Comments on: Lazy afternoon

By: kashania

kashania — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:36:16 +0000

Ten years ago, I was in Rome in the summer and going to see Turandot in an outdoor performance at teh Olympic stadium. My cab driver asked me what I was seeing and when I replied “Turandot”, he said: “Oh, that’s a good one!”. Same with the cab driver on the way back. I was amazed! If it had been in Toronto, the driver wouldn’t have known what a Turandot was let alone have an opinion about whether it’s any good or not. God bless the Italians!

By: matto per la lirica

matto per la lirica — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 09:19:40 +0000

This is from a program for children. Non importa…..

By: bassoprofundo

bassoprofundo — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:07:18 +0000

great stuff.

Sia si chiame Pasquale, sia si chiame Michele?
Forse Enrico o Gianrico?
Ludovico, chi sa, Federico?

By: bassoprofundo

bassoprofundo — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:59:21 +0000

It’s somewhat witty, but they change some of the details. Calef (not Calaf..) is on a quiz show here, not in the royal palace…

By: bassoprofundo

bassoprofundo — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:58:12 +0000

No, this is hilarious. I don’t know if I would call it witty, but it’s a great parody.

By: Baritenor

Baritenor — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:40:45 +0000

Somehow, I suspect that even if I spoke Italian, I would not find this funny.

By: NYCOQ

NYCOQ — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:20:24 +0000

She looks like an Italian Imogene Coca to me. I thought it was an old “Your Show Of Shows” skit before I played the Youtube clip

By: Signor Bruschino

Signor Bruschino — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:28:43 +0000

I can’t wait for the rap version of ‘La Fanciulla del West’

By: Ercole Farnese

Ercole Farnese — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:24:11 +0000

She does look like Simionato, doesn’t she? In fact, her name is Lucia Mannucci, and the group is the Quartetto Cetra. They were extremely popular in Italy in in the 50s, 60s and 70s. They specialized in parodies. I remember a parody of the Count of Montecristo and The Three Musketeers. They also loved opera, and one of their most famous song was In un palco della Scala.

By: cosmodimontevergine

cosmodimontevergine — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:58:01 +0000

Is that Maestro Levine conducting?

Actually in 1976 there was a much more opera-savvy audience in Italy. The mixing of Grand Opera with San Remo festival is perfect. It’s kind of like Sid Caeser and Imogene Coca. This is so refined compared with contemporary Italian.

By: hndymn

hndymn — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:41:04 +0000

Without a translation it’s hard to tell if there’s any wit to this, but it’s remarkable (at least to me) how clear it is that this stuff is still built-in to Italian culture. It presupposes at least recognition of the subject of parody on the part of the audience. Here, alas, it’s doubtful that more than a tiny percentage of the population would have any clue what’s going on—even without the language difference.

By: MontyNostry

MontyNostry — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:12:37 +0000

Since when did Giulietta Simionato play Turandot?

By: Camille

Camille — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:02:28 +0000

Best bet: cheese bar @ Zabar’s

That, along with some of Harry’s “cat pee chardonnay” and a loaf of Jewish rye, and you can forget about pork buns, hot cross buns, and any other buns.

By: squirrel

squirrel — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:41:37 +0000

It’s like Christmas on the Upper West Side!

By: Harry

Harry — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:22:27 +0000

This looks and sounds like Italian pasta served up to look like Chinese pork buns which instead turns out to be by mistake an imitation Indian curry.

By: squirrel

squirrel — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:14:03 +0000

“you no understand, is not enough! he want to KEEES me!”