Happy Birthday, G Rossini
- 12 November 2011
Labels: Opera, Robots, yootoob
06 April 2011
Opera Bis - Opera of Rennes
Eugene Onegin
Labels: Opera
*sits quietly in the virtual operahouse*
Labels: Opera
19 February 2011
Trees
I was idly wondering, "Has anyone ever written a BAD song about trees?" since the only ones I can think of are excellent (Ombra mai fu and Kalinka). I googled 'songs about trees' and the scales fell from my eyes with a rush... or actually Rush ('The Trees'), plus 'Tie a Yellow Ribbon Around the Old Oak Tree' plus 'The Pine Tree" and so on ad infinitum.
I don't blame the trees, though. It's just another example of how we humans appropriate perfectly noble and good things then gussy them up until they are meaningless. As well as being the only earthly species with a host of good qualities, we are alone in our ability to trivialise and churn out endless streams of crapola. Even applying labels like 'noble' and 'good' is a human concoction. We are odd ('odd' being a human invention).
/me* wanders off with a crooked expression of consternation on her face.*
* All preceding and following is mere human invention. I suppose there's no way to avoid being human.
Labels: ...Is Teh Debbil, music, Opera
18 February 2011
New operas are always worth looking at.
06 January 2011
Mudpie's streaming video had no sound :(
It was excellent.
Pour bien commencer l’année, une soirée de découverte de ce grand classique incontournable en chant, musique et piano, avec les commentaires d’Alain Surrans. Le spectacle est ouvert dans les deux mondes virtuels Second life(tm) et francogrid en direct de la représentation donnée à l’Opéra de Rennes jeudi 6 janvier à 20h00 heure française, 11 am SL Time.
Labels: Opera
06 November 2010
A Tale of Two Ritas
or
Two Husbands, One Wife, Two Grids, One Production, Two Friends, Three Avatars
I reserved a spot to see the Opera de Rennes production of Donizetti's Rita, which their virtual-world division - operabis - was streaming live into both Second Life and their own Francogrid. Because I was sent a group invitation that didn't "take" and assumed the sim would be closed I decided to go ahead of time to Francogrid as a reserve. It turned out the organisers hadn't understood the times correctly (their clocks turned back a week ago) so I had an hour to fiddle around - which was fine as Enjah turned up and said the SL event was sold out. We spent ages trying to get her into Francogrid on Imprudence, but failing for unknown reasons, then at the last minute - five minutes before the curtain FELL, she decided to try SL, mapped me, and teleported to the theatre. The sim was open! What a race!
The production was wonderful - voices and staging equally impressive. I'm not a Donizetti fan by any stretch, but I'd love to see this in real or just a better video, as the chunky stream allowed only the broadest staging to be seen. I hope they do more productions in VR!
I was probably the only person on both grids, and I was interested to see the crowds were similar sizes. Peak SL that I saw was 31, Francogrid was 29. I may've missed peaks, but those were what I saw. The theatres were the same; SL event had drinks in the atrium. On Francogrid I saw flo and Pathfinder from SL.
In Second Life
Enjah managed to get there just before the curtain fell.
On Francogrid
I'm in the front row, on the left side of the picture. I was originally worried Imprudence wouldn't stream the sound well, and it did cut in and out and was low so I tried SL and that's when I received the landmark and went to that theatre. I'm sure I blew my puter's tiny mind as the sound started coming from my speakers instead of headphones. SL V2 sound was reliable. I had NO crashes on either client, despite my abuses.Labels: Opera
26 October 2010
Dakota Tebaldi over on SCmkII made this observation:
"I'm not against cremation itself, of course...it's a very simple and effective and respectful way of dealing with death. I want my final arrangements to be very simple, so I'll certainly be cremated.
That is, everything except for my skull. Which will serve as an urn for my ashes and, bronzed, be placed in the outstretched hand of an Italian marble statue of myself in my prime, holding a striking, determined pose. This statue will be mounted on a short circular pedestal of Corinthian style, not more than 2 meters tall and 2 in circumference, which will itself surmount a hexagonal polished granite base of 2.5 meters in height and of sufficient area to hold the pedestal above. On each side of the base, vital statistics about myself are to be carved in one of six languages (English, German, Mandarin Chinese, Cyrillic, Greek, and Latin) in a monumental Romanesque font, no more than a half-an-inch deep, and inlaid with gold filigree. The whole shall occupy the center of a massive marbled rotunda, paved with slate tiles painted in a subdued smoke-and-charcoal checkerboard fashion throughout, save for the periphery where the floor meets the wall, where a round slate border shall feature quotes from notable persons, most prominently me. The quotes shall be of a tasteful contrasting color so as to be as visibly striking as possible. Leading off from the central rotunda toward the east will be a short corridor that opens into a small gallery that features art, literature, and other works of cultural significance produced during my maturity, housed in climate-controlled glass cases, properly captioned and lit. The overall decor of the room shall of course be dark and sparse, so as to draw as much attention as possible to my achievements, which are the focus of this chamber. Leading north from this room, a corridor will arc around the outside of the main rotunda, leading to another chamber due north of but unconnected with the rotunda itself. This room is to be dedicated to my childhood; featuring a tasteful statue of myself at approximately ten years of age flanked by artifacts of my youth, including early school report cards and A+ assignments, crayon artworks, love notes to and from various girls in my classes, a screenshot of the time my initials were ranked first on the Gauntlet II arcade game at the MWR center, and other such arcana. In addition, articles and artifacts emphasizing the integral military aspect of that period of my life will line the walls. This room is to be decorated in light earth tones and cool colors, and unlike the previous chamber there will be large windows permitting sunlight to pour into this room. To the west, another corridor will curve south around the rotunda to a fourth and final room; this chamber, a relatively simple affair, will feature merely a detailed biography, inscribed on the walls in English, Spanish, French, German, Arabic (ancient and modern), Russian, Turkish, Greek, Latin, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Burmese, Sanskrit, Afrikaans, Swahili, Middle Egyptian hieroglyphs, and Cuneiform. A short rough stone monument in the center of the chamber will carry my epitaph, which will read "The World Was Not Ready" in English, in a simple serif font. A short corridor to the east will connect this room with the central rotunda. Entrance and egress to and from the shrine will be made by means of a portal to the south.
The shrine is to be placed in a circular clearing of some 500 feet in radius, itself at the center of a tract of virgin forest no smaller than 100 acres square, supplied with a self-sufficient power source and connected by a meticulously-kept gravel road to the outside world. A trust, established in my name, will be tasked with the sole responsibility of maintaining the mausoleum and grounds, providing physical security, and operating the gift shop at which devoted visitors may purchase Cody memorabilia at reasonable prices."
Labels: Opera
15 August 2010
All Roads Lead to Rome
An example of my internet surfing, which often leads down the same street:
I watched Molly's "Beat It" link...
which reminded me I like the Red Army Choir so I watched several old and newish videos ending with "Kalinka"...
which reminded me I like listening to Ombra mai fu, so I listened to a few versions, ending with Enrico Caruso, which I played 768787959568 times because it's so good.
/me goes back and plays it 56654 times. Opera is better than everything else.
Labels: Opera
11 June 2010
Some brilliant Escamillos:
and
Russian Red Army Choir - Toreador
and Crazy Music :-D Great dancing at the end
Labels: Opera
16 May 2010
A few versions of Ombra mai fu, from countertenor to baritone.
It bothers me that he needs a shave.
I love this set.
The comments always crack me up:
Question: can someone tell me? why are there so many versions of this thing on utube?
Response: A) Because it's fruckin' beautiful and B) Almost anybody with even a half-assed ability to sing can sound good with it
04 May 2010
Nessun Dorma
I have a soft spot for Mario del Monaco, although he took heat (justifiably) for lack of vocal modulation. I think my first opera lp was an old del Monaco Pagliacci from a garage sale. This is a fabulous Nessun Dorma.
I really didn't know Nessun Dorma has been interpreted by so many diverse artists, from Aretha Franklin to Jeff Beck, but it makes sense as it's a powerful and haunting composition. Wily dude, that Puccini.
31 January 2010
What's the name of that very short experimental operatic piece that runs forward, then is performed backwards? I saw it in Vancouver at the UBC in a really fine student production directed by the unforgettably-named French Tickner.
I vaguely remember a 1930s era, Middle European drawing room and... I think a murder. But I saw it once, thirty years ago, so who knows. Anyway, it was awesome.
Labels: Opera
19 January 2010
Sing Faster
I hate it when I play something on Netflix then immediatelyt see it on YouTube, so this time I looked first, and found Sing Faster there. The picture quality is bad, so it's worth watching elsewhere, but the documentary itself is very good. Its full title is Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle and as you might expect it's the stagehands-eye view of The Ring Cycle. The production is gorgeous, and the unusual viewpoint most interesting.
Labels: Netflix, Opera, yootoob
20 December 2009
My fave:
He's not just a fabulous singer, he's a nice man, too.
Labels: Opera
15 December 2009
From The Guardian:
"The British production house Future Films has announced it is about to start work on Callas, a feature film with a screenplay based on the best-selling Callas biography So Proud, So Fragile, by the Italian author Alfonso Signorini. A-list stars Anne Hathaway and Penélope Cruz are rumoured to be in talks about taking the lead role in a joint British and Italian venture that will focus on the singer's tempestuous relationship with the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. The screenplay has been written by Niall Johnson, who wrote the 2005 Rowan Atkinson comedy Keeping Mum, and it has been delivered to the film-makers in the past few days."
One of the few mezzo roles that has star quality: Carmen.
Here's a clip from the movie* I mentioned:
* From Comments: There was a great movie made of Carmen years ago - wonderful cast - Julia Migenes-Johnson, another soprano but singing way out of her range, my heartthrob Ruggiero Raimondi, and Placido Domingo. That movie sticks with one.
And here's another movie version with Grace Bumbry, a real mezzo:
Labels: Opera
28 October 2009
Enj is off at L'Elisir d'Amore
Labels: Opera