"Today is dedicated to Uranus"
You know that Vivaldi opera everyone's been talking about? (Yeah, La Cieca realizes that sentence looks absurd, but read on.) Anyway, here's the already infamous nude scene for tenor Zachary Stains from the opera Ercole sul Termodonte
, or, as it is more generally known in this country, "Hercules versus the Dental Hygienist." (NSFW, obviously, since Mr. Stains' "original instrument" is clearly visible.)
, or, as it is more generally known in this country, "Hercules versus the Dental Hygienist." (NSFW, obviously, since Mr. Stains' "original instrument" is clearly visible.)Labels: great homosexuals of history, hunkentenor, youtube
POSTED at
12:45 PM
17 Comments:
the subtitles are seriously blocking my view
Now, THAT is opera. Well, what I call opera!
I went to college with Zac Stains in Cincinnati. Beautiful man, beautiful voice ... and such a nice guy! Heads would turn as he walked into Song Lit. class. I always wanted to see more....now I have!
I went to college with Zac Stains in Cincinnati. Beautiful man, beautiful voice ... and such a nice guy! Heads would turn as he walked into Song Lit. class. I always wanted to see more....now I have!
I went to college with Zac Stains in Cincinnati. Beautiful man, beautiful voice ... and such a nice guy! Heads would turn as he walked into Song Lit. class. I always wanted to see more....now I have!
I wonder if that was a staging plan in place BEFORE they cast the opera or if it was something they decided along the way... I mean, I would love to know if this was something they talked to people they were interested in casting, like "We'd like you to sing this role with us, but we wonder how you feel about full-frontal nudity while singing coloratura"... Or, like, did he arrive and then asked when his costume fitting was and they said "Unnecessary for this production" !! What an interesting story - wait - where is this production? I am totally ignorant as to where this is taking place. Please illuminate.
Regarding the lionskin, Gramophone said "that is was surely better employed when it was on the lion". And sorry, cannot resist. What is the difference between Captan Kirk and toilet paper? Both are looking for Klingons on Uranus.
Why did Captain Kirk pee on the ceiling?
He wanted to Go where no man had Gone before.
So many puns to be made here but ...
That took BALLS to do that aria like that. And I mean that, pun intended. That took real guts for that guy to agree to that knowing what he'd be "in for" so to speak.
So much for short, fat tenors. Literally. In every way.
Hunks in opera is starting to be an epidemic. You can see better looking and fitter singers on stage than actors in Hollywood!
Long live Mr. Stain's original instrument!
Well, he puts the "ball" in caballetta, doesn't he? You can get a couple of hours of Zach in nothing but his aria on DVD for on $33.99:
http://www.amazon.com/Vivaldi-Ercole-Termodonte-Zachary-Stains/dp/B000RGSW7U
As admirable as his original instrument appears, I wouldn't mind it if his vocal one were a size to match. The countertenor was louder! And the rough and breathy coloratura - well, perhaps that also applies to the original.
Oh well, I guess we should just appreciate what's presented to us.
RE the location: the youtube clip says Spoleto.
I wonder if the other men were wearing any thing more under their uniforms than they dressed Stains in...
OK. I cannot resist.
Perhaps with all of those hunky men onstage they put Mr. Stains in nothing but his birthday suit because they feared the "stains" that might be noticed?
Since Padre Tony V worked in Venice, a Eurotrash production of this production should have Aschenbach somewhere on stage getting hot, and V's all-girl orchestra in there reacting demurely while Herc is in all his glory.
I believe that the nuns were so worried about the girls in Padre V's time, that orchestra, and soloists performed behind a grille, which rendered the features of the girls somewhat blurred. I think this should have been done with Richard Tucker circa 1970 (coloratura if not schmekele would have hung together better).
I suddenly have a picture in my mind of Richard Tucker naked onstage singing Hercules--but the Governator of California already did Hercules in New York, costarring with Arnold Stang.
I received this DVD as a birthday gift (my friends know my tastes so well). It's actually pretty good.
In a DVD extra interview, the director explains that since most classical statues of Hercules are nude (not counting the lionskin), they went for it.
I just bought the dvd. And...erm...every ancient Greek I've seen in art was as the creator made him. Perhaps this Hercules is part Jewish? Teehee.
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