Isis got her stitches out yesterday so she looks less like I made her myself.

Saw the new Philip Glass/Christopher Hampton opera Appomattox last night but still not entirely sure what I thought of it. Overall it was very good, with some excellent moments, and the staging and direction were stunning (though the rotting horse carcasses really didn't need to spin at the finale). I liked the way they juxtaposed the gentlemanly demeanor of Grant and Lee at Appomattox with the desperation and squalidness of the common people and soldiers, and how the harrowing scenes flashing forward into the Civil Rights struggles of the 1960's underscored the deep divisions Grant and Lee's agreement could never hope to fix.

However, I don't think Glass' music lends itself well to the operatic form. In the first act the music seemed more like a film score, providing a background for the dialog, which came off as ad-libbed lines sung randomly, like when people joke around pretending to sing their normal speech. In the second act, the music took over for the libretto in getting its message across, often drowning out the voices entirely. Some great stuff there, but not entirely successful.