Tosca and Milk
May 08, 2009
Hardly on the ball here, but The Opera Tattler puzzled to see mezzo-soprano Catherine Cook in the role of Tosca in the movie Milk. One supposes it would be even weirder if she had been actually singing.
Opera in Film
Gluck and Slumdog Millionaire
March 18, 2009
* Notes *
The Opera Tattler was quite caught off guard by the performance of Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice in Slumdog Millionaire. Otherwise, this rather predictable film was nice to look at, like a prettily wrapped present. Good triumphs over evil, love conquers all, but not without the help of both fame and money.
* Tattling *
Someone's beer bottle shattered during the film, this both loud and startling. My companion started laughing during the Gluck, but I suppose that's perfectly appropriate given that I cannot seem to see movies that do not involve opera.
Werner Herzog and La bohème
February 06, 2009
Werner Herzog has made a short film that features "O soave fanciulla" from La bohème and footage from south-west Ethiopia.
Tosca and 007
November 18, 2008
The Opera Tattler was quite shocked to see how poorly behaved certain audience members were at the Bregenzer Festspiele in the latest James Bond movie.
Meeting Venus Talk at WSNC
February 01, 2008
* Notes *
Last weekend the Wagner Society of Northern California had its first meeting of the year, featuring a talk by Professor Heather Hadlock based on a paper entitled "From 'beloved hall' to Evening Star: The televisual apotheosis of the diva in István Szabó's film Meeting Venus (1991)." Dr. Hadlock presented the paper last year at Columbia University's "Technologies of the Diva" conference. The darkly comic film involves a production of Tannhäuser at the fictional Opera Europa in Paris that is to be televised in a simulcast. Szabó in fact directed Tannhäuser for Opera de Paris in 1982, apparently it did not go well.
In her talk, Hadlock differentiated the prima donna from the diva and discussed the progression of the diva in this particular film from self-absorbed egotist to self-sacrificing savior. While Hadlock clearly finds Meeting Venus fascinating, she also noted that it is an artistic failure, as there are too many story lines that become somewhat incoherent. Since the film deals with a telecast, she also spoke about the Met Opera - Live in HD simulcasts, and how the general audience seems more interested in the behind the scenes parts than the actual operas themselves.
* Tattling *
It is the first WSNC event I have attended since the Tristan und Isolde symposium in 2006, so the board members spoke to me a good deal as a welcoming gesture. I was asked if I was a singer and if I liked Wagner, it was quite charming.
Dr. Thomas Grey was to discuss the music of Tannhäuser, the differences between the Dresden and Paris versions, and Wagner’s external artistic influences. Unfortunately, he could not make it, but will speak at the symposium on Das Rheingold in June.