch her cold ankles.
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I was at the same performance. Sounds like we should have traded seats. The dress circle balcony was very toasty and it looked as though there were many fanning themselves with their programs throughout the performance – including me.
That reminds me of a favorite limerick:
Philip Glass Philip Glass Philip Glass
Philip Glass Philip Glass Philip Glass
Philip Glass Philip Glass
Philip Glass Philip Glass
Philip Glass Philip Glass Philip Glass
Agreed, Glass and Co were great and the opera house was excellent, dress circle was very warm!