Voices of Springfield
Placido Domingo stars as “himself” in what looks to be a steamy episode of The Simpsons this Sunday, September 30 on Fox. It seems Homer Simpson is tranformed into a tenor after he suffers a freak head injury (in other words, he’s no different from most tenors) and seeks the advice of maestro Domingo. Not about singing, mind you; rather, how to fend of unwanted groupies.
In honor of Domingo‘s debut in one of the few media he has not long since mastered, La Cieca presents an Unnatural Acts of Opera podcast featuring one of the tenor’s most spectacular live performances, Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana from Munich in 1978. Opposite Domingo is the Santuzza of Leonie Rysanek, with none other than Astrid Varnay sinking her teeth into the role of Mamma Lucia.
I was thoroughly disappointed in this Simpson’s production. It appears that Maestro Domingo has been spending too much time at the after show dinner parties as his weight seems to have ballooned to an undesireable level. It was also obvious that Mr. Simpson was lip synching his performance. Perhaps his finer days on the stage are behind him. The dramatic reading was sloppy and irrelevant. The sets were cheap in appearance and had little to do with the story at hand-true Eurotrash. One couldn’t help but long for the day of the great celluloid opera stars, Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny.
Is that YOU, Placido??????
Classic line:
Homer: I’m retiring from opera. It’s just too popular!
And episode. Homer as the sobbing Rodolfo was hilarious.
Brightshdaow…
last I heard, Renee Fleming was going to sing Lucrezia in Washington next season.
I heard this from Barbara Quintiliani, who is contracted to be her cover…
How was Homer supposed to do Act 3: flat on his back in the snow at the gate of Paris? Or before that, out on the streets at the cafe?
I liked the episode and I appreciate La Cieca posting it on Unnatural Acts of Video for those of us who missed it.
Most pop culture shows, if they refer to opera, usually mock the art form. That episode was actually a nice tribute. They used actual music from La boheme and the Marcello even looked like he was modeled after Richard Stillwell in the Met video. I also like the use of Don Giovanni in the soundtrack during the climactic scenes. And Domingo was great.
I also enjoyed the Cav podcast very much. Leonie is in excellent voice for this performance. Her usual vocal problems are kept at bay. It’s a very exciting performance.
I loved this broadcast. Did anyone recognize Ruth Falcon as the Lola? What’s the range on that character: It’s a Mezzo role, but I have recordings of two sopranos singing it now, ms. Falcon and Faith Esham (another Domingo performance I highly recomend, this time with Troyanos as his Santuzza.)
I, too, loved the Cavalleria, but I do have one question. Who–or perhaps more trenchantly, why–is that baritone singing (loosely used here) Alfio?