any recs for opera on dvd? i feel an obsession coming on
― badtz-maruizm (donna rouge), Thursday, 16 June 2011 17:33 (twelve years ago) link
Bergman's version of the Magic Flute is the best opera movie I have seen. It's done in that style like The Boyfriend or Olivier's Henry V where it is set in a theatre with an audience etc and the action apparently takes place onstage. Lots of cool and traditional theatrical effects are employed and some of the songs are performed as close-ups on the singers faces which works really well. The Magic Flute is one of the most enjoyable operas and this is a stylish and fun movie.
― everything, Thursday, 16 June 2011 19:16 (twelve years ago) link
I don't know if it's going to be released on DVD but PBS recently broadcast the Met production of "Nixon In China" from this past February and it is fucking great.
I need to go back and see which Mahagonny DVD is the one I picked up; I know it's a German production and in the whore scene they wheel out a table with naked women on it.
― chupacabra - a delicious burrito (DJP), Thursday, 16 June 2011 19:23 (twelve years ago) link
Another one that I like, though it is stictly speaking an operetta, is a version of Ruddigore from the 80s with Vincent Price as Sir Despard. This is not a stylish movie and the whole thing is laughably cheap. Kinda feels like one of those productions that was made just so there is a filmed version of the opera to put in libraries around the world. However the performances are wicked, especially the woman playing Mad Margaret who is a riot. This whole thing is on youtube.
― everything, Thursday, 16 June 2011 19:23 (twelve years ago) link
does the met typically release all of its productions on dvd or just some of them? i missed the new production of 'rheingold'
― badtz-maruizm (donna rouge), Thursday, 16 June 2011 19:38 (twelve years ago) link
Ruddigore appeared in crossword the other day, did not know of its existence until them. Don't know Nixon In China but did enjoy Dr. Atomic so would check it out.
― James & Bobby Quantify (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 16 June 2011 19:42 (twelve years ago) link
I have a strong bias towards NiC because it was my first professional opera chorus gig but it really is a great, great piece of work, plus the dude who was the original Nixon was in it.
― chupacabra - a delicious burrito (DJP), Thursday, 16 June 2011 19:48 (twelve years ago) link
wow, you'd think after 15+ years the corpse would be a little smelly
― badtz-maruizm (donna rouge), Thursday, 16 June 2011 19:52 (twelve years ago) link
(sorry)
― badtz-maruizm (donna rouge), Thursday, 16 June 2011 19:53 (twelve years ago) link
You got to sing with Rich Little? That's your most impressive collabo yet!
― James & Bobby Quantify (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 16 June 2011 19:53 (twelve years ago) link
haha
there is one stretch where dude (James Maddalena, btw) SERIOUSLY falls out of voice, which is understandable considering it happened after his 10-minute aria but aside from that it was great; I have the biggest artistic crush on the concept/performance of Mao's secretaries
― chupacabra - a delicious burrito (DJP), Thursday, 16 June 2011 19:55 (twelve years ago) link
also the writing for Madame Mao is vituperative coleratura soprano with something like 12 high Cs in the aria, it's fucking nuts
click here to hear Kathleen Kim tear this song UP in the Met production; didn't direct link in case anyone wanted to be all "NO SPOILERS" about it
― chupacabra - a delicious burrito (DJP), Thursday, 16 June 2011 20:01 (twelve years ago) link
Will click on that later, thanks. Saw Kathleen Kim play the doll in the Tales of Hoffmann and that was pretty great.
― James & Bobby Quantify (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 16 June 2011 20:11 (twelve years ago) link
Search: Les Arts Florissants for baroque opera, partic. Rameau's Les Indes Galantes
― corey, Friday, 17 June 2011 02:07 (twelve years ago) link
omg, okay, i'm like ready to DIVE IN. i've been listening to Cosi fan tutte and Die Zauberflotte and a few other things, i know some Verdi and i'm pretty well-versed in most contemporary stuff. all i want to do is listen to opera and metalcore right now, it's really weird.
― bitch u ain't british (the table is the table), Wednesday, 22 June 2011 00:34 (twelve years ago) link
I've got Das Rheingold queued up for this weekend.
― corey, Wednesday, 22 June 2011 00:35 (twelve years ago) link
and seriously listen to Berg's Wozzeck. It plays out a lot like an Expressionist film from the 20s or 30s set in music.
― corey, Wednesday, 22 June 2011 00:38 (twelve years ago) link
oooh ok on the list. merci beaucoup, mon ami
― bitch u ain't british (the table is the table), Wednesday, 22 June 2011 00:41 (twelve years ago) link
Just listened to Das Rheingold (Levine, Met Opera) all the way through, reading along in the libretto — found it a lot easier going than I thought and not at all tedious. The instrumental segues give it a feeling of seamlessness and the story is fun — I imagined a sort of JRPG setting, probably influenced by playing the Golden Sun games over the past few weeks. Moar Wagner!
― corey, Saturday, 25 June 2011 02:26 (twelve years ago) link
the met's 11-12 season is coming up! i'll be going to some (probably not all) of the live in HD perfs out here - really looking forward to the wagners, the verdis, gounod's faust, and the baroque fantasia:
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/liveinhd/LiveinHD.aspx
― the *facepalm* at the trend of the hivemind (donna rouge), Monday, 19 September 2011 22:41 (twelve years ago) link
^^hah, how ambitious of me - i only went to one of those screenings :(
gonna make a more concerted effort this year tho - v excited for donizetti's 'l'elisir d'amore' because NETREBKO - but waking up early on saturdays for the opera is tough esp. if i have no one to go with
― these wilburys taste like wilburys (donna rouge), Tuesday, 2 October 2012 16:38 (eleven years ago) link
man I would wake up very, very early to go see netrebko do l'elisir d'amore
― too many encores (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Friday, 28 December 2012 19:19 (eleven years ago) link
had to pass up free tix to Les Troyens at the Met last week because mother-in-law was about to arrive >:[
― ~farben~ (Jon Lewis), Friday, 28 December 2012 19:45 (eleven years ago) link
~farben~
i assume this is a schoenberg ref, if so <3
― nevaeh for evaeh (clouds), Friday, 28 December 2012 20:18 (eleven years ago) link
― ~farben~ (Jon Lewis), Friday, 28 December 2012 15:45 (33 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
the dawn of a new genre of super high-brow mother-in law jokes
― kristof-profiting-from-a-childs-illiteracy.html (schlump), Friday, 28 December 2012 20:33 (eleven years ago) link
xpost yes, yes it is
― ~farben~ (Jon Lewis), Friday, 28 December 2012 20:43 (eleven years ago) link
i did this and it ruled
― curly moe shempsen (donna rouge), Friday, 28 December 2012 20:48 (eleven years ago) link
since then i've gone to one other screening, mozart's 'la clemenza di tito'. wasn't crazy about the lead tenor but i enjoyed the production otherwise, beautiful set design and loved the villainess
― curly moe shempsen (donna rouge), Friday, 28 December 2012 20:50 (eleven years ago) link
Oh I wanted to see that, compare it to the production I did
― GIMME SOME REGGAE (DJP), Friday, 28 December 2012 21:28 (eleven years ago) link
some of those arias were doozies!
― curly moe shempsen (donna rouge), Friday, 28 December 2012 21:36 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah they are, that tenor aria in the second act is like woah but I think that Sesto aria is the most ridiculous thing in the whole show
― GIMME SOME REGGAE (DJP), Friday, 28 December 2012 21:41 (eleven years ago) link
i was listening to this opera trivia thing this morning and there was this quote they had "my dear, i've found that in real life there is little to be excited about, outside of books"
anyone know where this is from? google is being worthless
― k3vin k., Tuesday, 9 April 2013 03:12 (eleven years ago) link
quote may not be exact but it is close
― k3vin k., Tuesday, 9 April 2013 03:13 (eleven years ago) link
(it's eugene onegin)
― k3vin k., Wednesday, 10 April 2013 21:36 (eleven years ago) link
which i believe is kicking off the met's 2013-14 season, and which will have netrebko and mariusz kwiecien in it, and which means i'm just gonna go ahead and die
― the bagel is the bagel (donna rouge), Wednesday, 10 April 2013 21:38 (eleven years ago) link
Just sent in my ticket order
― What About The Half That's Never Been POLLed (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 10 April 2013 21:47 (eleven years ago) link
Please take this parody in the loving spirit in which it was presumably intendedhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OW7GoIl0T8
― Blue Yodel No. 9 Dream (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 5 May 2013 16:00 (eleven years ago) link
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/10/women-gays-and-classical-music.html
― k3vin k., Monday, 7 October 2013 18:36 (ten years ago) link
Sondra Radvanovsky = Norma
― Blecch Dreieinigkeitsmoses (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 3 November 2013 01:02 (ten years ago) link
Although I should revisit these other performances: http://operalively.com/forums/showthread.php/33-Norma-Caball%C3%A9-Callas-or-Sutherland
― Blecch Dreieinigkeitsmoses (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 3 November 2013 01:34 (ten years ago) link
Went to see Tosca on Friday night. I believe people don't like the current production so there were some empty seats but the singing was fine. I saw it with Portuguese soprano Elisabete Matos filling on but Sondra will be singing it again on Monday night which you can listen to here http://www.metoperafamily.org/stream.aspx , and again for the Saturday matinee which will also be broadcast.
― The Glam Of That All The Way From Memphis Man! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 23 December 2013 01:32 (ten years ago) link
You could also have seen her TV last night doing the Kennedy Center Honors.
― Can One Hear the Shape of a Ron Decline Bottle? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 30 December 2013 18:48 (ten years ago) link
Best wishes and warm thoughts to Dmitry Hvorostovsky.
― Bon Iver Meets G.I. Joe (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 5 September 2015 18:03 (eight years ago) link
Hvorostovsky seems to be doing fine. Well-received concert at Carnegie Hall this week and scheduled for Eugene Onegin at the Met next year.
The 2016/17 Met schedule looks solid:
https://www.metopera.org/Season/2016-17-Season/
Opolais is always a good Rusalka and it would be great to have an opportunity to see the Domingo / Monastyrska Nabucco as an HD Live show if I can't get a ticket for Covent Garden this summer.
― On a Raqqa tip (ShariVari), Tuesday, 23 February 2016 22:35 (eight years ago) link
Ooh I would see l'amour de loin
― scarcity festival (Jon not Jon), Tuesday, 23 February 2016 22:48 (eight years ago) link
I'm already saving the date for the HD Live production of Rusalka, one of the few operas I bought as a teenager. I always forget that these HD Live shows happen, such an easy way to get exposed to more opera.
― Tom Violence, Tuesday, 23 February 2016 23:31 (eight years ago) link
I saw Handel's Orlando at the Barbican last night and the review is pretty much otm.
http://www.theartsdesk.com/opera/orlando-english-concert-bicket-barbican
It's the first time i've seen Iestyn Davies live and he really is excellent. I'd love to see him in something more conventionally dramatic.
― On a Raqqa tip (ShariVari), Wednesday, 2 March 2016 12:26 (eight years ago) link
This might be good:
https://www.metopera.org/Season/2015-16-Season/manon-lescaut-puccini-tickets/ Jonathan Kent's ROH staging from 2014 was pretty crass for the most part but Opolais is a wonderful Manon and it would be interesting to see her in a trad version.
― On a Raqqa tip (ShariVari), Saturday, 5 March 2016 14:43 (eight years ago) link
Manon Lescaut is playing in HD at movie theaters this afternoon shortly before 1, so if you want to check it out but don't want to shell out for Met tix yet, maybe look up which theaters near you are showing it? I'm gonna go to my local Cinemagic and watch it, seems like a good use of a free afternoon.
― Tom Violence, Saturday, 5 March 2016 16:37 (eight years ago) link