Reply With QuoteWell I only wear a ruff when I'm going down to the working man's club for a pint of ale and a game of pool or darts.Originally Posted by Amfortas
Really? Which one?
I now know one of them is supposed to be a young man.
Well I only wear a ruff when I'm going down to the working man's club for a pint of ale and a game of pool or darts.
Can't read Italian, so I have no idea what the title means.
"Music is enought for a whole lifetime--but a lifetime is not enough for music." --Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff
It is the "Capulets and the Montagues" which are two rival political households from Italian history. The story is famously adapted by Shakespeare for a play as the story "Romeo and Juliet".
I think it is a wonderful opera with some beautiful songs composed for both Romeo (sung by a mezzo "in travesti" or a woman in a male role) and Juliet and the rival lover Tebaldi, sung by a tenor.
This is a very good production lead by Fabio Luisi who is a specialist in this type of opera and Netrebko and Garanca who sung the lead roles are very impressive.
If you are interested in hearing this opera, this is a recording that I would recommend.
I will always be imagining it as a lesbian love story now! It would make a brilliant (and probably also the first) opera with an LGBT theme and perhaps a bit more depth to the story with the introduction of new perspectives on marriage and relationships.
I have decided I will compose a gay or lesbian opera now. Will anyone volunteer a story and libretto?
If you would seek salvation, remember this:
a life in Hell can still aspire to BLISS.
Geez, you guys have been busy while I was gone! I missed all kinds of excitement. I didn't do any listening at all because of running around a lot, but did end up suffering thru some 5 hours of insipid pop music on the radio in my friends car on the drive back to New Jersey this afternoon.
Good friend but hopeless, hopeless philistine.
Presumably the one in back is the man's role. It just doesn't work for me. Would think the stage director would want the one playing a man to look more like a man. They manage to do it in Fidelio. Ah well, there are a lot of operas and productions of them out there to choose from. This particular opera is not one I am interested in anyway.
"Music is enought for a whole lifetime--but a lifetime is not enough for music." --Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff
This is a CD recording of a staged performance in Vienna. Reviews of the live show say that Elina was convincing as Romeo, so, maybe she looked a bit more masculine on stage. The cover artist for the CD may have preferred to show her in all of her feminine beauty (which is considerable... trust me, I've met her in person) because her beauty helps with selling the product. By the way, this is a very good opera, so you might want to revisit your lack of interest; it's rewarding.
"J'ai dit qu'il ne suffisait pas d'entendre la musique, mais qu'il fallait encore la voir" (Stravinsky)
Honestly no hate on my part, there are no opera singers I hate (although I might lose respect at capricious or lazy behaviour). I recognise Sutherland's singing abilities and admire her down-to-earth hardworking persona. I just avoid listening to her, and I have tried quite a few times.
Natalie
Vivaldi: Il Farnace, RV711
Mary-Ellen Nesi (Farnace), Delphine Galou (Berenice), Sonia Prina (Tamiri), Loriana Castellano (Selinda), Emanuele D’Aguanno (Pompeo), Roberta Mameli (Gilade), Magnus Staveland (Aquilio), Giulia Nuti (Harpsichord), Simone Vallerotonda (Tiorba e chitarra barocca) & Michele Tazzari (Bass continuos)
Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Federico Maria Sardelli (conductor)
2013
I will be offline for a little while now
but I will be
I'm assuming you're familiar with Wuorinen's Brokeback Mountain.
Oops -- just saw your previous post. Disregard.
Last edited by MAuer; August 24th, 2015 at 12:41 PM.
I never thought I'd ever be doing this, but I feel compelled to listen to a number of Verdi operas to become more familiar with them for the Verdi game....
If you would seek salvation, remember this:
a life in Hell can still aspire to BLISS.
I've been watching Charpentier's David et Jonathas recently. Your discussion about the The Montagues and Capulets and the lesbian story got me thinking about David and Jonathas' story. In this modern adaptation the two eponymous characters kiss quite a bit (though young Jonathas is played by a woman). Do you think this story could be about gay men?
It certainly could. Some of the passages of David and Jonathan's story from the books of Samuel in the Old Testament are already quite suggestive to the contemporary eye — at least in most current translations, fidelity to the original may vary tremendously — and that's probably where the stage director started from.
Last edited by Festat; August 24th, 2015 at 04:48 PM.
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