Flawless?
When she first saw this photo, La Cieca thought, well, it's about time we saw an all-bear production of The Lisbon Traviata. But, in point of fact, that delightful Terrance McNally play is not what this picture depicts.
So La Cieca puts it to you, cher public What is this opera?
So La Cieca puts it to you, cher public What is this opera?
POSTED at
1:58 PM
80 Comments:
Bears in the mist, the sequel?
Might that be Jano in the first act of Jenufa showing Steva that Jenufa has taught him to read? I must say it's an odd choice for Ms. Zajick's first outing en travesti.
I'm tired of guessing Fidelio, and I can't imagine which scene this would be.
Which means, of course, that it must be Fidelio.
The Rake's Progress?
I've actually seen this production, so I'll have to bite my tongue...
I want to say 'Der Fette aus Dingsda' but that doesn't seem right.
I'll say 'Tosca' instead.
Makropoulos Case, an opera about an opera singer?
Guillaume Tell. There´s an apple.
Flamand and Olivier in Capriccio. Only this production ends like Y tu mamá tambien.
I'm guessing Tannhäuser.
Otello, second act. Otello and Iago.
How about Faust. Or, let's just go for the gold and say, oh I don't know, hansel and gretel.
Of cour it is Juleo and Romiette
Of course it is Juleo et Rumiette
My first thoughts are Capriccio and Pagliacci. Or possibly a Tosca.
Which means it must be Suor Angelica or Dialogues of the Carmelites. Or possibly La Voix Humaine.
http://cultureonthecheap.wordpress.com
My first thought was Pagliacci but Otello sounds good too.
Hmm, he's looking at an opera magazine with his own picture on the cover. And there is a congratulatory bouquet on the table. So how many operas do I know of involving a male opera singer/impresario/producer? Um, none? Or maybe Capriccio?
That said, I'll guess Gotterdammerung, with Hagen and Alberich.
Ooh, did anyone else notice the little statue of the Virgin Mary on the table behind the flowers? What could that mean?
A Peter Sellars production of "Meistersinger."
I want this to be Scarpia with one of his hencemen, but I guess it has to be "Capriccio."
Frank and Frosch from the act III melodrama of Fledermaus.
"Flawless..." Is it "Capriccio" staged by Stephen Lawless?
Could be Wozzeck, or perhaps Lulu?
Le Nozze di Andrew Sullivan.
Could this possibly be the Tenor and the Music Master in Ariadne auf Naxos?
Oh, MP, way to steal my guess!
Tales of Hoffman
Hah, I actually know this one, so I won't spill the beans. But no one's guessed correctly so far. Here's a hint--the production has at least as much to do with the soprano being a diva as the tenor being a divo.
Kiss Me Kate
Well Cameron already stole my usual guess ... so I'll have to say Hoffman. (The special Undine issue of Opera Monthly there gives it away.)
Cieca -- you don't honestly think Lisbon Traviata is delightful, do you? The second act stinks and it's too long. So he rewrote it -- it's now longer. And worse. Hopeless.
Monteverdi's or Haydn's Orfeo?
Orpheus in the underworld?
Hugo Weisgall's THE TENOR?
Returning to the apple: Not "Guillaume Tell", but a scenic version of Galuppi´s "La Caduta d´Adamo", a pantomime before the overture.
Can this be Der Schauspieldirektor in one of its innumerable updatings?
If not that, then perhaps another Trovatore, where the Troubador is a divo and as he is informed about his mother's impending execution, he really couldn't care less. At least not until he's finished reading.
""Flawless..." Is it "Capriccio" staged by Stephen Lawless?"
It's an operatic version of My Left Foot? Or the Philip Seymour Hoffman/Robert DeNiro flick Flawless...
Wait a sec....Philip Seymour Hoffman....Tales of Hoffmann? Lindorf pictured waiting for La Stella?
It's like breaking the DaVinci Code!
http://cultureonthecheap.wordpress.com
why is the BlindOne so fascinated with bears???? is she dating andy (yuck) sullivan?
It's GOT to be Ariadne. Right?
I'm going with Baritenor Definetly Ariadne
Brett gave a wonderful hint - so I concur with Baritenor and Primadon1. It has to be Ariadne Obnoxious - I mean auf Naxos. (I actually adore the opera but can't resist cute names)
Andrew (non-yuck) Sullivan is happily married (cf. Le Nozze di Andrew Sullivan, above). And our dear Cieca, good Italian Catholic that she is, would never violate the marriage covenant.
It's gotta be Ariadne. If not, then I'm going to guess that it's Hagen and Gunther from the first act of GD. Gunther has just asked Hagen about his reputation up and down the river (hence the magazine?).
Oh, DirkVA--
you change change your name to DorkVA
can they be Tannhauser and Wolfram? There's that statue of Mary....
A Tannhauser where the Venusburg was the Castro District....
http://cultureonthecheap.wordpress.com
so is anyone going to post the answer? or must we wait for divine intervention?
I'd go with Tannhauser also. It can't be Ariadne is Brett's hint it to be believed. He said no one guessed it, and someone guessed Ariadne prior to Brett's post.
Chalkenteros guessed Tannhäuser before Brett's hint.
I keep checking here to see if there's an answer, because I really have no idea what this could be...
Adriana Lecouvrer?
oh pleeeze... it's obviously Erwartung, you people!!!!!
Rimmer
Your sense of humor as evidenced by your above comment is very much like Alex Trebek's...in other words, non-existent (polite but insincere laughter)
Still no correct answers. La Cieca, perhaps a clue is needed? I saw the production, and wouldn't have been able to guess the actual opera if I hadn't known it beforehand...
I know I guessed this opera as a joke before, but maybe it really IS Moses und Aron?
Poppea?
Frosch?
Pagliacci def.
Der Schauspieldirektor was my guess also, but Dnitzer beat me to it.
So, just to be random, how about Don Giovanni?
dear anonymous,
felch me.
When in doubt .... Gioconda?
OK, it must be Suor Angelica.
Forza?
The baldy with the apple looks vaguely diabolical, so I'm going to say "Mefistofele" ... but perhaps it's Die Meistersinger.
Well, going on Brett's hint, I'm guessing Tosca (torture scene onstage w/ Scarpia?). Otherwise clueless.
This is a scene from Norma, as directed by Guy Joosten for De Nederlandse Opera.
Wow!
So which on is Norma and which is Adalgisa?
Dang it - I tell you, we need those secret Regie decoder rings. How does "large, well-fed bearish tenor divo reading his own Opera magazine" translate into a scene from Norma? This isn't from that same production with the white grand piano, or is it?
Oh. My. God.
I'm not going to even ask someone to explain.
I, however, am.
"Der Pollione-Darsteller (Hugh Smith, rechts) ist begeistert von dem Titelinterview, das eine Opernzeitung mit ihm und nicht mit dem Kollegen geführt hat, der den Flavio geben soll (Carlo Bosi, links)."
Well, that answers everything.
For thos interested in the concept op the production: the idea was a sort of play within a play. Three singers (tenor, soprano and mezzo) getting ready for their performance of the opera Norma, with the rivalry between the women a rivalry for the attention of the tenor, so a real-life love triangle. So, diva-rivalry instead of priestess-rivalry...
Slowly, over the course of the production, they all get into actual costume, so by the time we get to the final scene, everyone is in full-fledged Norma-mode, soctumes and all.
Rough translation of Max Zook's provided caption:
"The Pollione character (Hugh Smith, right) is absorbed with the cover interview, in an opera magazine article that has led off with him and not his colleagues, which should have been given to Flavio (Carlo Bosi, right)."
Norma and Adalgisa have the hots for HIM?
No, no, no. Not Norma and Adalgisa; the "real life characters" - the Regie Personen - playing the roles of Norma and Adalgisa. Sort of like "The French Lieutenant's Woman" mixed with Regie and the plot of Norma as the back story and...
Oh, never mind.
Listen to the Callas CD.
Good call Bruce ;0)
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=143945&album_group=2
good one la cieca, i remember reading a review of this norma somewhere. wasn't the norma of this production hasmik papian?
I vote for Rigoletto--the Duke's planning an outing at the opera. . . Now, I would find the Rigoletto bear quite amusing. . .
Well, that was absolutely delightful! I read every post and chuckled or laughed out loud at nearly every one. It's so enjoyable to think of these cherished operas and how they might attract the "talents" of such "clever" producers/directors and of course remain unscathed, ready to re-emerge in our minds or on another stage in all their wonder. I have just to add that a so loved one of the first comments (guessing "Fidelio" - which I think said it all). I used to have a game in which I assembled various crazy photos and asked friends to guess which scene from the new "Rive Gauche" production of the "Ring" they represented. It was such FUN dreaming up the possibilities. Lots of advertisers place their products in little bunches of three - we had coke cans, aerosols, toilet rolls etc etc as the Rhinemaidens, Norns etc (Valkyries were a bit harder). Oh, I could carry on all day...
I was in this production....rather strange one...Norma
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