The version done at the Met, revised by Shostakovich, radiates noble seriousness, but to fill out its panoramic scope the opera needs passionate singers who believe in their characters and convey the text with clarity.
Alter (TM s literary training gave him the advantage of seeing that a translation of the Bible can convey the text (TM s meaning only by trying to capture the powerful and subtle literary style of the biblical Hebrew, something the modern English versions don (TM t do justice to.
Schwerner's Neoptolemos, however, blandly murmurs, "That's how I am," a line that fails utterly to convey the text's emphasis.
Mr. Scheer's eclectic music evokes the period without becoming a pastiche, and Mr. Gunn found ways to convey the texts subtly but directly.
The choir, though 320 strong, almost everywhere avoids woolliness and conveys the text clearly, with the usual help from Telarc.
More surprising, Hei-Kyung Hong too sounded a bit worn and frail as Eva and conveyed the text hardly at all.
Readers of Moby-Dick will recall that the coffin makes a comeback at the novel's end, when, after the Pequod's wreck, it provides Ishmael with a life raft upon which to float, effectively conveying the text of Moby-Dick to us (had Ishmael, our narrator, not survived, there'd be no narrative to hear, no book to read).
The winner, he said, would be the one who could best convey the mood of the text, excel in his pronunciation of Arabic and match the rhythm of his chants most perfectly to the verse assigned to him.
Some may prefer a more sensual tone in Strauss, but her breath control, phrasing and ability to convey the meaning of the text without fracturing the line remain exemplary.
In order to convey precisely the unfamiliar, authentic quality of the original Biblical text, Rosenzweig and Buber made an effort to imitate certain characteristics of the original text not often attended to in translations seeking to convey the meaning of texts literally.
