Ayer mientras conducía por la mañana, en Barriupedia de Radio 3, comentaban que se cumplían ayer mismo, 50 años de este estreno.
Ópera Rock.
Error.
La ópera es ópera y su creación e interpretación no es apta para todos los públicos. Se siente...
Y el rock, está muy bien. Puede ser muy bueno, y muy divertido. Y hacértelo pasar muy bien, un ratito, pero son 4 acordes. ¿O no? Y como mucho...
The Who release their album Tommy, a rock opera about a deaf, dumb and blind boy who plays a mean pinball.
Tommy (1969) is a lavish concept album from British rock band The Who, which spreads across two LPs. Unusual for a record by a British act, Tommy is released in the US a week earlier than in the UK - due to problems with the production of the album cover. The record is a critical and commercial success, eventually being certified double platinum in the US and selling more than 20 million copies worldwide. It also introduces a new genre: Rock Opera.
The Who's guitarist and principal songwriter, Pete Townshend, has been seeking a way to move on from the 3-minute pop single after the group's early success with short-form radio-friendly songs such as "My Generation." Tommy builds on the symphonic structure of the band's experimental 9-minute epic "A Quick One While He's Away" - from The Quick One (1966), and the story-telling aesthetic of their last concept album: The Who Sell Out (1967).
Tommy tells the tale of the titular hero, who is struck deaf, dumb and blind after witnessing a murder. His parents neglect him, and he suffers abuse from his cousin and uncle. He later discovers he is a master of the arcade game pinball - the lack of visual and auditory distractions enabling him to master the game by using vibrations to sense the ball's position. After a doctor realizes his affliction is mental, rather than physical, Tommy recovers his senses and starts a religious cult. Finally, after being rejected by his new-found followers, he withdraws once again.
The extracted single "Pinball Wizard" becomes a hit in the UK, and the album is later developed into an acclaimed movie by Ken Russell in 1975. The cinematic version features new, re-recorded versions of the album's songs as well as some additional Townshend compositions, all of which are performed by the actors themselves. A stage musical version is also developed in 1992. Surprisingly, it takes until 1994 for a Tommy-themed pinball machine to appear, featuring imagery and sounds from the Broadway production.
