Seeing Peter Schikele's puss on a poster outside the Julliard, I though I might offer some mirth on this cold and dark November eve. (It helps that on WQXR today, the Japanese madame was whaling herself sharpless.)
for Thanksgiving we have "Madame Butterball" -- a well rounded soprano (think Jane Eaglen or larger) despairs as her beau, Lieutenant Sharpless renounces their marriage. She takes most of the last act to die, having mortally wounded herself with a carving knife.
"Ariadne Obnoxious" -- or "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Minataur"
"La Boheme, Part II, Mimi's Revenge" She didn't actually die in the last act, she was merely resting. Mimi regains her strength and becomes prima proto-agonistae of the 1871 Commune. She was lined up against a wall and shot:
"***** of the Regiment"
"Un-Fidelio" While Florestan is in prison, Lenore actually has an assignation with Don Pizzaro. Not to be outdone, Florestan marries his cell-mate and lives happily ever after in Oregon.
"Iphigenia in Estrus" Agammemnon actually figured out that it was a ritually impurity to sacrifice his daughter in this condition so an animal was substituted.
for Thanksgiving we have "Madame Butterball" -- a well rounded soprano (think Jane Eaglen or larger) despairs as her beau, Lieutenant Sharpless renounces their marriage. She takes most of the last act to die, having mortally wounded herself with a carving knife.
"Ariadne Obnoxious" -- or "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Minataur"
"La Boheme, Part II, Mimi's Revenge" She didn't actually die in the last act, she was merely resting. Mimi regains her strength and becomes prima proto-agonistae of the 1871 Commune. She was lined up against a wall and shot:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
"***** of the Regiment"
"Un-Fidelio" While Florestan is in prison, Lenore actually has an assignation with Don Pizzaro. Not to be outdone, Florestan marries his cell-mate and lives happily ever after in Oregon.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
"Iphigenia in Estrus" Agammemnon actually figured out that it was a ritually impurity to sacrifice his daughter in this condition so an animal was substituted.
More:
"Die MiesterStumpfer auf Nurnberg" -- in this version, the dozen cobblers, grocers, pewters, tinsmiths etc. are replaced by young milkmaids, seamstresses, and attending ladies of the court. Eve is, instead unshaven Evan, a sailor in the German Navy who has been on an ice-breaker in the North Sea for the past 3 months. The young ladies seek to endear themselves with their voices and other charms.
"An American Tragedy" -- nuf said, I haven't walked out of an opera at the Met in 20 years, but this one with Nathan Gold was absolutely dreadul - singing which would have embarrassed even Andrew Lloyd Weber.
"La Cenerentola does Dallas" Poor but honest young girl seeks her fortune on the streets of this Texas mega-polis as the "Renta Cenerentola".
"Die MiesterStumpfer auf Nurnberg" -- in this version, the dozen cobblers, grocers, pewters, tinsmiths etc. are replaced by young milkmaids, seamstresses, and attending ladies of the court. Eve is, instead unshaven Evan, a sailor in the German Navy who has been on an ice-breaker in the North Sea for the past 3 months. The young ladies seek to endear themselves with their voices and other charms.
"An American Tragedy" -- nuf said, I haven't walked out of an opera at the Met in 20 years, but this one with Nathan Gold was absolutely dreadul - singing which would have embarrassed even Andrew Lloyd Weber.
"La Cenerentola does Dallas" Poor but honest young girl seeks her fortune on the streets of this Texas mega-polis as the "Renta Cenerentola".
It is said at the premiere of la Traviata, where young Violetta lies in her bed dying of tubercolosis at the end, she was played by rather old, quite fat rosy-cheeked soprano. 
Actually, I think acting has got better nowadays, but unfortunately, I am afraid it has done so at the expense of the singing. Many of the fabolous singers of the past were very poor actors, but fantastic singers, and they could get by with it in those days. Of course, the really good singers could often act with the voice, even if they couldn't act with their body. And perhaps that is the most important part? When I listen to many of the old opera recordings, especiall Wagner, the acting with the voice and way of conducting the music is so theatrical, that it hardly ever gets that close to theater when seeing a live performance today. When you think of it, opera is such an impossibly demanding art form that it just can't work. There will always be severe compromises, and factors that aren't up to the level of other factors. And when, in those rare circumstances, they do find a cast where at least half of the lead singers are very good and the conductor is excellent, then, they will spoil it by the staging, by bringing in people from the theatre, with no understanding of music. No, it,s just to face it, opera is about trying to find those factors that are strong in a particular performance or recording, enjoy those factors and forget about the others.
As for plots, well many opera composers were constantly complaining themselves about the idiotic plots and lousy texts they were given. Once Puccini complained to Verdi about a text he had been given, and Verdi just said, I wish I had ever been given such a good text to set to music. But also there, there are exceptions, and there are operas with good plots and good texts, although sometimes you have too see through the surface of the text.
Actually, I think acting has got better nowadays, but unfortunately, I am afraid it has done so at the expense of the singing. Many of the fabolous singers of the past were very poor actors, but fantastic singers, and they could get by with it in those days. Of course, the really good singers could often act with the voice, even if they couldn't act with their body. And perhaps that is the most important part? When I listen to many of the old opera recordings, especiall Wagner, the acting with the voice and way of conducting the music is so theatrical, that it hardly ever gets that close to theater when seeing a live performance today. When you think of it, opera is such an impossibly demanding art form that it just can't work. There will always be severe compromises, and factors that aren't up to the level of other factors. And when, in those rare circumstances, they do find a cast where at least half of the lead singers are very good and the conductor is excellent, then, they will spoil it by the staging, by bringing in people from the theatre, with no understanding of music. No, it,s just to face it, opera is about trying to find those factors that are strong in a particular performance or recording, enjoy those factors and forget about the others.
As for plots, well many opera composers were constantly complaining themselves about the idiotic plots and lousy texts they were given. Once Puccini complained to Verdi about a text he had been given, and Verdi just said, I wish I had ever been given such a good text to set to music. But also there, there are exceptions, and there are operas with good plots and good texts, although sometimes you have too see through the surface of the text.
By the way, perhaps because opera is so close to impossible that there will always be things that don't quite fit in or doesn't make sense, the opera world itself has always been very good at joking about itself. Many are those singers, conductors and composers who were witty and quick to make sharp, humurous comments. Many of these are collected in the book "Opera Anecdotes" by Ethan Mordden, a book that is highly recommended. The copy I have is a hardcover from Oxford University press which I once bouth in New York, but I have later seen it as a pocket book here in Sweden, so it is probably not too difficult to get hold of.
SY said:
Well, I think there was an occasion when they by mistake used a real knife in Tosca, instead of one where the blade yields. I suppose that Scarpia did acatually bleed, but if it was a real singer, when I think about it, Scarpia doesn't really have many lines after he is stabbed anyway.
To get back closer to the original topic, does Jack or anybody else know anything about this poster? It appeared on the back of a Swedish opera magazine in 89 without any further comments. I have always assumed it was a joke, but I have never been sure. Maybe such a performance actually did take place as some kind of popular version of Wagner?
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Its a good joke.
FZ would never have directed with arnold in any role, arnold would only play wotan, who his david lee roth anyway, and linda ronstadt as brunhilde is a joke after all, and bary couldn't wield a sword were it made out of balsawood.
Plus - the amplification needed for those "voices" would bust the budget of any opera house...
FZ would never have directed with arnold in any role, arnold would only play wotan, who his david lee roth anyway, and linda ronstadt as brunhilde is a joke after all, and bary couldn't wield a sword were it made out of balsawood.
Plus - the amplification needed for those "voices" would bust the budget of any opera house...
Yes, I suppose it is part of the joke that even if such an event should have taken place, it would have been a very wrong casting. Ronstadt and Manilow seem about as far away as possible from the type of voices required for a real performance. Still, I wonder what's the origin of that poster. Maybe it was the swedish magazine that made it up themselves as a joke, but maybe it is more likely to be something that circulated around in the opera world at the time, and they just put it on the back cover when they didn't have enough ads?
I think the Queen of night is a very awkward role anyway: The light and flexible voices who can do "der hoelle rache ..." technically brilliant don't sound angry enough. Those who can sound powerful and angry (Tina Turner would fit in here nicely I think) aren't technically flexible enough...... 
One rock star who had at least some success with operatic repertoire was Roger Daltrey doing the "Beggars Opera".
Regards
Charles
One rock star who had at least some success with operatic repertoire was Roger Daltrey doing the "Beggars Opera".
Regards
Charles
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