What opera have you been watching lately?

[Soave_Fanciulla]

Shots from high angle . . . sounds like Jacquot may have been up to some of the same stunts here that one sees in the video of his Werther staging at the Opéra de Paris.

He intersperses the film with shots of the recording studio. I don't mind it so much - the bit where Ruggero Raimondi stands up to sing Scarpia's entrance is scarier than anything that could actually be on film.

[Clayton]

He intersperses the film with shots of the recording studio. I don't mind it so much - the bit where Ruggero Raimondi stands up to sing Scarpia's entrance is scarier than anything that could actually be on film.

I should have said the stars of the show were the red dress... and Ruggero Raimondi

[Amfortas]

I should have said the stars of the show were the red dress... and Ruggero Raimondi

Red's definitely his color.

[Soave_Fanciulla]

When I first watched this on YT I was so enchanted by the music and singing that I had to buy it when it came out. I am glad I did, especially for Yijie Shi (I like his voice more than JDF even if he is perhaps not technically as perfect) and Ludovic Tézier was pretty good too in his usual haddocky way. But this time I had enough attention left over to get severely p'd off by the incredible sexism of the plot - yes I know, autres temps, autres mœurs - but really this is too much. And Kate Aldrich's dress looks as though it was made for someone who has a radically different shape from her and perhaps even from every other human being on the planet.

Donizetti: La Favorite
Kate Aldrich (Leonor de Guzman), Yijie Shi (Fernand), Ludovic Tézier (Alphonse XI, King of Castile), Giovanni Furlanetto (Balthazar), Marie-Benedicte Souquet (Ines), Alain Gabriel (Don Gaspar) & Dongjin Ahn (A lord). Choeur du Capitole de Toulouse & Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Antonello Allemandi (conductor) & Vincent Boussard (director)

[Clayton]

The postman came yesterday so this is now sitting in the tea cabinet in the to-watch-drawer

elements to your summary have just bumped it up the priority list

When I first watched this on YT I was so enchanted by the music and singing that I had to buy it when it came out. I am glad I did, especially for Yijie Shi (I like his voice more than JDF even if he is perhaps not technically as perfect) and Ludovic Tézier was pretty good too in his usual haddocky way...

(need to investigate haddocky)

[MAuer]

When I first watched this on YT I was so enchanted by the music and singing that I had to buy it when it came out. I am glad I did, especially for Yijie Shi (I like his voice more than JDF even if he is perhaps not technically as perfect) and Ludovic Tézier was pretty good too in his usual haddocky way. But this time I had enough attention left over to get severely p'd off by the incredible sexism of the plot - yes I know, autres temps, autres mœurs - but really this is too much. And Kate Aldrich's dress looks as though it was made for someone who has a radically different shape from her and perhaps even from every other human being on the planet.

At times, I really wonder what's up with some costume designers. Would it really kill them to come up with garment styles that are reasonably flattering to the singers who must wear them?

[JohnGerald]

When I first watched this on YT I was so enchanted by the music and singing that I had to buy it when it came out. I am glad I did, especially for Yijie Shi (I like his voice more than JDF even if he is perhaps not technically as perfect) and Ludovic Tézier was pretty good too in his usual haddocky way. But this time I had enough attention left over to get severely p'd off by the incredible sexism of the plot - yes I know, autres temps, autres mœurs - but really this is too much. And Kate Aldrich's dress looks as though it was made for someone who has a radically different shape from her and perhaps even from every other human being on the planet.

Donizetti: La Favorite
Kate Aldrich (Leonor de Guzman), Yijie Shi (Fernand), Ludovic Tézier (Alphonse XI, King of Castile), Giovanni Furlanetto (Balthazar), Marie-Benedicte Souquet (Ines), Alain Gabriel (Don Gaspar) & Dongjin Ahn (A lord). Choeur du Capitole de Toulouse & Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Antonello Allemandi (conductor) & Vincent Boussard (director)

I love this opera and this performance of it. Everything -- singing, chorus, conducting, picture and sound quality -- are simply first rate!

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

But this time I had enough attention left over to get severely p'd off by the incredible sexism of the plot - yes I know, autres temps, autres mœurs - but really this is too much...

I know what you mean. I loved this when I first heard it




but then when I found out the story I went off it totally. Never listened to it again and CD is languishing somewhere.

[JohnGerald]

I know what you mean. I loved this when I first heard it




but then when I found out the story I went off it totally. Never listened to it again and CD is languishing somewhere.

Hmmm. Maybe it's a "guy thing", but watching Kate Aldrich made me wonder if being "royal" isn't a better job than I had thought. A mistress like that ...?

[Soave_Fanciulla]

Hmmm. Maybe it's a "guy thing", but watching Kate Aldrich made me wonder if being "royal" isn't a better job than I had thought. A mistress like that ...?

It's pretty clear that's what's going through everyone's mind. Guys are either vilifying her for being the King's mistress (no one has a go at him for tricking her and seducing her, and insisting that she should still be his mistress when she doesn't want to be); or singing about how much they would like to sleep with her. Even at the end, it's not compassion that changes Fernando's mind, it's lust: he sings quite shamelessly that that he would like to "possess" her. And she just wanders around like a doormat meekly taking all the blame and basically singing variations on "oy weh".

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

Hmmm. Maybe it's a "guy thing", but watching Kate Aldrich made me wonder if being "royal" isn't a better job than I had thought. A mistress like that ...?

Yep, being royal can be kind of beneficial to one's sex life. Think for example the Topkapi Palace harem for the Ottoman sultans... hundreds, hundreds of concubines. If they all looked like Kate Aldrich, yeah, a guy could do much worse.

[Amfortas]

When I first watched this on YT I was so enchanted by the music and singing that I had to buy it when it came out. I am glad I did, especially for Yijie Shi (I like his voice more than JDF even if he is perhaps not technically as perfect) and Ludovic Tézier was pretty good too in his usual haddocky way. But this time I had enough attention left over to get severely p'd off by the incredible sexism of the plot - yes I know, autres temps, autres mœurs - but really this is too much.

I don't know the opera, and just now read a synopsis. It clearly presents a sexist society; does it convey a sexist message? Léonor seems to be the innocent victim of male machinations. One might wish her to have more backbone, but the real villains appear to be the manipulating men.

[Soave_Fanciulla]

I don't know the opera, and just now read a synopsis. It clearly presents a sexist society; does it convey a sexist message? Léonor seems to be the innocent victim of male machinations. One might wish her to have more backbone, but the real villains appear to be the manipulating men.

The men are not in any way as villains - or certainly not the king, Fernando or the priest. There is a lot of talk about glory, honour and religion. As far as Léonor is concerned, I think it's her own whole-hearted acceptance of the belief that she is "soiled goods" that gets my goat. She doesn't think that she is a victim, or put any responsibility on the men, she just takes all the blame and sees herself as unworthy. Nobody, but nobody, says "...hey, wait a minute...."

I'm saying here that it is my personal reaction to this story. I work with people from a couple of cultures where this belief is pretty much still alive and kicking so it's a bit close to the bone for me.

[JohnGerald]

The men are not in any way as villains - or certainly not the king, Fernando or the priest. There is a lot of talk about glory, honour and religion. As far as Léonor is concerned, I think it's her own whole-hearted acceptance of the belief that she is "soiled goods" that gets my goat. She doesn't think that she is a victim, or put any responsibility on the men, she just takes all the blame and sees herself as unworthy. Nobody, but nobody, says "...hey, wait a minute...."

I'm saying here that it is my personal reaction to this story. I work with a people from a couple of cultures where this belief is pretty much still alive and kicking so it's a bit close to the bone for me.

Thus my clumsy attempts at humor should cease, while I note that in 30 years as a lawyer, no child or woman in an abuse case ever got a bill. In my serious world, that stuff is my only "zero tolerance" area. Thus I am more than sorry if I pressed the wrong button, Ms. Natalie.

[Soave_Fanciulla]

Thus my clumsy attempts at humor should cease, while I note that in 30 years as a lawyer, no child or woman in an abuse case ever got a bill. In my serious world, that stuff is my only "zero tolerance" area. Thus I am more than sorry if I pressed the wrong button, Ms. Natalie.

Oh JohnG I was not referring to what you said - but simply to the opera itself. Honestly please don't stop having fun or cracking a few jokes! And good for you for your pro-bono work.