Infectious diseuse
La Cieca hears that Olga Borodina still has whatever it was she had on Wednesday, and so will have to cancel tonight’s Met performance of Carmen as well.
While we wait for Mme. Borodina’ recovery, let’s enjoy Madeline Kahn in an obscure Cole Porter ditty.
Miss Olga regrets she’s unable to sing today, madam.
will olga go on tonight, i wonder?????????
Ha, I love the headline. My mum used to do a little cabaret singing as a student. When my parents got engaged, dad was greeted by one of his friends with the words ‘Ah, Don, I hear you’ve contracted an incurable diseuse’
Shame the wonderful Ms Kahn blots her copybook when she shifts into French at the end of that song with her “Trouve-moi une (sic) homme primitif”
Is At Long Last Love as bad as its reputation?
No, but it’s still pretty dreadful. Kahn and Eileen Brennen do what they can, but much of the picture is just dull as hell.
Alas, yes. And I went to it eagerly in its first release, being a fan of Kahn, Brennan, Cole Porter, and the work up to that point of Bogdanovich. Seeing it cured me of all that (OK, I still like Porter, but it made me realize that he wrote a lot of songs that work just a handful of niches [list, torch, etc.], and if you’re raiding his work for a whole score, you have to be careful not to choose too many of the same type — as these folks didn’t.)
Actually, Kahn is pretty bad, after being a satiric delight in her previous movie roles; she plays it straight and dull here. They made a big PR deal of having the stars sing “live on set” for that extra spontaneity, which always means they couldn’t be trusted to sip-sync (watch John Hillerman jump beats all over the place). Actually, despite Burt Reynolds supposedly being legendarily awful in this, he acquits himself better than some of his costars. But we’re talking very fine distinctions.
One marginally interesting thing about it is that there are (or used to be) 2 or 3 different cuts in circulation — the one that showed up on cable and the one that sometimes played on commercial stations were had different songs and scenes from each other and from the theater version. In case you want additional bad renditions of Cole Porter songs.
Equally bad is De-Lovely with Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd. Horrible, unperiod performances of some of the best songs ever written. Who thought Sheryl Crow singing Begin The Beguine (the best Astaire dance number on film, with Eleanor Powell, from Broadway Melody of 1940. Great movie. George Murphy… but I digress) was a good idea?
Absolutely. I foolishly went hoping it would right the wrongs of the Cole Porter biopic with Cary Grant… and it was WORSE. The producers saying “Oh but we didn’t intend to be historically accurate” is no excuse. Bad biography, bad sexual politics, bad writing, bad concept, mostly bad acting (partial exemption for the doing-what-he-could Kline and the brief onstage bits by John Barrowman and Caroline O’Connor). Of the “special guest moaners” only Natalie Cole escaped with some honor.
Jeepers you mention Eleanor Powell!!! Having started my interest in music as a kid with muicals before coming to Opera, I was alarmed as the years went on of fucked up film productions of musicals. I can even say I saw the last Ginger and Fred musical……….on it first theatre release in 1949! .I even have a collection score somewhere, of all the ‘Unpublished Songs of Cole Porter’. Here I have to disagree completely.
De-Lovely is not like being foreign additions to dedicated scores like ‘Stinkara’s effect’ in Can -Can Then too many so called ‘musicals’ around the 60′s had perhps just a show’s title song and ‘thematic music’ drawn from the stage show. Examples: Irma La Douce…Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum…Fanny….the list is too numerous. What travesties, they all turned out to be ans sent film musicals into the dark ages for another decade or two, than what may have transpired, otherwise.
The Begin The Beguine sequence is the best thing in De-Lovely which was by the very nature of its creation ‘a film score not from a bastardised cut and dicing of an original Broadway score’ – but collecting together a celebration of Porter Songs. I was shocked that a ‘pop’ singer like this Sheryl Crow could wipe any prior prejudice I had (and I did -a heck of a lot!) completely away. In its minor key setting, I will say it is staggeringly the best performance I have seen or heard of it …anywhere.
And anyway ‘what so un-period’ about the Kiss Me Kate sequences. Those younger singers are incredibly better than those of the original film with Howard Keel (bawling away not knowing how to lift his voice) and
Kathryn Grayson (turning sour at every given opportunity).
Orlando Furioso ” Bad biography, bad sexual politics, bad writing, bad concept, mostly bad acting….” (in regard to the film De-Lovely).
If you have hung around Show Business (yes, even Opera will do!) even to this very day…..
what ‘bad sexual politics’ …is the film portraying? Perhaps a Gay Lib spiel, instead??!!! De-Lovely does in fact show nasty aspects of what happens ‘when people try to cover their real identity tracks’ for a public image ‘with too much to lose’ in their own eyes. The sleazy compromises /the manipulations /the deals/ or the self advantageous treachery is still operating in the Arts…. The casting couch is not only alive and well but booming (without its previous moral restrictions). Ambition can make them ‘stalking blow-flies’ at the best of times! Performing artists are just getting more refined and have changed focus a little from the past. Where HAVE you been, not to notice ?
A tip, be aware of a situation: then if you already know the antics and moves of the players on any such human set- up chess board scenario … watch them play their ‘set-to-gain’ moves. It is perversely more interesting at times to watch and note the results : than their perfomances on any stage. Knowing all the ins’ & outs’ how they arrived up there for the performances. What’s the ‘bad politics’ about it? They will play the indentical games over and over again, according to their personal make-up and vanities.
Well, it looks like I won’t be rushing to get in under my skin …
Oh dear. La Borodina is going to have to keep this cold going all the way to Feb 9th.
Olga should stay away from Brandon until her diseuse is cured. Maybe we’ll hear Vizen (is that her name?) Monday. And then, on Feb.9, Olga, Brandon and Teddy!!!
She sure is having a long period! One of those heavy flow months.
just wondering, does anyone know who the cover for gheorghiu’s future carmens is? i keep hearing gossip that she’ll never show up for them. maybe they can get someone of, let’s say, waltraud meier’s caliber?
what kind of a name is salemkour, does anyone know? we know altinoglu must be a turkish name.
I think Salemkour is Egyptian and Altinoglu Armenian.
Salemkour is an Algerian name.
“just wondering, does anyone know who the cover for gheorghiu’s future carmens is?”
It’s a question of color and tessitura…
oooh… racist!
poor Olga, at 47 she is still beautiful
Does anyone really think that Gheourghiou has learned Carmen for just a couple of performances at the Met?
http://www.amazon.com/Bizet-Gheorghiu-Capitole-Toulouse-Plasson/dp/B000083GOD/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1264954633&sr=8-1
I know she recorded the opera and even got good reviews, but making a recording is not the same as singing the whole thing within three hours at the Met.