all roads lead to regie
Our Own CerquettiFarrell guessed correctly, if cautiously that all those people in short pants were doing Salome. To be precise, it’s a Christopher Alden production for Saarbrücken.
Next up, an opera that looks like it might be Salome , but it’s not. So what is it? (Remember, cher public, no blurting! If you have seen this production, sit quietly while everyone else plays the game!)
Javier: With all due respect, you’re kind of ruining the fun of this game. By saying that one couldn’t possibly guess this opera without cheating, you’re suggesting that all the standard-rep operas are out. How about just not saying anything at all?! This happens almost every quiz now. Someone always feels that they have to stay “something” instead of just abstaining from commenting.
I’ll go with Il Trovatore.
#1. Act I trio — Di Luna is in drag and Inez is in white.
#2. “Il balen”
#3. Leonora at the convent
Obviously, it is Cosi fan tutte! SPQR stands for Society for Prevention of Queerness in Rapscalians. That’s what Cosi is all about.
The top scene is the final ensemble of the re-reunited but unhappy loves, note one in drag, probably; figures!
Then there’s Don Alfonso taking a tit ride on a local dairy truck. And finally future Despinas lining up for audition.
Well, why not? None of this is sillier than most of what the Regieworld is doing, so I say, along with a few million others, Anything Goes!
Javier #30 is right. Why not dispense with the guessing game and just put the pictures up for ridicule “tout court.” Wouldn’t we have just as much fun?
I can’t believe nobody has seen the obvious here.
Pic 1 (L to R): Barbarina, Contessa, Conte Almaviva and Cherubino. Ergo it’s the Act III wedding finale to Nozze.
Pic 3: Chorus, “Costanti, amanti.”
“SPQR” is a red herring meant to throw the intelligentsia in the audience off the track.
Which leaves Pic 2, clearly: “Non piu andrai, farfallone amoroso.”
Even more obscure, javier? All right, I hereby add Spontini’s La Vestale and Traetta’s Ezio to my list of guesses. Picture #3 could be all the Vestal virgins, right?