home | current affairs | bio | music | culinary interests | buy music
THE COMPLETE DISCOVERED MARLIN THE MARLIN is a puzzlement to music scholars, as to why the manuscripts for the different scenes turn up in different cities with no reference to one another. This MAY be correlated to Courteois’ habit of finding himself in different cities with absolutely no reference as to where he was, but scholars are hesitant to link the two concretely. The songs here were originally thought to be individual, and it was only due to the discovery of a rambling, incoherent manuscript of Courteois’ concerning “pizza” and “marlin” (and young girls with freckles, actually, but scholars usually choose to skip over that part) that allowed the form of the operetta to be divined. Due to the conflicting nature of the information as it is found, the scenes and acts are constantly being adjusted. Originally, the form of the opera was believed to begin with Rodolfo and Brunhilde’s idyllic life, and continue through the discovery of Brunhilde’s insanity, Genevieve’s introduction and courting of Rodolfo, and culminate in a final duet, whose musical manuscript is yet unfound, where Rodolfo and Genevieve swear their eternal love and devotion, and then go off together to shop for a rod and reel. (This is not the known duet “Tant de Poisson”.) Further research has found that this is, in fact, only the beginning of the operetta, and that the insane meditations and grisly revenge of Brunhilde are actually the focus of the final act. Material has been found indicating an opening act involving Rodolfo and young girls with freckles, but it is generally ignored. Discovery of the descriptions of the final scene, where Brunhilde watches remorselessly as Rodolfo is consumed by the coat of live ferrets, elicited a response of some disappointment from Courteois scholars, who see it as an unnecessary return to the near surrealism of his better-known Death In Naples, most specifically the scene where Death taunts the hero, Antonio, by absently folding balloon animals as the hour of his demise approaches. Investigation of such points keep scholars on the hunt for the final material from The Marlin, but for the moment, these few selections must serve as a guide to the potential and actual substance of the operetta. THE COMPLETE DISCOVERED MARLIN 1-OVERTURE TO ‘THE MARLIN’ – Presented here in a synthetic orchestration. Nicolas Slonimsky, musicologist, was heard to say of the overture, “Is over so kvickly? And turns so gloomy chust to start? Our hero must be dead before overture is even finish!” Overture in Windows Media Format 2-SCENE 2 FROM ACT I – Rodolfo leaves the castle and, realizing that he has forgotten his lunch, returns to find Brunhilde at her dressing table, singing into her hairbrush. He listens as she sings the song of the mystic fish that brings a pizza. Janet Chvatal-Jones sings the part of Brunhilde. Act 1 Scene 2 in Windows Media Format 3-SCENE 3 FROM ACT I – Rodolfo is distraught over seeing that Brunhilde is obviously crackers, and so goes to the local pub and relates the story of the song of the mystic fish that brings a pizza. Patrick McDonough sings the part of Rodolfo. Act 1 Scene 3 in Windows Media Format 4-SCENE 1 FROM ACT II – Genevieve has witnessed Rodolfo’s outburst at the tavern, and is enchanted by his song. Dreaming and inspired, she sings her own song of the mystic fish that brings a pizza. Barbara Leone sings the part of Genevieve. Act 2 Scene 1 in Windows Media Format 5-SCENE 1 FROM ACT IV – Rodolfo tells of his love to Genevieve, reflecting on his feelings as a gift of many fish, a reflection in which Genevieve joins. Barbara Leone sings the part of Genevieve. John Curtis sings the part of Rodolfo. Act 4 Scene 1 in Windows Media Format 6-THE MARLIN - Songwriters Steve Hale and Greg Herman has proven to be very nearly prophetic in having written this song, which includes unmistakable lyric and melodic echoes of material from the operetta, at least seven years before the first discovery of any of music or liberetto from The Marlin. They cite a specific pizza delivery experience as the inspiration of the song, however made no mention of young girls with freckles. The Marlin - in Windows Media Format Selections 1-5 were all discovered by the JFCDS, a society devoted to the discovery of the lost works of J.F. Courteois. Selection #6 was written by Steve Hale and Greg Herman, used here with permission.
|
|
|
