28 AR 7't I E N EW YORI< TI lv1LS, SUNDTI Y, AUG(I.ST 2. rges Here Come The%men, ikh-" Pensat the Ready

By ALBERT INNAURATO

HO's this thing by - Ally McBeal?" asked the cabby, dropping off a group of men in front of the John Jav Col- E I lege Theater in midtown Manhattan.There were regiments of wom. en flooding in to see lf P4tienc_eandjgIgU.' presented by the Liffi - "No," he was told, "it's an by Paula Kimper." firt r'fu :fi . opera by a lady?" the cabby said. "Women! You can't get away from them your wholelife, and now they're taking over opera!" Taking over is putting it strongly, but the last quarter century has seen the emer- genceof female composers as serious pro- fessionals. has blossomedin the 90'swith "Blond Eckbert" (just recorded), "A Night at the ChineseOpera" and "," and composers like Sofia Gubaidulina and Kaija Saariaho have rnade international reputations.This

A MAN's woRLD No LoNGERlotti Mitchell, lcft, Helen Taafe Zrilich, above, r, FromJudith Weir and womeITtvlto have emer$ed in the last quarter-cenlury as composersof statut EllenTaafe Zwilich to rnusic. Excc1>tfor anceslors like Hildegard v'on BinSen, the tielt] has bccrr 1;r PaulaKimper, Ani DiFrancoand Paula Cole,women are

;;$+.-f:!. 1.. claimingrespect as '.4;i.:... seriouscornposers.

trend is even more remarkable in pop, in which women play solo or front bands and hence enjoy a greater autonomy than a classicalcomposer dependent upon a sym- phony orchestra. Lilith Fair, a tour organ- izedby the Canadiansinger-songwriter Sar- ah Mclaughlan and run totally by and for women,has been unexpectedlypopular the EbctRob{:rts last two summers Ms. Kimper's work, words by Wendy Per- It has bcen casicr for rvornen to compose sons, was an event of sorts. The two title pop. But succe.ss[ul wonren arc often r]tore charactersare women who fall unabashedly rcaclily co-olltcd by cornmcrcial forces than and sexually in love. After the first act, Ihrt Robrrts rncn arc. l'lrcrc arc slrd, cvcn tragic storics young gay women were roaming the lobby about sigtrificarrt. figurcs like Laura Nyro thi[drrrrrur.rr irdu rr!tr(lLtr tIlUtfrlL r UL w(l)vy(t.) (l(t )tr(ll.trr(tt lltXlltL (lllll(tl.llr shrilling in falsetto, making fun of opera act, there was a soarinesoarins affirnratioralfirnratiorrlil(ltl{rllll(ll"llrll Signora SLroz.ziwas an heiress, the adopt- ancl Joni lvlitchell who for all their succcss in_thisn voices;they're more at home with Melissa tltis music of the transccndentZIIIS(jeIlU(:)llI beautybeautvt)eilUtV tittifo ed daughter of the influential librettisr Giu- hatl to fight the record industry to stay lifeItlerte and lolove,tove, regardlessregar(llessffi of_sexualitvoI sexualitv or lio Strozzi. She studied with the great viablc. Etheridge or perhaps Queen Latifah. "Oh, com- gender. IVlernbcrs gf Zena, I love you!" intoned one clasping a the audience -- tnell poser Francesco Cavalli (who worshiped With all respect to the estinrable Ned and wornen to their program to her chest as if shot by an arrow. - iuritpcrl feet ancl hcr). Her wonderful and often daring set- Rorcrn and thc magnificent Francis Pou- glv 'lWorry not, Gabrielle," warbled her com- tings of tcxts f rom opcras demonstrate a big lenc, it could be argued I\litchcll is one of thc talent, grca[ panion, who, though probably 18, had an far beyond thc short dance forms song composcrs of the 20th century, goori-orrera. favorcd by her vicious morc inrprc.ssive impressivedramatic ,"Zena's here, male colleagues. The for u'riting her own wortls. T'here was an Eve of opcra - though for ir satires putllishcd Like Franz never fear, ['ll get that arrow out of you, about her ef fectively Schubcrt's, hcr music erupls long time her contribution was erased f ront caused Ironr dear!" her to rcin in her large-scale ambi- a deeply fclt, idiosyncratic ernotional the history books. In the 1630's, the earliest tions. lifc, clutsicle the rnainsIreant. was Eyeing them, several of the men present Schubert days of ttre fornr, the tieauteous IJarlrara Opera and thc bigger forms of "serious prob;rbly a homosexual. Brrth his great seemeduncomfortable. "Feels a little like song Strozzi sang her own aria.s to the delight of music" require both practical experiencc cycles, "Wintcrreise" and "Die Schdene the Bacchae," said one. @ the Venetian r\cademy. Singing as a way of and real opportunity to learn (and earn) lllullcrin," arrd the rnajoritl,' of his srlngs to surviving for female conrposers still holtls fronr performance, as Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, poctns hy others dcal with blighted lclve. The playwright Albert lnnuurato writes f re- true, right up to Ani DiFranco and Lisa thc Pulitzer Prize-winning composer of I\1s.Ivlitchcll, it fiercely intlepentlent worn- quently about rnu.src. Loeb. largc-scaie instrumentai works, points out. itrt long be[orr: the t]aptists fetlt it nccessary 5IF;! ;l.gE E H = =o.; t 3"gE"i i!ggiiFg :;gggisg, iiiggill;gi$i, 5 I s$sEgsFcsEtE dgl ;g€g;:g:iitg Si;sf;E8EA;;IE; Si;gEEF:€F*;fa FItl :;Eg:HEAEEFEaiirs;;itdg5 ;l #:eEi;eg*€;s gg5gig*;ii: [i;':s.;;;r:is,lsEaEsi 5iAgFisg€iig5;gi Ef Ei$Fiii;iEiililiffF ifg, gigiEEgEiFiE;iI fgii fliiFi Eii FESEii iEigFE gE ig€gi g;EEf;; g i ii!fFi$g;ggiiE FgllgE ' 'gF;3$i=r e*k6vb*EiH ' oo ;3E15 nr qSt e ;s CE:tiese;Fq, eij o c oo, a, $'.P: 6r='iF!;5: E;E-,nFe€x oo i#E:Eg== A *,*=; sE it H ia:rgggrgb; g;,^;;rt;gEE,l' o i; s ;i' q) 3;rs r ; r5a* ;;E;g€ ae: [iE;fE e ;;; 6ine''l s E;EF #g;F=: l: !i igiiEiEgggi$iigfF U -ca:,--=r- ;*;gi;!lli:*;$*guii EsgcsgEis x'a; 'iiEie:;:isgg= E:E; ts; lfrHEEgb:

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