#complete performance
Note
Where do you watch operas?
There are plenty of complete filmed opera performances available on YouTube, which you can watch for free. Unfortunately, not all of them have English subtitles, but if necessary, you can always find a translation of the libretto online to follow along with.
In fact, just for fun, as an example, I'll provide some links to complete filmed performances of the world's top 10 most popular operas, with English subtitles.
Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)
Studio film, 1971 (Nicolai Gedda, Edith Mathis, William Workman, Christina Deutekom, Hans Sotin; directed by Sir Peter Ustinov; conducted by Horst Stein)
La Traviata
Studio film, 1968 (Anna Moffo, Franco Bonisolli, Gino Bechi; directed by Mario Lanfranchi; conducted by Giuseppe Patané)
Carmen
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 2006 (Anna Caterina Antonacci, Jonas Kaufmann, Ildebrando d'Arcangelo, Norah Ansellem; staged by Francesca Zambello; conducted by Antonio Pappano)
La Bohéme
Studio film, 1965 (Mirella Freni, Gianni Raimondi, Rolando Panerai, Adriana Martino; directed by Franco Zeffirelli; conducted by Herbert von Karajan)
Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)
Teatro alla Scala, 2006 (Ildebrando d'Arcangelo, Diana Damrau, Marcella Orsatti Talamanca, Pietro Spagnoli, Monica Bacelli; staged by Giorgio Strehler; conducted by Gérard Korsten)
Tosca
Teatro Real de Madrid, 2004 (Daniela Dessí, Fabio Armiliato, Ruggero Raimondi; staged by Nuria Espert; conducted by Maurizio Benini)
Madama Butterfly
Theatrical film, 1995 (Ying Huang, Richard Troxell, Ning Liang, Richard Cowan; directed by Frédéric Mitterand; conducted by James Conlon)
Don Giovanni
Zurich Opera, 2001 (Rodney Gilfry, László Polgár, Isabel Rey, Cecilia Bartoli, Liliana Nikiteanu, Roberto Saccá, Oliver Wimer, Matti Salminen; staged by Jürgen Flimm; conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt)
Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville)
Metropolitan Opera, 2007 (Peter Mattei, Juan Diego Florez, Joyce diDonato, John Del Carlo, John Relyea; staged by Bartlett Sher; conducted by Maurizio Benini)
Act I, Act II
Rigoletto
Studio film, 1982 (Ingvar Wixell, Luciano Pavarotti, Edita Gruberova; directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle; conducted by Riccardo Chailly)
#opera#complete performance#die zauberflöte#the magic flute#la traviata#carmen#la boheme#le nozze di figaro#the marriage of figaro#tosca#madama butterfly#don giovanni#il barbiere di siviglia#the barber of seville#rigoletto#english subtitles#youtube
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Video Review: Les Misérables, 3rd National Tour, 2000, Act II (long)
Here’s the second half of my review of this complete Les Mis performance, which I wrote some time ago but I'm sharing again in honor of Barricade Day.
Main Cast
Jean Valjean: Ivan Rutherford
Javert: Stephen Bishop
Fantine: Joan Almedilla
Thénardier: J.P. Dougherty
Mme. Thénardier: Aymee Garcia
Marius: Tim Howar
Enjolras: Kevin Earley
Éponine: Sutton Foster
Cosette: Regan Thiel
Grantaire/Bamatabois: Trent Blanton
Young Cosette: Stephanie Mieko Cohen
Gavroche: Christopher Carlson
“Upon These Stones,” “On My Own,” “The Barricade,” “Javert at the Barricade,” “Little People”
Sometimes the smallest details can change our impressions of a character. For example, Sutton’s Éponine purposefully gets Marius’s attention by touching his back as she walks past him. Éponines who do this create a different sense of their desires and motives than Éponines who don’t. There’s also a big difference between Éponines who sing “Little you know! Little you care!” alone after Marius leaves and those who, like Sutton here, sing it as an outburst directly to Marius’s face, angrily snatching the letter from his hand. Every Éponine I ever saw in both the 3rd National Tour and the 2006 Broadway revival did the latter. Personally, I think it’s a bit petulant compared to singing the line alone. But if we assume she’s come to the barricade hoping Marius will finally love her for joining the battle – which her purposefully letting him know she’s there might imply – and yet he still doesn’t get it, I suppose an outburst to his face is understandable.
I like that neither Tim’s Marius nor Ivan’s Valjean are too harsh with Éponine. Tim strikes a good balance between stern and caring, while Ivan is nicely gentle instead of automatically treating her like a spy for Javert. His letter-reading is good too, though I wish the camera showed his face instead of focusing on Éponine as she eavesdrops.
I’ve written about Sutton’s “On My Own” before, but I’ll restate my feelings here. I honestly don’t think anyone has ever sung the song more beautifully; her voice is like flame and crystal combined in sound form. And her journey from happy dreams to raw anger and despair is vivid and deeply felt without a trace of sentimentality. I can’t fault it, even though I personally don’t care much for angry renditions of this song.
The barricade boys’ pledge to hold the barricade and defiance of the officer’s warning are gripping as they should be, especially the magnificent high A sung by Ben Davis’s Feuilly on “We’ll be there!” It’s no wonder that he went on to sing operatic roles as well as musical theatre.
Christopher’s Gavroche comes into his own in “Little People.” His Act I might have been slightly bland, but here I can fully believe in his spunk and cheek.
Kevin’s commanding presence as Enjolras and the rich-voiced stolidness of Stephen’s Javert are still outstanding.
The tone of the “Little People” scene definitely changes when the now usually-cut lines before and after “Shoot me now or shoot me later…” are included. Instead of just a few boys clamoring ineffectually in the background to shoot Javert, the barricade erupts into chaos after Javert is outed as a spy, with Courfeyrac, Feuilly and others forming an impromptu firing squad to shoot him in blatant defiance of Enjolras’s orders, and with Enjolras and Combeferre’s cooler heads just barely prevailing in the end. I still wonder why the scene was written this way, when it has no basis in the novel. I can only assume the musical’s authors thought it would be more moving to see the barricade boys come close to falling into bloodlust and anarchy under the stress of adversity, only to ultimately choose idealism, courage and unity, than if they were always disciplined and unified. Maybe on the stage, this is true.
At any rate, I like the detail of Gavroche grabbing a gun to join the impromptu firing squad and a woman trying to wrest the gun from him. It’s a welcome, subtle touch of comic relief and fully in character for the boy.
“A Little Fall of Rain,” Night of Anguish,” “First Attack, “Drink With Me”
Kudos to Sutton for remembering to act wounded even before she collapses, climbing very slowly down the barricade, having to stop and rest midway down, and then clutching Marius for support. Not all other Éponines do that. During the song she never cries out or writhes in pain, but I think it works. The motionless tension of her body makes me assume that her Éponine is hiding her pain from Marius, which fits with the lyrics, and of course lets us focus on the moment’s tender emotions. In the last verse, I like the way she gently fades away, loosening her grip on Marius’s arm and lying completely still except to move her lips as she sings, but then, at the very end, finding the strength to pull herself up and kiss him. It evokes the way Hugo’s Éponine lies so motionless that Marius thinks she’s already dead, only to open her eyes and utter her love confession.
Tim’s concern and tenderness compliment Sutton’s performance perfectly, and though his grief is quiet and understated, it’s still poignant.
The moment when Enjolras comforts Marius is understated yet touching too. Kevin’s Enjolras is clearly pained by Éponine’s death but seems at a loss for what to say or do for Marius. In the end, a silent shared arm-clasp is all that’s needed.
When Valjean arrives, the Amis take a fairly calm, wary yet respectful approach to interrogating him, lowering their guns as soon as they realize he’s not a real National Guardsman. I’m tempted to like this better than versions like the 2012 movie where they’re aggressive and almost ready to shoot him on sight, although the latter is valid too.
During the battle, I see another detail I remember reading about in reviews. When Kevin’s Enjolras kneels down to assist the student who’s been wounded by the sniper, only to be narrowly missed by another bullet from said sniper, he falls backward and sits paralyzed in shock, looking like “a frightened little blond boy” (as I remember one fan writing) until Valjean helps him up. I know that some fans can be touchy about Enjolras showing any weakness, but I personally don’t mind this detail. It’s only a brief moment, and like the above-mentioned moment with Marius, it’s a humanizing image that makes Enjolras believable not only as a staunch leader, but as a young man facing the threat of death for the first time. (Yes, I know Hugo’s Enjolras also fought in 1830, but the musical never mentions this.)
Besides, I love the way Grantaire snaps out of his motionless stupor to reach out to Enjolras when that brush with death occurs.
Stephen and Ivan are both excellent in the releasing scene. Stephen moves believably from rage and disgust at having Valjean as his executioner, to confusion when he’s freed, to smug disdain when he thinks he’s figured out Valjean’s motive, to a slow, speechless, dumbfounded exit, while by contrast Ivan’s Valjean remains staunchly calm, not losing his temper at Javert’s insults, but firmly committed to doing the right thing.
Moving on to “Drink With Me,” Trent’s Grantaire puts an interesting spin on his solo by addressing specific lines to specific individuals, to whom (if we know the Ami’s individual personalities in the novel) each line has the most meaning. “Can it be you fear to die?” he directs to Joly, the hypochondriac. “Will the world remember you when you fall?” is aimed at Feuilly, the orphan who has no family to remember him. And of course “Will your death be one more lie?” he addresses to Enjolras.
Then we have a beautiful Enjolras/Grantaire reconciliation, which unfortunately the cameraperson only shows us in part. Enjolras first stares at Grantaire, then angrily grabs his shoulder, with poor Grantaire shielding his face as if he expects to be hit. But then they gaze at each other, for a long time, and then finally, warmly clasp hands. It’s too bad that the cameraperson chooses to pan around the stage during their long shared gaze instead of showing us their expressions leading up to the hand-clasp. But I suppose the E/R relationship wasn’t quite at the fandom’s forefront in 2000 the way it is now (it was already a popular ship, if I remember correctly from my middle and high school days, but slightly less so than Éponine/Marius or Enjolras/female OCs).
Tim’s soft, sad delivery of Marius’s verse at the end is very touching and I like the consoling pat on the knee Trent’s Grantaire gives him before walking away
The ensemble work is excellent, as always.
“Bring Him Home,” “Dawn of Anguish,” “Second Attack (Death of Gavroche),” “The Final Battle,” “Dog Eats Dog”
Ivan’s “Bring Him Home” is beautiful.
I hope that someday, somehow I see a production of Les Mis that includes the “Drink With Me” reprise. It add so much more emotional weight than there is when the women simply hurry off and the battle commences. By the way, here’s a question for people who were fans before the cuts were made. Did the “Drink With Me” reprise always end with Enjolras and Marius clasping arms at the top of the barricade? Was this a universal part of Nunn and Caird’s staging? It’s a beautiful reinforcement of Enjolras and Marius’s friendship and Marius’s now-unwavering loyalty to his friends, but still, if I were to direct a new production, I’d be tempted to have Grantaire share that moment with Enjolras instead. I think it might be a better moment for their reconciliation than “Drink With Me.”
Christopher’s Gavroche is still less vivid than others I’ve seen, and the moment of his death looks slightly unconvincing (he breaks the fall with his hands a bit too obviously), but he still gives a solid performance overall.
To the very end, Kevin’s Enjolras is fully believable as the staunch, dignified, heroic leader, yet still a human being. His slow descent from the barricade after Gavroche’s death – the only movement onstage while everyone else is frozen in shock and grief – and seeming obliviousness to the offstage officer’s voice as he stands and ponders what’s happened and what’s to come is both poignant and true to the spirit of Hugo’s Enjolras. We can sense his pain, yet he faces it with stoic dignity and undying courage. His “Let others rise…” is powerful, even though he neither shouts nor goes for the high note on “…is free!”
And then there’s the heartbreaking moment after Marius falls, when Enjolras hurries to him, throws poor Grantaire aside, and tries vainly and irrationally to revive his seemingly dead friend before rushing off to his own death. Some might argue that this is out of character for Hugo’s Enjolras, and it’s definitely not realistic for the middle of a battle when, as Hugo repeatedly writes, you can’t stop for anything. But it’s moving, although I would have liked a more meaningful last interaction with Grantaire than just a quick glance.
The fall of the barricade and the tableau of Enjolras’s body on the barricade are epic and heartbreaking, as always. No other staging can surpass the original.
J.P.’s Thénardier definitely feels more alive in his sinister scenes than in the comedy scenes. I’m not quite sure why I always remembered him as being mainly a comic Thénardier. It was probably his looks, I’m sorry to say – it was too easy to mentally pigeonhole him as “the funny fat guy.” At any rate, his “Dog Eats Dog” is deliciously dark and mocking.
“The Sewers,” “Javert’s Suicide,” “Turning,” “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables,” “Every Day”
I remember one thing J.P.’s Thénardier used to do that annoyed fans back in the day was to silently break the fourth wall by visibly waiting for the audience to applaud after “Dog Eats Dog,” then shrug his shoulders when they didn’t. He did this the first time I saw the show. But thankfully he doesn’t do it here.
Kudos to Ivan for actually carrying Marius throughout the sewer sequence. We get none of the standard “Marius tries his best to look unconscious and disguise the fact that he’s actually walking while Valjean supports him” business seen in so many other performances.
Stephen gives a powerful rendition of “Javert’s Suicide,” both in his sumptuous voice and in his vivid rage and torment.
“Turning” is poignant, as it should be. The fact that the pregnant woman is played by a black actress instantly makes me think of the fandom’s widely-accepted headcanon of Musichetta as a woman of color – as far a my imagination is concerned, it’s her, and the unborn baby’s father was either Joly or Bossuet. I’ll also imagine that she’ll eventually meet Marius and Cosette and they’ll help to support her and provide for the baby.
Tim’s “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” is beautiful and moving. His warm, darkly-shaded voice is wonderfully suited to the music, and while his grief is subtly conveyed, it can still be deeply felt. This is a trend throughout this particular performance, I think: the story is told with as little sentimentality as the material allows, and the male characters in particular are all played with a stoicism not seen in other portrayals, but their emotions can still be felt no matter how quiet they are.
The uncut “Every Day” is gently and sweetly performed by Regan, Tim, and Ivan when he joins them. The ending is adorable, with Marius and Cosette holding hands and almost face-to-face when they notice Valjean watching them, and being the modest 19th century pair they are, quickly draw apart and try to look “seemly,” only for Valjean to lovingly rejoin their hands. Unfortunately, Regan goes a bit off-pitch on her final note, but that note tends to be a hit-or-miss one for most Cosettes.
“Valjean’s Confession,” “Wedding Chorale/Beggars at the Feast”
Ivan and Tim are both spot-on in “Valjean’s Confession.” Ivan is more stoic than Hugo’s Valjean is in this scene, but this is true of his Valjean throughout, and as always, in his subtle way he still conveys his struggle and pain. I’ve heard other Valjeans be more forceful and demanding on “Promise me, M’sieur, Cosette will never know!” but the way Ivan’s voice becomes so soft and pleading instead is probably even more disarming to Marius.
Moving on to the wedding, it’s so nice to hear Marius’s exchange with the Thénardiers uncut. Éponine is remembered, her parents earn more hate with their cold, selfish response, and they build up their revelation about Valjean with just the right preamble to entice Marius – even if they do have to chase him around the ballroom to do it. I notice that Tim’s Marius tries to walk away before Thénardier brings up the “murder” (presumably he thinks they’re just going to reveal that Valjean is a convict, which he already knows), but a soon as Thénardier makes the murder claim, he becomes concerned and listens. This is different from Niklas Andersson’s London Marius in the same year (so far the only other video I’ve watched of the uncut scene), who stalked away in disgust after Thénardier made the murder claim, refusing to believe that Valjean could be a killer as well as a thief.
Regan’s Cosette looks appropriately startled and confused after Thénardier drags her into a wild spinning dance and then Marius punches him. I wonder if she recognized him in that moment?
J.P. and Aymee do a fine job with the Thénardiers’ final flourish. Just enough slapstick to get laughs (e.g. Aymee’s pantalette-flashing fall when she tries to curtsy, the business with the dropped silver later), but not enough to turn them into caricatures. “Beggars at the Feast” is just the right exuberant uplift (however cynical the lyrics) that we need before the finale.
Epilogue
As is characteristic of this cast, Valjean’s death and heavenward ascent are depicted calmly and gently, with tears and sentimentality kept to a minimum, but with genuine love and warmth in abundance. Ivan’s Valjean infuses his last moments with quiet dignity and tenderness, as well as beautiful soft singing, while Joan’s Fantine is appropriately angelic, and Regan’s Cosette, Tim’s Marius and Sutton’s Éponine beautifully round out the scene. The moment when Fantine kneels before Valjean and he reaches out to take her hand, only for Cosette to take her mother’s place for their last reunion, is very touching. So is the way Regan’s Cosette lingers over her father’s lifeless body, staring into his face in utter disbelief until finally Marius gently draws her away. The little hug she gives Marius near the end of the final chorus is also as sweet as can be (as I’ve mentioned before, they were a couple in real life at the time).
The final chorus is magnificent, as it always should be. An excellent end to an excellent performance.
#les mis#les miserables#performance review#bootleg#video#3rd national tour#us tour#act ii#los angeles#2000#ivan rutherford#stephen bishop#sutton foster#tim howar#kevin earley#regan thiel#j.p. dougherty#aymee garcia#trent blanton#complete performance
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Dick puts everything on the line.
He's the last one standing. The rest of the Titans are down.
He dies making sure that they, and the world, can live.
Then he wakes up, staring at a ceiling dotted with glow in the dark stars, very confused.
There's a redheaded teenager who calls herself Jazz, who seems suspicious of him. He had parents, ghost hunters who are definitely breaking many, many laws, who love him dearly.
He has a pair of very close friends, Tucker and Sam, who also do not trust him.
There was a funeral for Dick Grayson, he looked it up. There was a corpse and everything, cremated exactly as he had demanded after learning what had happened to Jason.
Just in case it's a fluke, and he's about to be thrown out of a body that isn't his, he doesn't reach out to anyone in the hero community just yet. Instead, he decides to look into who, exactly, is Daniel Fenton, and why do his friends and sister keep looking at him like he's a spy?
Or; Danny, growing more and more powerful as a halfa, was starting to have his ghostlyness leak through to his human form. He asked Clockwork if there was a future where Jack and Maddie would ever accept him being half ghost, and Clockwork informed him that no, there was not.
So Danny worked with the Yetis in the Far Frozen to make a lifeless clone of himself, with the intent to fake his death and live on in the Realms.
So when Jazz came into his room, fully expecting a lifeless clone, only to find the clone not only alive but fully functional, she's suspicious.
#dpxdc#dcxdp#dp x dc#dc x dp#phanfic#story prompt#one hero tried to fake their death#but a hero that actually died ended up messing that up#it's permanent btw dick's soul recognizes this body as his#the body is liminal but not a halfa#it had to hold up to an autopsy performed by the GIW#sam and tucker are freaked the fuck out#jazz is suspicious as fuck#DIck's parents as ghosts grabbed his soul and shoved it into an empty body before the soul could complete transformation#they needed a body that was liminal enough to work with a sort-of-formed ghost#and they overheard that Phantom was having one made to act as a cadaver#and well#needs must#Phantom won't mind they're sure
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Consider, Cassandra Cain does lion dance.
#a combination of martial arts and dance to express storytelling?#little kids going crazy at performances?#please tell me somebody else sees the vision#she would love playing with the crowd#and especially crazy tricks#cassandra cain#batgirl#orphan#black bat#lion dance#also shhhh its completely inconspicuous wayne brand bat merch bc you know...batman and bruce wayne are dating#I ship bruciebat#dc comics#my art#batfam
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hey bro, is it cool if i write and perform a comedy set entirely about our life together that no one else understands just so i can see your beautiful smile
#trobed#troy barnes#abed nadir#community#community nbc#community tv#danny pudi#donald glover#screencaps#s3#jeff winger#this end tag is so special to me#troy already knew all the jokes which werent funny at all and completely sucked because theyre all about living in apt 303#i like to think abed just performs this routine for him when hes sad#this is at the end of the blade ep where troy got upset bc britta called him a loser for being a genuinely nice person#ep before that was pillows and blankets#so#to me this is abed saying hey. dont be sad anymore. smile and laugh instead because i love you#jeff and the dean really dont need to be there. this is all for troy
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i think the turning point in my life both academically and professionally was realizing that. If you Go First, be it a presentation or an interview or whatever. If you go first, you are being judged based on NOTHING but yourself. They aren't comparing you to anyone else, you don't have an act to "follow". You are the Bar. You can literally just do the best you can and at that point it will automatically be the best they've seen so far. And once you're done you're done. You can mentally and emotionally check out.
Game changer insofar as being stressed about presenting because now I just bulldoze over everyone else to go first like a feral hog.
#its true though#all my anxiety about presentations got reduced SIGNIFICANTLY once I started fighting to be first#its Good Advice#this actually especially applies to people with unfinished work like#girl you do not want to watch 9 people with complete presentations go and then give your speech#just jump on that grenade early before they've had time to be impressed by anyone#and the fallout wont be NEARLY as bad#and then its over right away#also if youre a smug petty bitch like me#you can absolutely blow the performance out of the water#and bask in the absolutely traumatized expressions of everyone who has to go after you now#if im gonna be the bar im going to set it at the ceiling#sorry#so i guess the next lesson is you have to fight to be before Me and those Like Me#rip
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sokka hates the fire nation but nonetheless subscribes to their logic through internalizing his own dehumanization, albeit in the name of sacrificing what is necessary to resist imperialism. on the other hand, aang refuses to sacrifice his humanity, which is intrinsically tied to the culture that was deemed deserving of extermination, and by recognizing the fullness of his personhood and his intrinsic right to exist, he defeats the tenets of imperialism on an ideological battleground. that is why it is so crucial that aang’s influence over sokka, as an air nomad, and as someone who did not grow up under the looming shadow of colonialism and genocide, is what helps him regain the childhood he had forsworn in the name of war—his laughter, his joy, and his humanity.
#aang&sokka#aang#sokka#obviously aang performs this function for every principal member of the gaang#with katara it’s immediate (see: penguin sledding 5 minutes after meeting)#and with toph it’s less pronounced (id argue that sokka is more crucial to tophs process of valuing her humanity than aang although aang#lays the groundwork for it by being the one to recognize her potential)#and with zuko he has also been dehumanized by the fire nation but like. it’s not the same of course#whereas sokka and aang have largely been dehumanized in the same way#as victims of genocide#and obviously katara too#but katara has the same viewpoint as aang from the beginning#that she deserves to exist and fights for her cultural values#whereas sokka thinks that KATARA deserves to exist. that everyone does EXCEPT himself#so aang’s influence reminds him that he’s NOT uniquely disposable/sacrificial/unworthy#he’s a person too!#and he does so through the simple bond of friendship. through joy & laughter & fun#the values that were instilled into him by the air nomads#and it’s not like sokka COMPLETELY internalizes it#or that aang is the only one who attempts to impart this lesson#but it’s why their friendship is so important#because sokka accepts imperialist logic and aang refuses to#aang’s importance cannot be overstated#which is kind of funny to say bc he is the protagonist. the titular role#but ppl like to ignore that#which is crazy . but whatever
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She Hulk talking constantly about how hard it is to be a woman and spouting feminist talking points left and right while still insisting that its giant green female "monster" has long toned limbs flawless skin a snatched waist and straightened hair in a perfect blowout is. Definitely something.
#literally why did you do this#its so transparently performative#the hair thing especially is so dumb because theres literally no non-sexist explanation for it#Bruce's hair looks exactly the damn same but Jennifer's grows 6 inches and completely changes texture? clownery#such bullshit#and it actively makes her look worse! her face looks more uncanny and cgi because they didn't give her skin enough texture! so stupid!#she hulk#jennifer walters#marvel#she-hulk
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the average acotar fans r so boring. like wdym you have no concept of media literacy or complex characters. Why does everything have to be spelled out for you? I have never seen such a flat and lowkey boring male character receive so much love (rhysand) when he does the bare minimum and also. SUCKS.
#and then they shit on tamlin likers#like im sorry i can look past a character’s 2 bad deeds and acknowledge he was destroyed by the narrative#but god forbid i look at the performative feminist and go nah#acotar#a court of thorns and roses#tamlin#pro tamlin#sarah j maas#rhysand#sjm#anti rhysand#feyre#sjm critical#i mean sjm is kinda a shitty writer so its not completely rhys fault#theres no nuance theres no complexity theres no FLAVOR
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Reading The Song of Roland and y'know it's nice to read an Ancient, Respected Classic that's just. Trash. A jingoistic action movie. The 11th century equivalent of 300, a historical war depicted in a wildly inaccurate and propagandistic way as an excuse for buff macho warriors to face off against poorly-researched stereotypes of foreign enemies and then kill them in spectacularly violent and improbable ways. You want depth? Nuance? Timeless themes that still speak to the common human experience nearly a thousand years later? Fuck you. You'll take Charlemagne's nephew cutting a Saracen in half with his sword and you'll like it.
#i kind of want a film adaptation that plays it completely straight to the point of parody starship troopers-style#but given how large the unironic fash following would be i'm not sure you could make it in good conscience#i also want to see a sung performance because a lot of these repetitive parts probably work a lot better that way#idle musings#walrus reads old books#walrus consumes media
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Yesterday I shared links to complete filmed performances available free on YouTube of the top 10 most frequently performed operas. While I'm at it, here are links to performances of the next top 10 most popular operas, all with English subtitles.
Cosí Fan Tutte
Théâtre du Châtelet, 1992 (Amanda Roocroft, Rosa Mannion, Rainer Trost, Rodney Gilfry, Eiran James, Claudio Nicolai; staged and conducted by John Eliot Gardiner)
L'Elisir d'Amore
Vienna State Opera, 2005 (Rolando Villazón, Anna Netrebko, Leo Nucci, Ildebrando d'Arcangelo; staged by Otto Schenk; conducted by Alfred Eschwé)
Aida
San Francisco Opera, 2010 (Micaela Carosi, Marcello Giordani, Dolora Zajick, Marco Vratogna, Hao Jiang Tian; staged by Jo Davies; conducted by Nicola Lusotti)
Hänsel & Gretel
Studio film, 1981 (Brigitte Fassbaender, Edita Gruberova, Sena Jurinac, Hermann Prey; directed by August Everding; conducted by Georg Solti)
Turandot
Opera Hong Kong, 2018 (Oksana Dyka, Alfred Kim, Valeria Sepe; staged by Warren Mok; conducted by Paolo Olmi)
Die Fledermaus
Bavarian State Opera, 1987 (Eberhard Wächter, Pamela Coburn, Wolfgang Brendel, Janet Perry, Brigitte Fassbaender; staged by Otto Schenk; conducted by Carlos Kleiber)
Nabucco
St. Margarethen Opera Festival, 2007 (Igor Morosow, Gabriella Morigi, Elizabeth Kulman, Bruno Riberio, Simon Yang; staged by Robert Herzl; conducted by Ernst Märzendorfer)
Eugene Onegin
Kirov Opera, 1984 (Sergei Leiferkus, Tatiana Novikova, Yuri Marusin, Larissa Diadkova; staged and conducted by Yuri Temirkanov)
Lucia di Lammermoor
Studio film, 1971 (Anna Moffo, Lajos Kozma, Giulio Fioravanti, Paolo Washington; directed by Mario Lanfranchi; conducted by Carlo Felice Cillario)
Paglacci
Lirica Italiana at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, 1961; Mario del Monaco, Gabriella Tucci, Aldo Protti, Attilio D'Orazzi; conducted by Giuseppe Morelli)
#opera#complete performance#cosi fan tutte#l'elisir d'amore#aida#hansel and gretel#turandot#die fledermaus#nabucco#eugene onegin#lucia di lammermoor#pagliacci#english subtitles#youtube
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On this day, December 20
In 2019: My Chemical Romance performed their first live show since 2019 at the Shrine Exposition Hall in Los Angeles, California, USA. At this show, "Make Room!!!" was performed live for the first time ever. (🖤)
Watch the show here!
Pooneh Ghana
#remember this#this was so brilliant and i thought the swarm tour would be similar and instead it was completely different and somehow even more brilliant#tour date#swarm era#i guess#2019#december 20#live debut#only finally performing wttbp on the second encore was so camp
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the one and only thing i am thinking about this morning is data going “lululu lulu. luu. lulu.” tryna feed that alien dog thing
#when youre stuck out in public and still have to perform the social niceties but youve run out of mask#me 0.5 seconds before going completely nonverbal at the function#data#data soong#tng#the next generation#star trek#star trek tng#star trek: the next generation#attention bajoran workers
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Something that The Amazing Devil does so beautiful is that even though a lot of their songs are very wordy they don't rush or skip over the rests in-between. And my favorite examples of this are Elsa's Song and Old Witch Sleep/Good Man Grace, because in old with/good man the beggining is so nice because they put so much pauses between each phrase and even parts like the "Sleep now, oh, she said" there is this smallest rest between the "Now" and "Oh" and it's so subtle but if you don't do that rest it's very very noticeable because your just slurring these two (almost) very short phrases of their own. Then in Elsa's Song l love how the tempo and when they come in, is almost dragging, they are coming in at the very last second of the beat and it makes the tone of the song so so so good
#gosh i could go on#i had to write this down because i was writing a fanfic and listening to them but all this wouldn't get out of my head#virus rambling#the amazing devil#i dont know it anyone has ever played/performed the lakme Flowers Duet#but it reminds me of Elsa's song in a complete opposite manner because that one you have to take the quickest breath of a rest#and a retake but the piece itself sounds very slow but playing it is not slow at all#Elsa's song gives that same dynamic effect and iwbxjshdjxbjxdjchshbxkxfjdhsg#okay im done back to fanfic writing
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visiting nobles/lords/royals quickly notice that merlin has arthur’s ear and that arthur values merlin’s opinion above all others. when they’re having trouble convincing arthur to go along w their plan or sign their Important Document, they go to merlin to try and convince him to convince arthur. merlin knows what they’re doing. merlin does not want to push arthur one way or another, he wants arthur to make his own choices and lead his people as he sees fit. merlin satisfies both of their needs by seeming apologetic that he can’t convince arthur of this but maybe they can and gives them “tips and tricks” on how to soften arthur up to agreeing to the plan.
its all bullshit.
so far he’s convinced a princess (looking for marriage) that arthur loves frogs and pranks so she filled his chambers with a bunch of toads (arthur is terrified of frogs), a lord (was “wronged” by another lord and wanted a portion of his land) that arthur is a fan of the arts, particularly music, and he ended up breaking into song and dance in front of everyone, and a nobleman (arguing against the repealed magic ban and hoping to bring back uther’s laws) that arthur LOVES potatoes and to just give him one throughout the day whenever he seems him so arthur will associate the nobleman with the joy of receiving his favorite food so he’ll be more inclined to the nobleman’s request (arthur despises potatoes).
#arthur knows what merlin is doing but cant tell his visitors otherwise merlin might get in trouble with them#so arthur plays along#he laughs at the toads#he watches the performance with a kind smile#he takes every potato with a thin smile before tossing it in the pig pens outside#and in the end waits for them to leave before turning to merlin and attempting to admonish him but merlin is too busy laughing his ass off#arthur gives up#besides. its a little funny.#and entertaining when before negotiations and petitions and meetings were so goddamn boring#(and merlin is just absolutely gorgeous when hes laughing at his plans coming to completion. the way his cheeks flush and his eyes twinkle#the way his laugh eventually goes breathless. how sometimes he has to grab onto arthur for support so he doesnt fall down. the way the su-)#ahem. anyways.#bbc merlin#merthur#merlin emrys#arthur pendragon
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Halsin would tell you to go touch grass but mean it 100% sincerely.
#BG3 Musing#Halsin Posting#Halsin#go touch some grass and maybe you'll calm down#and someone just reacting so negatively to that like well you don't need to be sassy#and halsin is like ??? i'm..i'm telling you to go outside and it'll make you feel better?#i keep imagining halsin sneaking out of the elfsong to go hide in the park because it's the closest he can get to feeling#even remotely comfortable in the city and you just find him on his back staring at the peeks of sky and he looks so much better#than he did when his shirt collar was choking him and the pavement beneath him felt like a death sentence#i feel like people really get on his case for being so upset in the city and criticizing it but like...the man is literally wilting there#he's suffocating - it's like...well...like putting a bear in a cage#and expecting him to perform for you#he will be angry and wounded and try to escape#and only when you've completely throttled him into submission - broken him completely - will he stop fighting you
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