The Power of Opera

Mark Swed is so determined to be advanced, he has fallen on his face (“Seeking Answers in an Opera,” about John Adams, Alice Goodman and Peter Sellars’ “The Death of Klinghoffer”). I once owned “Klinghoffer” on CD and it was a paean to terrorists. They had all the heroic, all the endearing music. The passengers--victims--were portrayed as trivial trash. I could not bear to have it in the house. American opera companies have not avoided it because of timidity. They have the moral sense not to want to glorify contemporary murderers from their stages.

LOUISE L. PALMER

San Luis Obispo

*

I consider Mark Swed perhaps the best critic of serious music in America. I unquestioningly consider John Adams to be the greatest composer of symphonic music in the world at this moment.

Regretfully, the same cannot be said of Adams’ operas thus far.

As for “Klinghoffer,” Swed is dismayed that it has been neglected in America, claiming its “beautiful” music “shocks with inescapable, prescient power.”

He condemns the woman who sat next to him at “Klinghoffer’s” American premiere for saying “Give me a break!” throughout, regarding her repetition of the phrase as a closed-minded mantra to ward off evil, although I seriously doubt that is what the woman had in mind at all. More an expression of disgust at a work that is not at all “a wrenching panoramic expression of the complex interaction of motives and actions” but, rather, a totally unbalanced and biased screed that sympathizes with the motivations of the poor Palestinians while it dismisses the all too real concerns of their victims.

The opening Palestinian chorus, for example--a chorus presumably balanced by a later chorus of American Jews indifferent to the sufferings of the downtrodden and wrapped up in self-centered materialistic lives. Where is the chorus that mentions, even in passing, the fact that the Palestinians left their houses in 1948 in the belief that Arab armies would destroy the newborn Jewish state? Where is the history of Israel, where these very same Palestinians were begged to stay and then to return to their homes in peace? Where is the fact that they actually seem to have preferred the refugee camps rather than accept the Israelis merely by living among them?

Nowhere. Give me a break.

Share the hijackers’ dreams, feel their motivations, unleash the power of opera, Mr. Swed says, insisting “Klinghoffer” does not side with the terrorists. But because the Klinghoffers and the other passengers are depicted as interested primarily in their own mediocre lives, the impression that Adams, librettist Alice Goodman and especially director Peter Sellars leave us with is that these fat and happy American tourists are deliberately deaf, dumb and blind to the world they live in.

“Klinghoffer” might have been the great and important opera for these post-Sept. 11 times had its creators actually tackled the truth of their subject, an opera in which a group of unworldly folks come face to face with implacably deadly terror and have to examine their lives.

That the Los Angeles Opera has not mounted “Klinghoffer” is not “a blight on the company’s reputation.” It is wise artistic judgment.

LAWRENCE ALEXANDER

Sherman Oaks

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Swed suggests that a narrative such as “The Death of Klinghoffer” is more suited to our times than “rational” art by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms or Barber, in the light of the terrible events of Sept. 11.

First, this is not a surprising viewpoint from a journalist. Journalists work in the medium of words, are adept at mining meaning from words and are therefore predisposed to enjoy word-filled art.

Second, narrative art seems most compelling now because most of us are unused to interpreting art. Our world is increasingly filled with words and literal meaning, and the older knowledge of sensing meaning from nonliteral art is becoming lost. Children come equipped with this knowledge but lose it as they become socialized and educated.

Third, why should art be called upon to teach us lessons? Why should art be in the service of politics? A manual can teach lessons. A good leader takes us through treacherous times. Is it not enough that art holds up the banner of human civilization to the face of human brutality and stupidity? In my mind, art has a higher purpose, much like that of religion: to keep us in touch with our souls.

Fourth, how can Beethoven be thought of as “rational”? Of what Beethoven work is Mr. Swed thinking? Perhaps style is being confused with substance.

The events of Sept. 11 were horrible, but this event was not unique in the history of the world. Comparable acts of brutality have existed in this century, the last and in the centuries preceding. We in America are shocked now because we have had a long, good run. We have been sheltered and lucky.

BENITA BIKE

Director, Benita Bike’s DanceArt Company Sunland

*

Your Oct. 7 Sunday Calendar section provided a vivid study in contrasts.

First, music critic Mark Swed’s high-minded cover story detailing his perceived need for the revival of the modern opera “The Death of Klinghoffer” was, to me, the very essence of pretentious art criticism. Frankly, Mr. Swed’s suggestion that the citizens of Los Angeles need brave and courageous opera in the wake of the horrific events of Sept. 11 was narrowly self-absorbed and in rather bad taste.

Thank goodness for Paul Brownfield’s timely article on satirist Harry Shearer (“What’s Normal Now”). It was a delight to read, thoughtful and humorous.

However dark the horizon appears to be, we need to maintain a sense of proportion and a sense of humor. Mr. Shearer brought a much-needed smile to my face and washed away the bad taste left by Mr. Swed’s arrogant display.

BRUCE RIORDAN

Los Angeles