In my last post, I described Silva in Verdi's Ernani as Elvira's incestuous Hapsburg uncle. Ernani is set in 16th Century Spain, which during the reign of the Hapsburg kings. And given the incestuous marriages within the Hapsburg dynasty, Silva's advances toward Elvira in the opera don't come as much of a surprise.
Royal incest was (and probably still might be), a common problem among many cultures. The wife of the Inca Emperor was always his sister, and the same was generally true in Ancient Egypt. The Spanish Hapsburgs married their nieces, nephews, and first cousins. The idea was to keep the wealth within the family.
The problem with incest is that when someone has sex with someone whose a direct blood relative, the chances of genetic defects being passed down to the offspring is extremely high. That's what happened to Tutankhamen (thank you National Geographic). His father, Akhenaten, had sex with his own blood sister. And it didn't help that the Pharaohs had incest as a tradition for hundreds of years. The result was that Tut was in weak health all his life, had a deformed foot, and the two children born to him were premature and stillborn.
With the Spanish Hapsburgs, the royal line was so far inbred that Charles II was unable to even eat. His ancestor Philip II had a jutting chin, which isn't bad. But as the royal family continued to marry their relatives, the jutting chin became more and more pronounced, and when Charles II was born, his chin jutted so far out that it was a deformity. He couldn't eat because of it, and his IQ was pretty far down.
And eventually it got to a point where the Spanish Hapsburg were so far inbred that the royal line became extinct.
So Silva's behavior was quite common for those of royal or noble blood from that time. And it led to the Spanish Hapsburgs dying out altogether.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
SQUEE! Hvorostovsky Steals the Show
Last night's encore simulcast was of Verdi's fifth opera and early hit Ernani. Tenor Marcello Giordanni sang the title role of the outlaw nobleman, alongside soprano Angela Meade as his mismatched lover, Elvira. Bass-baritone Ferruccio Furlanetto was Elvira's incestuous Hapsburg uncle Silva and baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky was the ambitious king Don Carlo (more on him in just a little bit). And while many stories have a love-triangle, this one has a love-square.
A brief summary of the plot: The story takes place in Hapsburg Spain. The young nobleman, Don Juan of Aragon has lost his wealth and title during a civil war. He leads a band of outlaws while under the assumed name of Ernani. He is in love with the noblewoman Elvira, whose creepy uncle, Silva, wants to marry her himself in order to get her money. On top of that, the king Don Carlo wants to marry Elvira as well (plus he's waiting to see if he get's elected to be the next Holy Roman Emperor). So what we have here is a complicated love-square. Unfortunately for Ernani, he is also driven by an insane desire to avenge to his father, which leads him to make an evil vow to Silva: When his hunting horn is sounded, Ernani shall take his own life. This leads to his downfall.
What stole the show for me was Dmitri Hvorostovsky in the role of the king. In the first act, Don Carlo comes to Silva's castle to woo Elvira. He made his first entrance on the stage clad in a raving black and gold tunic with black leggings and tall boots, with a large hat and fur coat over the tunic to disguise himself a little bit. And it was even cooler when Silva entered and shouted at whom he thought was just another man who had come to take away his intended. But then the king reveals his identity, and Silva is dumbfounded. Carlo noted that Silva regains his reason in his presence, which makes him utterly suspicious of Silva's motives.
I know I'll corrected on this at some point, but I will the Hvorostovsky could not have gotten any more stunning than in this performance. I mean, I have seen pictures of him wearing regal costumes when performing roles such as the title character in Simon Boccanegra, but this was the first time that I technically saw him live. He was right there in front of me onscreen. Just watching him perform that amazing role of Don Carlo was incredible.
During the intermission interview, his two small children paid a visit. I have never seen anything more adorable than this tall, handsome and amazing baritone clad in full red and gold attire, telling his kids, in Russian, to say hi. Seriously, can anyone match that in terms of cuteness?
I had never seen Dmitri Hvorostovsky perform live before last night, and I just can't enough on the subject. Hvorostovsky is without a doubt the most handsome and talented baritone to ever come out of Europe. He has another performance at the Met next month as Papa Germont in Verdi's classic La Traviata, alongside soprano Natalie Dessay as the the heroine Violetta, and tenor Mathew Polenzani and Alfredo Germont. I've got to to see that one. I hope Hvorostovsky is as amazing in this one as he was in Ernani (which is probably going to be the case).
Full synopsis of Ernani can be found here:http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/history/stories/synopsis.aspx?id=438&source=operainfo
A brief summary of the plot: The story takes place in Hapsburg Spain. The young nobleman, Don Juan of Aragon has lost his wealth and title during a civil war. He leads a band of outlaws while under the assumed name of Ernani. He is in love with the noblewoman Elvira, whose creepy uncle, Silva, wants to marry her himself in order to get her money. On top of that, the king Don Carlo wants to marry Elvira as well (plus he's waiting to see if he get's elected to be the next Holy Roman Emperor). So what we have here is a complicated love-square. Unfortunately for Ernani, he is also driven by an insane desire to avenge to his father, which leads him to make an evil vow to Silva: When his hunting horn is sounded, Ernani shall take his own life. This leads to his downfall.
What stole the show for me was Dmitri Hvorostovsky in the role of the king. In the first act, Don Carlo comes to Silva's castle to woo Elvira. He made his first entrance on the stage clad in a raving black and gold tunic with black leggings and tall boots, with a large hat and fur coat over the tunic to disguise himself a little bit. And it was even cooler when Silva entered and shouted at whom he thought was just another man who had come to take away his intended. But then the king reveals his identity, and Silva is dumbfounded. Carlo noted that Silva regains his reason in his presence, which makes him utterly suspicious of Silva's motives.
I know I'll corrected on this at some point, but I will the Hvorostovsky could not have gotten any more stunning than in this performance. I mean, I have seen pictures of him wearing regal costumes when performing roles such as the title character in Simon Boccanegra, but this was the first time that I technically saw him live. He was right there in front of me onscreen. Just watching him perform that amazing role of Don Carlo was incredible.
During the intermission interview, his two small children paid a visit. I have never seen anything more adorable than this tall, handsome and amazing baritone clad in full red and gold attire, telling his kids, in Russian, to say hi. Seriously, can anyone match that in terms of cuteness?
I had never seen Dmitri Hvorostovsky perform live before last night, and I just can't enough on the subject. Hvorostovsky is without a doubt the most handsome and talented baritone to ever come out of Europe. He has another performance at the Met next month as Papa Germont in Verdi's classic La Traviata, alongside soprano Natalie Dessay as the the heroine Violetta, and tenor Mathew Polenzani and Alfredo Germont. I've got to to see that one. I hope Hvorostovsky is as amazing in this one as he was in Ernani (which is probably going to be the case).
Full synopsis of Ernani can be found here:http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/history/stories/synopsis.aspx?id=438&source=operainfo
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
I Have a Bad Feeling About This
My family has probably heard enough of me squealing over sexy male opera singers who possess even sexier voices. At least three of my Top Seven Favorites have appeared shirtless on stage or in music videos. While I find that rather awesome, I do have a few problems with it.
Some of the newest operas appear to be little more than an excuse to push the envelope and make something darker and edgier with shirtless men or even full-out nudity on stage (which is absolutely unacceptable). The same is being done to some of my favorite operas. I'm okay with some new productions (i.e. setting Carmen during the Spanish Civil War or Rigoletto in 1960's Las Vegas), but I'm not okay with others.
It appears to me that many new productions are being done simply to show off some hot baritone's abs. I'd like some actual context for that, and when I say that I mean a legitimate reason for some character being shirtless. Juan Diego Florez is probably going to be shirtless when he sings the tenor role in Bizet's lesser-known opera The Pearl Fishers this summer in Las Palmas, and I think that's cool. But that's because the opera is set in Sri Lanka. Of course you're going to have shirtless guys there, because it's tropical and humid. No one in that kind of country is really going to be wearing a turtle-neck.
But many operas are being used as excuse for shirtlessness. As much as I'm okay with some productions having the tile character of Don Giovanni do it sometimes, I'm not okay with that being done in operas such as L'Elisir d'Amore or The Abduction From the Seraglio (seriously, you don't want to know). And some don't even want to be reasonable. The newest operas that I've seen pictures of have shirtless and even naked men in rather weird settings. Seriously, that is just disgusting. All it's meant to do is shock and I hate that. I have heard people want to make an opera in the standard repertoire shocking. That's inappropriate and should not even be mentioned. Oh, and some where already considered shocking when they first appeared, so it's not a good idea to make it shocking.
Honestly, this has to stop. If someone wants the male singer to be shirtless in scene, that's fine provided it makes sense and is not meant to be edgy. I loathe and despise edgy. And when it comes to making an opera shocking, with operas like Carmen, it's bringing coals to New Castle. Carmen was already shocking for it's day simply because the protagonist was a gypsy seductress. The opera does not need to be anymore shocking than it already is. The director of the production of Carmen that I saw live said he wanted it to be shocking. It did not shock me one bit, nor does it need to be, so don't even bother.
What's really worrying me is that some of these awful shocking, Huge-Amount-Of-Shirtlessness-With-The-Male-Singers productions might appear at the Met. Every time you make an opera edgy that isn't supposed to be, the composer rolls in his grave.
Some of the newest operas appear to be little more than an excuse to push the envelope and make something darker and edgier with shirtless men or even full-out nudity on stage (which is absolutely unacceptable). The same is being done to some of my favorite operas. I'm okay with some new productions (i.e. setting Carmen during the Spanish Civil War or Rigoletto in 1960's Las Vegas), but I'm not okay with others.
It appears to me that many new productions are being done simply to show off some hot baritone's abs. I'd like some actual context for that, and when I say that I mean a legitimate reason for some character being shirtless. Juan Diego Florez is probably going to be shirtless when he sings the tenor role in Bizet's lesser-known opera The Pearl Fishers this summer in Las Palmas, and I think that's cool. But that's because the opera is set in Sri Lanka. Of course you're going to have shirtless guys there, because it's tropical and humid. No one in that kind of country is really going to be wearing a turtle-neck.
But many operas are being used as excuse for shirtlessness. As much as I'm okay with some productions having the tile character of Don Giovanni do it sometimes, I'm not okay with that being done in operas such as L'Elisir d'Amore or The Abduction From the Seraglio (seriously, you don't want to know). And some don't even want to be reasonable. The newest operas that I've seen pictures of have shirtless and even naked men in rather weird settings. Seriously, that is just disgusting. All it's meant to do is shock and I hate that. I have heard people want to make an opera in the standard repertoire shocking. That's inappropriate and should not even be mentioned. Oh, and some where already considered shocking when they first appeared, so it's not a good idea to make it shocking.
Honestly, this has to stop. If someone wants the male singer to be shirtless in scene, that's fine provided it makes sense and is not meant to be edgy. I loathe and despise edgy. And when it comes to making an opera shocking, with operas like Carmen, it's bringing coals to New Castle. Carmen was already shocking for it's day simply because the protagonist was a gypsy seductress. The opera does not need to be anymore shocking than it already is. The director of the production of Carmen that I saw live said he wanted it to be shocking. It did not shock me one bit, nor does it need to be, so don't even bother.
What's really worrying me is that some of these awful shocking, Huge-Amount-Of-Shirtlessness-With-The-Male-Singers productions might appear at the Met. Every time you make an opera edgy that isn't supposed to be, the composer rolls in his grave.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
What The Kriff?
Someone has clearly gone mad and it's not me. Today I heard about a "God's Little Princess" Bible; complete with glitter and a diamond tiara. What are they trying to do? Spoil a little girl by saying she's God's Little Princess? That's deserves it's own wing in the Halls of Idiocy. God wants us to be humble, not behave like a spoiled brat.
What bird-brained Diplodocus even came up with this stupid idea?
What bird-brained Diplodocus even came up with this stupid idea?
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