I agree that Daniel Okulitch sings beautifully as Ennis, but the opera adds nothing (even though Annie Proulx, who wrote the original story, did the libretto).
The music was too atonal and modernistic to my ears, but maybe I was destined to disagree with Wuorinen, who says the short story is better than the 2005 movie.
''Brokeback'' is about Ennis, a laconic cowboy who has trouble expressing his emotions, so it seems so antithetical for him to be broadcasting his feelings. Part of what made Ennis and Jack so moving was their struggle to find the words for the ''love that dare not speak its name.'' But in an opera, they can't stop singing about it.
Anyway, I found this clip of the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles doing the ''Brokeback Mountain Suite,'' which is more affecting and haunting.
It features songs by Bob Dylan and Bernie Taupin from the film, as well as Gustavo Santaolalla's sublime, Oscar-winning, Western-inspired score. |
