#cinderella italian style

[adarkrainbow]

Adding to the list of fairytale media I wish to get my hands on a recording of, I am currently looking for any subbed or dubbed version of the 1967 movie "C'era una volta".

I was kindly informed by @maimoncat of the existence of this movie (here is the post in question), which is actually the first cinematic attempt at bringing to the silver screen the Pentamerone and its fairytales - or rather, in this movie's case, an attempt by Francesco Rosi to recreate the feel, ambiance and tonality of the Pentamerone stories.

The movie is fully disponible on various platforms (including Youtube and Dailymotion) for free in Italian. But I unfortunately do not speak Italian and couldn't find any subbed version anywhere...

I know the movie got a French dub, because it got released under the title "La belle et le cavalier" (Beauty and the rider / The beautiful woman and the horseman), but I couldn't find the French dub online.

I also know the movie got released in English, and apparently more than once, since it was distributed under THREE DIFFERENT TITLES: "More than a miracle", "Happily ever after" and finally, the most Americanized one of all, "Cinderella Italian Style".

So if anyone knows where I can watch this, I'll be very glad!

[babyskunkdoll]

Larme Magazine,

Take inspo from my new Cinderella outfit LOL

[hotvintagepoll]

which streaming service has the most vintage movies? If you don't know, maybe your followers could answer? 🙏

Ooh hoo hoo you asked and I'll answer!!

I actually made a post like this for the hot men tournament, but I can't find it now so I'll do it again from scratch. The short answer is that I don't know of any one streaming service that has all the old vintage movies—but most streaming services have a "classics" genre category that can get you started. Here's a small selection of what you can find on different streaming services:

TUBI (free):

The Adventures of Robin Hood (Olivia de Havilland)

A Streetcar Named Desire (Vivien Leigh)

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Jane Powell, Julie Newmar)

North by Northwest (Eva Marie Saint)

The Music Man (Shirley Jones)

The Women (Norma Shearer, Rosalind Russell, Joan Crawford, Joan Fontaine, Paulette Goddard, several other hotties in small parts)

The Philadelphia Story (Katharine Hepburn, Ruth Hussey)

Notorious (Ingrid Bergman)

Bell, Book, and Candle (Kim Novak, Elsa Lanchester)

The Talk of the Town (Jean Arthur)

Dark Victory (Bette Davis)

Stray Dog (Keiko Awaji)

Some Like It Hot (Marilyn Monroe)

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (Sophia Loren)

Dirty Girtie From Harlem USA (Francine Everett)

Passport (Madhubala)

Dark Passage (Lauren Bacall)

Sepia Cinderella (Sheila Guyse)

On The Town (Ann Miller, Vera-Ellen, Betty Garrett)

The Bandwagon (Cyd Charisse)

Devar (Sharmila Tagore)

Reet-Petite and Gone (June Richmond)

The Postman Always Rings Twice (Lana Turner)

KANOPY (free through some libraries):

Dial M for Murder (Grace Kelly)

His Girl Friday (Rosalind Russell)

Ball of Fire (Barbara Stanwyck)

Black Orpheus (Marpessa Dawn)

Flower Drum Song (Reiko Sato, Nancy Kwan, Miyoshi Umeki)

Marriage Italian Style (Sophia Loren)

The Rose Tattoo (Anna Magnani)

Tokyo Story (Setsuko Hara)

War and Peace (Audrey Hepburn, Anita Ekberg)

Salt of the Earth (Rosaura Revueltas)

Metropolis (Brigitte Helm)

The Red Shoes (Moira Shearer)

HOOPLA (free through some libraries):

The Court Jester (Angela Lansbury, Glynis Johns)

Sunset Boulevard (Gloria Swanson)

A Place in the Sun (Elizabeth Taylor)

Barefoot in the Park (Jane Fonda)

The Barefoot Contessa (Ava Gardner)

Wings (Clara Bow)

YOUTUBE (has a lot of older movies that have slipped through copyright/are still up for some reason):

Charade (Audrey Hepburn)

Story Weather (Lena Horne)

Gilda (Rita Hayworth)

Rebecca (Joan Fontaine)

This entire playlist of Indian cinema that I just found (Madhubala, Waheeda Rehman, Nargis, Meena Kumari, etc.)

And that's just a small sample. There is also always your local library for physical DVDs, the Internet Archive, and....other methods.....if you know exactly what you're looking for.

I haven't seen all of these movies, so don't consider them personal recommendations—these are just famous movies with our hotties in them, so please be careful if you have content warnings. Good luck and have fun!

EDIT 5/16: Added a few more movies to the different sections, but this is still just a small selection of what the different streaming services have. Good luck!

[tuttocenere]

if someone who knows literally nothing about opera whatsoever were interested in checking one out..... what would you recommend

Operas are wonderful and I am happy for that someone.

Picking an opera:

I personally think you can't really go wrong with the big Mozart operas (Don Giovanni, Nozze di Figaro, Zauberflöte, Entführung aus dem Serail). But maybe the person loves Russian literature and would prefer to see Pikovaya Dama. Or maybe they're already interested in baroque music and would love an opera by Gluck or Händel. Or maybe they know some famous tunes from Carmen or La Traviata and would like to hear those in context. Or they like a play or novel that happens to have been adapted into an opera.

If they have absolutely no point of reference I'd recommend digging around in operablr a bit and seeing if anything speaks to them, most of the popular operas and eras have their fans here.

Where to see it:

If it's an option, I would recommend going to the nearest opera house and seeing any famous and popular opera they're playing, ideally a few different ones.

If not, there are a lot of recordings online. There's operavision on youtube, medici.tv and other paid subscriptions, some of them offering free trials, and free broadcasts from various opera houses and TV stations. @princesssarisa and/or @leporellian had a good post of online resources some time ago, I can't find it right now.

Or just join tumblr user Antony @malcolm-f-tucker's opera streams every week! They're fun!

How to see it:

When you've picked an opera to see, I recommend reading a plot summary and maybe also some comments on the production in advance. Operas are often staged in a way that assumes you already know what happens, especially the most famous and popular ones. Or just go and let it wash over you, that's what I did as a student and it's why I still have no idea what happens in half the operas I've seen. Very enjoyable in its own way.

No but seriously what to see:

Karajan's Don Giovanni from 1987 (no subtitles)

Or this Don Giovanni from 2017 (French subtitles, this is not the 2017 DG that everyone loves): Part 1, Part 2

Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice from 2023 (Italian subtitles)

Bizet's Carmen on ARTE (has English subtitles)

Rossini's La Cenerentola (literally cinderella; has English subtitles)

(I tried to represent some diverse eras and styles but it's still me lol)

[princesssarisa]

The first of the Love Like Salt tales in Cinderella Tales From Around the World come from Italy, Germany, and Sweden.

We start with seven versions from Italy:

**One version, La Sendraroeula, is basically a perfect cross between Love Like Salt, Donkeyskin, and a conventional Cinderella. After the youngest princess says she loves her father like salt, the king orders a servant to kill her and bring back her heart, but the servant kills a sheep instead, then gives the princess a donkey skin wear as a disguise. She then meets a group of good witches, who give her a magic wand and a nut: whenever she taps the wand with the nut, her wishes will be granted, although the magic only lasts until midnight. Some time later, her father finds her in the woods while hunting, doesn't recognize her in the donkey skin, and takes her home with him out of pity. Thus she becomes a scullery maid in her own father's castle, under the gaze of her own two sisters. Then Carnival arrives, the older sisters attend three balls at a neighboring kingdom's palace, and the heroine goes too in magic finery. The prince falls in love with her, on the third night she runs out at midnight and loses a shoe... and you can guess the rest.

**In most of the Italian versions, the older sisters declare that they love their father "like bread" and "like wine." To some of us, these comparisons might seem just as "undaughterly" as "like salt," but the king accepts them, because bread is essential to life, and in Italian culture the same is considered nearly true for wine. In other versions, though, the sisters are more effusive and say they love their father "better than my eyes" and "better than my heart."

**The Italian versions also tend to have the king order his daughter killed, but a few have him just banish her. In one, The Value of Salt, he doesn't send her away at all, but just resolves to never see her again and has her live alone in a separate wing of the castle.

***The latter tale doesn't have a Cinderella/Donkeyskin-style plot or a love interest for the heroine, since the princess never leaves home or loses her status. One day she just orders the cook to make a supper without salt for her father, and this teaches him his lesson.

**Several Italian versions have the heroine disguise herself as an old woman when she goes to work at the other palace. In one, she meets a fairy who gives her a wand that lets her actually turn herself into an old woman. In another, more gruesomely, her faithful nurse buys the skin of an old woman who just died and has her wear it as a disguise. Either way, she goes to work in the kitchen or in the poultry-yard, but every night in her room she takes off her disguise, and eventually the prince sees her true beauty through the keyhole, a la Donkeyskin.

**In some versions, the heroine says she loves her father "like water and salt" – not only evoking the thing that gives food its flavor, but the thing most important to sustaining life.

**Another version, The Story of the Candlestick, is a "princess hides in a hollow object" variant, and unusually, her mother is still alive and helpful. When the king orders his daughter killed for saying she loves him like salt, the queen protects her by hiding her in a giant candlestick and selling it. The candlestick ends up in a prince's dining room, the princess secretly comes out and eats the prince's food every night before he gets home, etc.

**In yet another version, instead of having the king ask his daughters how much they love them, he sets out on a journey, and of course, asks his daughters what they'd like him to bring back. The older two sisters ask for clothing, of course, but the youngest asks for salt. The wicked sisters then convince their father that she plans to over-salt his food and make it taste terrible, so in a fit of extreme pettiness he banishes her. But when they finally reunite, she reveals that she only wanted the salt to make food taste good.

**Still another variant, The King of France, doesn't have a "love like salt" opening at all, but instead mirrors the Bible story of Joseph and his brothers. The princess has a dream that someday she'll become a great queen and that her father will bow down before her. To prevent this, her jealous father orders a servant to kill her, but he lets her go. A magician in the forest takes her in as his foster child, and the rest of the story is like Donkeyskin. The book only describes this story as a footnote rather than sharing it in full, because technically it's not a Love Like Salt tale, just similar.

*There are just two German versions, one long, one short.

**The longer tale is a lesser-known Brothers Grimm tale, The Goose Girl at the Well. (Not to be confused with the more famous, entirely different tale of The Goose Girl.) This story is a very unusual Love Like Salt variant, not least because the princess isn't the viewpoint character, nor does the Love Like Salt motif appear until the middle of the story, in a flashback to three years earlier. An old woman, rumored to be a witch, and her ugly daughter live in a solitary cottage in a the mountains, tending geese. One day a handsome young count enters the forest, meets the old woman, and kindly carries her heavy bundle for her: as they walk along it grows heavier and heavier, but the woman won't let him rest until they reach the cottage. Then to reward him for his hard work and kindness, she gives him a little book carved out of emerald. The count then travels to a royal palace, where he meets the king and queen and shows them the emerald book. When the queen opens it, revealing a pearl inside, she faints, then tells her family's backstory to the count. The king and queen had three daughters, and the youngest was the most beautiful, who wept pearls and jewels instead of tears. One day, to determine his daughters' inheritances, the king asked each one how much she loved him: the older two said "like the sweetest sugar" and "like my prettiest dress," but the youngest said "like salt," and for this the king banished her with only a sack of salt as her inheritance. Soon afterward he regretted his rash act and searched for her, but the princess was never found and has been missing for three years. Yet the pearl inside the emerald book looks just like one of the princess's tears. The count tells the king and queen about the old woman and the three of them set off to find her cottage again. As it turns out, the old woman's "daughter" is really the princess, disguised in a magical ugly skin. At night when the moon shines, she takes off the skin to reveal her true beauty and wash herself at the well near the cottage. When the count arrives, he sees her do so and falls in love. The king and queen soon follow and reunite with their daughter, the old woman vanishes, and the cottage transforms into a palace, where the count and the princess live happily ever after. The narrator remarks that the old woman was probably a "wise woman" (i.e. a fairy), who most likely gave the princess her gift of shedding pearl and jewel tears when she was born– a gift that "doesn't happen nowadays, or else the poor would soon become rich."

**The shorter German variant, As Dear as Salt, is another version that doesn't have a Donkeyskin element, or a romance, or even have the princess be banished. It simply says that the king is angry when his only daughter says she loves him "like salt," but a short time later, when he gives a grand feast, the princess tells the cook to serve all the food without salt, and this teaches the king his lesson.

*The one Swedish variant is called Salt and Bread. In this version, the princess's wicked older half-sisters slander her to their father out of jealousy and make him doubt her love for him, which inspires his fateful love test. The older two claim to love him "as God in heaven" and "as my life," and when the youngest says "as salt and bread," the king has her stripped naked and left in the forest to die. But a different kingdom's younger king finds her there, takes her home to his castle, falls in love with her, and marries her. After the princess (now queen) and her father reunite in the end, the old king has the two half-sisters left naked in the forest, and the narrator cheekily says "It has never been told that a king came and married them."

**It's interesting that this princess likens her father's value to bread as well as salt, meaning that he's "the staff of life" to her, and yet her father takes it as an insult because bread is so common. It contrasts with the Italian versions where one of the older sisters says she loves her father like bread, and he approves because he realizes it means she can't live without him.

Next we'll look at the versions from Belgium, France, Spain, and Portugal.

@ariel-seagull-wings, @adarkrainbow, @themousefromfantasyland

[fat-country-joestars]

Da gurls.

Green Dolphin Trailer Park:A large clump of trailers filled with slobs doing whatever stupid thing to pass the time.

Wallflower, Florida:A picture perfect small town filled with sights and food.

Colors and Shapes Insurance:A business usually terrorized by giant sized hicks with larger stacks of debt.

Name:Jolyne Kujo.

Main location:Green Dolphin trailer park, Southern Florida.

Weight:9,738lbs.

Bio:The most recent member of the extensive Joestar bloodline. Thanks to a series of changes in fate ended up using all her money to grow extensively fat and lazy. Willingly chilling in a trailer park over a mansion.

Name:Hermes Costello.

Main location:Green Dolphin trailer park, Southern Florida.

Weight:9,064lbs(it’s all her ass TBH)

Bio:Thanks to her sister not being killed she actually was able to get a track and field scholarship. Only to get injured on one of the biggest races of the season. Her knee now in a brace she tries to pay off her college debt with twerk streams.

Name:Gloria Costello

Main location:Wildflower, Southern Florida.

Weight:4,377lbs.

Bio:Owner of a small family restaurant and older sister of Hermes. Usually just trying to keep the restaurant afloat while helping her sister with food.

Name: Foo (usually referred to by Foo Fighters.)

Main location:Colors and Shapes insurance.

Weight:281lbs.

Bio:A thin no nonsense business woman who many fear and are aroused by. Most of her weight stored in her big swinging cock and hefty nuts. Usually stressed from the loud fatties in her office.

Name:Gwess.

Main location:Green Dolphin trailer park, Southern Florida.

Weight:7,538lbs.

Bio:A small time country singer who tries to use the least amount of equipment possible. Usually finding herself unable to work due to the insane noise from Hermes trailer.

Name:Anakiss.

Main location:Green Dolphin trailer park, Southern Florida.

Weight:109lbs.

Bio:A former convict locked up for making women immobile blobs and leaving them. After escaping and a miracle level sex change they now hide out among the other fatties here.

Name:Miuccia Miuller.

Main location:Green Dolphin trailer park, Southern Florida.

Weight:2,509lbs.

Bio:A history of poor cop performance and being the cop blamed the most for the escape of the Fast Food Fiend. She was fired from her position and ate herself into an intense debt. Fully embracing the pig life style.

Name:Miraschon.

Main location:Colors and Shapes insurance.

Weight:4,664lbs.

Bio:A gambler who took a well paying job to deal with extra expenses. Usually the one who has to shove her head beneath her desk to help Foo. Or the one who causes more money issues for the girls.

Name:Pearla Pucchi.

Main location:Wildflower, Southern Florida.

Weight:4,593lbs.

Bio:A girl who avoided a tragic fate thanks to her brothers intervention. She now quietly enjoys a steady job in the town and regularly grows pretty tan from working.

Name:Trish Una.

Main location:Wildflower, Southern Florida.

Weight:4,377lbs.

Bio:A heavily rich Italian woman who moved to the states for a young age retirement. She’s heavily pregnant to the point of ridiculous proportions. The father unknown by most.

Name:Aya Tsuji.

Main location:Morioh, Japan.

Weight:4,001lbs.

Bio:A semi-retired beauty stylist who’s branched out to other countries. Laying back and occasionally working her magic.

Name:Fujiko Fujiyama.

Main location:Wildflower, Southern Florida.

Weight:3,766lbs.

Bio:A shut in neet who makes manga in her free time. Working part time in the American branch of the Cinderella Beauty Salon.

Name:Shizuka Joestar.

Main location:Wherever lol.

Weight:1,476lbs.

Bio:A young influencer and adopted relative of Jolyne. Usually going around and talking about food based tourist attractions.

Name:Merlai Anne.

Main location:Wherever lol.

Weight:1,490lbs.

Bio:An older woman who usually hangs around with Shizuka and works on her video. A personal driver with very water absorbent diapers.

Name:Tomoko Kawajiri-Higashkitata.

Main location:Wildflower, Southern Florida.

Weight:3,227lbs.

Bio:A woman on the verge of being a grandmother that moved to America for good plastic surgery. Her tummy flat but her tits, ass, and lips blown up to uncontrollable proportions.

Name:Shinobu Kawajiri-Hihaskitata.

Main location:Wildflower, Southern Florida.

Weight:2,531lbs.

Bio:An elderly woman struggling to not be mocked by her hip contemporaries.

[eerna]

Hey eerna have you ever watched Cinderella the Cat? I watched it recently and thought of you, I'd thought the movie seems like something you'll like! It's a 2017 Italian adult animated crime drama animated movie with the premise of Cinderella (except it's DIFFERENT). I think the dark vibe and the animation style reminds me of Arcane and it's an adaptation of Cinderella like Cinder that made me think you might like it!

Oo ty, I haven't heard of it before!

[idkshititsjustme]

୨୧┆𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐞, 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 ꒱ ₊˚⊹ .ᐟ

Yes, i don't know how to make a carrd sooo here we go. Will not include anything that's on the bio <3

𐙚 𝐀𝐧𝐚: she/her, ENFP, bisexual, a minor, catholic, multifandom, brazillian that speaks portuguese and english and it's learning french, italian, finnish and russian. Very interessed in music (especially rock/metal), anything 80's related, good omens, foreign cultures, old/classic literature and more tons of stuff <3

𐙚 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐢 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞:

⋆ 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔: Queen, Kiss, Hanoi Rocks, Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard (top 5 bands), Poison, Cinderella, Ratt, Dokken, Faster Pussycat, Warrant, Europe, Van Halen, Def Leppard, L.A Guns, Skid Row, The Runaways, The Clash, Bikini Kill, The Raincoats, Hole, Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Babes In Toyland, L7, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Black Sabbath, Aerosmith, Iron Maiden, Guns N' Roses, Fleetwood Mac, ABBA, Bee Gees, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, Kreator, Slipknot, Kittie, Death, Pixies, The Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, Florence + The Machine, The Oh Hellos, Belle And Sebastian, Måneskin, Greta Van Fleet, Arctic Monkeys, The Neighbourhood and A LOT more <3

⋆ 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔: Taylor Swift, David Bowie, Laufey, Bob Dylan, Prince (top 5 singers), Hozier, Tamino, Sabrina Carpenter, Elton John, Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Elis Regina, Rita Lee, Patti Smith, Joni Mitchell, Françoise Hardy, Ozzy Osbourne, Madonna, Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Gianna Nannini, Kate Bush, Cyndi Lauper, Chappell Roan, Reneé Rapp, Melanie Martinez, Orla Gartland, Maya Hawke, Conan Gray, Olivia Rodrigo, Lana Del Rey, Phoebe Bridgers, Gracie Abrams, Tyler The Creator, SZA, Bruno Mars and A LOT more <3

𐙚 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐬: All the bands/singers i listed before (idk if it counts buuut), Good Omens, Hannibal, Dead Boy Detectives, Gilmore Girls, Stranger Things, Brooklyn 99, Jujutsu Kaisen, SK8 The Infinity, The Girl From The Other Side, Studio Ghibli, Disney movies, The Owl House, Bill and Ted, The Outsiders, The Lost Boys, Girl Interrupted, 10 Thins I Hate About You, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Scream, Mamma Mia, Skullgirls, Nom Nom Nami games, Alice Oseman books (ESPECIALLY Radio Silence) and A LOT more <3

𐙚 𝑩𝒀𝑭: i curse a lot (as u can see in the title and in my username), i make jokes abt some band members being fruity but I DON'T SHIP THEM, my sentences can have some spelling mistakes since english is not my native language, i talk A LOT about my music taste (like, more than anything), i may not be so active sometimes, i may talk abt some fictional ships i like (Aziracrow, Ineffable Burocracy, Renga, MatchaBlossom, NobaMaki, SatoSugu, etc) and i have mixed ass aesthetics

𐙚 𝑷𝑳𝑬𝑨𝑺𝑬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭: if you like at least 3 things i listed before, is/supports LGBT, supports Palestine

𐙚 𝑫𝑶𝑵'𝑻 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭: basic criteria (homoph0be, rac1st, s3xist, ne0naz1, etc), disrespects ANY religion/atheists/agnostics, toxic swiftie/livie/carpenter/conehead/fan of any artist i mentioned before, HATES on any artist i mentioned before, comshipper, supports Israel/Russia, reposts p0rn, radfem, EXTREMELY conservative, if you're less than 12 years old or more than 18 years old

𐙚 𝑰𝑫𝑪 (𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤): kpop/Ariana Grande/Harry Styles/The Weeknd/1D fan, BNHA/Naruto/One Piece/Dragon Ball/Bleach/etc fan, doesn't like some of the artists i listed before but doesn't HATE on them, reposts/posts NSFW art

𐙚 𝐅𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖 𝐌𝐄:

⋆ 𝑺𝑷𝑶𝑻𝑰𝑭𝒀:

⋆ 𝑷𝑰𝑵𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑬𝑺𝑻:

https://pin.it/1o1AEsd7Qhttps://pin.it/1o1AEsd7Q

⋆ 𝑳𝑬𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑩𝑶𝑿𝑫:

﹒⌗﹒💐﹒౨ৎ˚₊‧

[abirpothi]

Top 11 Castles in the United States

Exploring the United States reveals a surprising array of castles, each with its own unique charm and history. Whether nestled in scenic landscapes or standing proudly in bustling cities, these castles captivate visitors with their architectural grandeur and storied pasts. Here are the top 11 castles in the US that are a must-see for any castle enthusiast:

1. Biltmore Estate

Located in Asheville, North Carolina, the Biltmore Estate is America’s largest privately-owned home. Built by George Washington Vanderbilt II, this grand chateau features stunning architecture, expansive gardens, and a winery.

Biltmore Estate | Courtesy: Wikipedia

2. Hearst Castle

Perched atop a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean in San Simeon, California, Hearst Castle is a masterpiece of opulence. Built by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, it boasts lavish interiors, impressive art collections, and panoramic views.

Hearst Castle| Courtesy: Wikipedia

3. Castello Di Amorosa

Napa Valley’s Castello Di Amorosa transports visitors to medieval Tuscany. This authentically styled castle features a winery within its walls, offering tours and tastings amidst its impressive architecture and scenic vineyards.

Castello di Amorosa| Courtesy: Tripadvisor

4. Cinderella Castle

An icon of fantasy and magic, Cinderella Castle is the centerpiece of Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida. This fairy tale castle is beloved by visitors of all ages for its enchanting design and role in Disney storytelling.

Cinderella Castle| Courtesy: Tripadvisor

5. The Breakers

Located in Newport, Rhode Island, The Breakers is a symbol of the Gilded Age’s extravagance. This Vanderbilt mansion dazzles with its Italian Renaissance-inspired architecture, luxurious interiors, and oceanfront location.

The Breakers| Courtesy: Wikipedia

6. Iolani Palace

Situated in Honolulu, Hawaii, Iolani Palace is the only royal palace in the United States. Built in the 19th century, it served as the official residence of the Hawaiian monarchy and now stands as a National Historic Landmark.

Iolani Palace| Courtesy: Wikipedia

7. Montezuma Castle

In Camp Verde, Arizona, Montezuma Castle showcases remarkable ancient cliff dwellings. Built by the Sinagua people over 600 years ago, this well-preserved structure offers insights into Native American history and architecture.

Montezuma Castle National Monument| Courtesy: Wikipedia

8. Boldt Castle

Located on Heart Island in the Thousand Islands of New York, Boldt Castle is a testament to a tragic love story. Built by George C. Boldt as a tribute to his wife, this castle features romantic gardens, intricate stone masonry, and a captivating narrative.

Boldt Castle| Courtesy: Wikipedia

9. Bishop Castle

A remarkable feat of one man’s vision and determination, Bishop Castle in Colorado is a unique and evolving creation. Hand-built by Jim Bishop over several decades, this castle continues to grow in size and complexity, showcasing whimsical architecture and breathtaking views.

Bishop Castle| Courtesy: Wikipedia

10. Lyndhurst Mansion

Set amidst Tarrytown, New York’s picturesque landscape, Lyndhurst Mansion is a Gothic Revival masterpiece. Designed by Alexander Jackson Davis, it boasts elaborate interiors, scenic grounds, and a rich history dating back to the Gilded Age.

Lyndhurst (mansion) – Courtesy: Wikipedia

11. Bannerman Castle

Located on Pollepel Island along the Hudson River in New York, Bannerman Castle is a striking ruin-turned-tourist attraction. Built by Francis Bannerman VI as a private arsenal, it now offers guided tours showcasing its mysterious past and stunning riverside views.

Bannerman Castle | Courtesy: The New York Times

These 11 castles represent a diverse culture of American history, architecture, and culture. Each offers a unique glimpse into different eras and styles, from medieval-inspired wineries to grand Gilded Age mansions and even a fairy tale castle straight out of Disney. Whether you’re drawn to the opulence of Hearst Castle or the rugged charm of Bishop Castle, these destinations promise unforgettable experiences for castle enthusiasts and history buffs alike. Plan your visits to these remarkable sites and immerse yourself in the enchanting world of American castles.

[storkmuffin]

Oh what ballets have you gone too and would you recommend them? The ones I do want to go to havent been put up locally yet so im thinking of widening my horizons until im in a better position to travel.

OKAY Omg I'm so happy to spout off about this!!!!!!!

My absolute favorites are ballets by the choreographer Balanchine, who founded the New York City Ballet. To start I would recommend Serenade (Tchaikovsky music to die for), Concerto Barocco (Bach), Symphony in C (Bizet), Jewels and Chaconne as entries. He has GREAT leotard ballets set to modern classical music but you have to like dissonant or atonal music (like Hindemith) and have patience for no costumes no sets no story and only movement which is not friendly if you don't already know his style. He also made a wonderful Nutcracker and a Midsummer Nights Dream if you want a story ballet. The New York City Ballet owns that repertory but! The Paris Opera Ballet has for years been doing a FABULOUS job of it too as have Stuttgart Ballet.

I have been to 4 types of ballets (my own categorization) put up by the following companies - New York City Ballet and other Balanchine type ballet companies, the American Ballet Theater, the Marijnsky, the Bolshoi, the Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, the Paris Opera Ballet, the Korean National Ballet, Universal Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and the Bulgarian Varna Ballet too.

The four types of ballets are

1. Story ballets. 2. No story ballets 3. Modern ballets (sometimes story sometimes costume sometimes neither) 4. Total reworkings/Broadway adjacents

The Story ballets are Nutcracker, Giselle, Swan Lake, La Bayadere, Romeo and Juliet - that most companies will cycle through and put on. Oh Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty too - I like the English National and the Royal Ballet versions of these a lot.

The English, French, Danes and Russians all have very distinct styles from each other in terms of how they like to do movement and narrative using very similar steps and the same music so I would start anywhere and just dig in. I wish I could say stuff about the Italians like the Scala but I have only seen individual dancers like the IMMENSELY AMAZING Roberto Bolle and Alessandra Ferri doing guest spots with the ABT so I can't say.

The no story ballets are mostly Balanchine to me bc I see them as separate from the work of Jerome Robbins who sometimes had little plots and sometimes didn't.

These I would call Modern Ballets. Jerome Robbins is another WONDERFUL choreographer who is known for West Side Story which is sad bc I don't like those dances and his modern ballets are so much better! Like Afternoon of a Faun (two dancers meet in an empty rehearsal room and have a whole compact romance), Dances at a Gathering, Goldberg Variations. Fancy Free puts three Ballet boys in sailor outfits doing the cutest moves ever. He also made The Cage where female insects kill their males after mating. I recommend all of these but for Goldberg - the pianist can have a hard time lol.

Roland Petit made a Carmen for Paris Opera Ballet which is super sexy, which I also recommend.

Once you've seen a couple Swan Lakes - I would go with Bolshoi and Paris Opera just for comparison - and you like more Broadway type dancing you might want to watch Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake with boy swans. Completely reworked but so good.

I want to know more about Danish Ballet because of Bournonville- there's this wonderful friendly energy, a relaxed elegance to Danish Ballet that is very unique to that country but I haven't had that much chance.

Shading over into straight up modern dance, Twyla Tharpe made In the Upper Room which I saw danced by the American Ballet Theater which I found so cathartic I went into a crying jag of hysteria in the elevator down to the parking lot of Lincoln Center. Jerome Robbins also made a Ballet set to music by the same composer, Phillip Glass, Glass Pieces, which is so fun and feels very loving to New York City.

Uhh I think I have to stop even though I can say more. Anyway Ballet is great and I think everyone should go. Even bad Ballet performed badly is always worth it to me

[sayitdido]

zatanna zatara headcanons

just some headcanons i have that i wanted to share

i sometimes imagine her with a body like this but i also like the way she is drawn

she is not goth but preferably dresses in black and her style is rather elegant

she loves wonder girls, it is her favorite group ever. even met with yenny once

she questions herself often for dating john constantine with a disgust

she secretly admires talia al ghul even though they don't get along famously

her fandom membership is expensive but worth every penny

she does not hide her identity but you know in cinderella, fairy god mother says her that people can't recognize her, the same thing happens due to a spell casted by herself

she went to middle east to study magic

i know she is italian homo magi but i sometimes think her as kurdish cuz i want and need representation so bad don't judge

most of her time is wasted due to supernatural things in small towns like in uzumaki or stranger things

she only uses instagram, hates twitter

her favorite artists at the moment are rina sawayama and chloe&halle bailey

ps: these are just headcanons, so don't get mad and about the identity thing i have never come across this being discussed in the comics i have read but i haven't read everything so if i am mistaken, feel free to correct

[simmie-stories]

Gen 2. Cinderella #5 The Vineyard Tea

Drizella: "You made it! Come see our new horse!"

Lady Madonna: "Come inside, dear. We'll have some tea first.

Florian: "Thank you for the invitation. It's just what Ella needs at this time.”

Ella: "Your house is so beautiful." Anastasia: "Oh, I'm sure it's nothing special like your castle." Drizella: "Quiet, Anastasia!"

Lady Madonna was pretending to be a homemaker.

Florian: "That smells delectable." Madonna: "Ah, Florian - it'll be just a moment."

(The kitchen caught on fire... I think Florian's a walking matchstick. It wasn't in my plan, so after that was dealt with, it was too late to go meet the horse.)

Anastasia: "You must be the luckiest girl in the world... what's it like to be a princess?" Ella: "Uh, no not at all. I am just like any other girl."

Lucifer was not pleased with the burnt cake (we're going to pretend it was just Lady Madonna's awful cooking skills).

When they arrived back at the castle, Ella needed to relieve her stress... what an awkward conversation...

Somehow, though, she got this sentiment:

"I'm sorry, Snow... this isn't what I wanted. But I have been ill ever since that day you left, and I don't think I'll be able to watch over Ella much longer."

"There's nothing between me and Madonna, but I'm thinking of proposing a marriage of convenience. Ella seems to look up to her, and Madonna would be a good stepmother to her. You're still my True Love... you'll forgive me, right?" (Truly... I couldn't get any romance going between Madonna and him, because of his loyal trait and he was so depressed, not only from Snow's death but from his old horse Valentino's death. Not to mention, she was Mean and kept arguing with him. She had a personality change and became High Maintenance instead.)

Italian Family Vineyard by @jessicapieyt (EA ID) This was exactly what I was looking for (thank you!!) to use as future-Lady-Tremaine's household in Tartosa: Tartosa style, nectar-making, horse training, and a space for an attic. I made minor modifications on exterior for later gameplay purposes, and redecorated the interior as usual, to fit the family style and needs. Full interior layout in a later post.

Drizella Tremaine by #miliaah (gallery ID, part of the household Tremaine, includes Lucifer, a Persian-Tuxedo mix) Anastasia Tremaine by #sil_guez (gallery ID) (I aged them down to children)

Main Back Next

[rcsplendent]

☼☾  (  havana  rose  liu  ,  30  ,  she/they  ,  demi-woman  ,  grey  3  )  -  have  you  seen  ophelia  grey?    we’ve  heard  through  the  grapevine  that  they’re  witty  but  also  meticulous.  when  you  think  of  them,  you  think  of  freshwater  pearl  hairpins  keeping  waterfall  tresses  into  place,  the  whalebone  structure  of  an  emerald  green  corset,  delicate  fingertips  swiping  ruby-red  rouge  onto  freckled  cheeks  &  plush  lips. 

tws: parental death.

parallels  :  jo march  (  little women  )  ;  claire  (  the bear  )  ;  asami  (  the legend of korra  )  ;   margot tenenbaum  (  the royal tenenbaums  )  ; cinderella  (  disney  )

BASIC  INFO

FULL  NAME:  ophelia jane grey

NICKNAMES:  ' phe, ' used mostly by her loved ones.

AGE:  thirty

GENDER & PRONOUNS:  demi-woman, she/they

ORIENTATION:  bisexual & biromantic.

LANGUAGE(S)  SPOKEN:  primary  — english;  roughly conversational  —  french, spanish, italian

VOICE / ACCENT:  british accent ; soft-spoken but expressive.  bright in tonality & sometimes laced with nervous laughter. ( click for example ).

TEMPERAMENT:  sanguine

ALIGNMENT:  lawful good

ZODIAC:  scorpio sun, pisces moon, libra rising

LABEL:  the bleeding heart ;  one who is dangerously softhearted & vulnerable, despite being aware of the fact that it exposes them to anguish.

APPEARANCE  &  PERSONALITY

FACE  CLAIM:  havana rose liu

HEIGHT:  five feet, five inches

HAIR:  very long ( waist length ), light brown & wildly curly ( click for examples: one, two, three ). she likes to experiment with styling it: sometimes pulling it into a neat ponytail to keep her hands free while working, tying it into a braid, or tying it back with a ribbon.

EYES:  verdant green.

USUAL  EXPRESSION:  a wistful smile & eyes alight with curiosity. usually wearing a light amount of makeup, such as lip rouge. 

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES:  her hair, which is usually the first thing people notice about her.

POSITIVE  TRAITS:  kindhearted,  witty,  humorous,  vulnerable,  selfless,  creative,  lively

NEGATIVE  TRAITS:  softhearted,  naive,  perfectionistic,  anxious,  stubborn,  scatterbrained

THINGS  TO  KNOW

you are a being of abundance, of giving, of selflessness.

you might've inherited that from your birth parents. you don't remember them, but they were good people. your birth father was a royal english knight, and your mother a field nurse who had traveled from her homeland of china to study at the royal college of surgeons. that's how they met, actually; she patched up a wound of his on the sidelines of an intense battle, and the rest is history. they were madly in love, & the fairytale ending they had envisioned for themselves was sweet: leaving the war together, having a child. it's a shame, really, that such good people could meet such a sorrowful fate. their idealistic future was robbed from them before it could ever materialize. your father was killed in battle just before you were born, & the stress of it all was too much on your mother's body — she passed in childbirth not long after.

despite the tragedy that had struck so suddenly, there was no question in who would care for you upon their passing. your father was a grey, & his brother ( the eldest son of their generation ) and his wife had been named your godparents long before you were born. & while nobody would wish for that title to ever come in handy, upon your birth parents' passing, your uncle & aunt proved their loyalty to their loved ones & adopted you. nobody in your family has ever considered you a cousin — a grey is a grey.

you were raised as one, too. the greys have been in service to the throne for centuries, & it was expected of you to find a role to fall into, something you didn't mind in the slightest. you've always been task-oriented & having something meaninful to dedicate yourself to made perfect sense to you. becoming a lady-in-waiting was the most likely route, but you surprised your family by taking a liking to art — drawing, painting, sculpture & the like. they thought you might become a portrait artist for the royals at first. but you really found something special when, the summer of your thirteenth year, you stumbled into the chambers of the royal seamstress. you stayed there for hours, & came back the next day, & the next. eventually, you became her apprentice, & picked up the skills so quickly that you were sewing entire dresses on your own by the wintertime.

&, god, you're good at it. you have an eye for the details — emerald green jacquard against deep ruby silk linings; delicate lace at the edges of teal-blue velvet bodices; gold filagree hand-embroidered on the collars of the princes' jackets. by now, nearly all of the dresses & suits worn by the royal family have been touched by your hands, either created from scratch or edited to their liking. & you love doing it, too — not only because you get to do what you're passionate about, but you also love the mundane day-to-day of it, ushering the royals in for fittings & chatting with them about their lives. 

when queen defne arrived in england, you quickly took a liking to her, & once she married the king, you graciously accepted another role as her lady-in-waiting, happy to accompany her in all of her royal duties. you only requested one stipulation: that you would be allowed to continue your work as a dressmaker, which the royals agreed to with zero hesitance. you receive commissions from all over the world, now — it's somewhat surreal, seeing your work on so many bodies since you've arrived in france; dresses & coats you worked on ages ago reappearing on the princes & princesses who have come to the summit.

it's what fuels you, seeing your work on such proud display. being in france has allowed you more opportunity than ever to create — in the hours you're not accompanying queen defne, you're in the seamstresses' chambers, working nonstop for the guests & patrons of the summit, repairing torn skirts or creating entire garments from scratch. 

& you know, down to your bones, that this is what you're meant to do. for as long as you've known yourself, you've known that your purpose on this earth is to create. you've always felt like your soul is too big for your body — like you're bursting at the seams, overflowing with light & love & creativity. what's the use in living if you aren't meant to share in it?

HEADCANONS

tl;dr: ophelia is a dressmaker ! & she's very, very good at it. she makes almost all of the garments worn by the english royals & now that she's in france, acts as a sort of seamstress for all of the guests. 

she's a deeply creative soul — when she's not working in the seamstresses' workshop, she's probably off painting somewhere, or collecting flowers to press or turn into natural fabric dye. she also loves pottery, & has a collection of vases & pots she's made.

she is, by birth, a cousin of the greys, but her birth father passed before she was born & her mother passed in childbirth. her father's brother, the patriarch of the current generation, adopted her without question. she knows the story of her birth parents, as her adoptive parents ( her uncle especially, who grieved his brother's death deeply ) wanted her to know them as intimately as possible.

she is a lady-in-waiting to the queen alongside being a royal dressmaker.

she's a very open-hearted person, & is oftentimes too vulnerable for her own good. the kind of person who's just in love with life. y'know that quote that's like, " you'll trudge & fight & scream & cry your way through life, & then beg for seconds " ? that's her.

she tends to be a bit uncouth & rambunctious for a ~lady~. wild hair; a big, bright laugh; vulgar vocabulary ( when she's not around the queen, of course ). she's also very witty & has a very dry sense of humor.

despite being a dressmaker, she is not usually dressed very ornately — white cotton dresses & skirts with her hair unstyled n whatnot.

WANTED CONNECTIONS

new friends: !!!!! she's a lover at heart. pls !

clients: idk what else to call it, but basically just people she's making garments for ! or folks who frequently need their clothes repaired.

a lady squad: just some girlies she can hang out & do rambunctious un-ladylike things with !

a best friend: pls !!!! can be a new person that she got along with so quickly that they're basically besties now, or someone she's known since childhood. or both !!!

lichrally anything else bc i'm a plot whore thx bye !!!!

[heavenboy09]

Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊  To 1 Of Britain's Most Distinguished & Dedicated Actors Of The Golden Age Of Acting Of Our Times.

He is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades and is considered a British film icon. He has received various awards including two Academy Awards, a BAFTA, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. As of 2017, the films in which He has appeared have grossed over $7.8 billion worldwide. He is one of only five male actors to be nominated for an Academy Award for acting in five different decades. In 2000, he received a BAFTA Fellowship and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to cinema.

Born On March 14th, 1933 Maurice Joseph Micklewhite on 14 March 1933 at St Olave's Hospital in Rotherhithe, London, England. His English mother, Ellen Frances Marie (née Burchell; 1900–1989), was a cook and charwoman, while his father, also named Maurice Joseph Micklewhite (1899–1956), was a fish market porter of Romani, English and Irish heritage. He was brought up in his mother's Protestant faith.

He had an elder maternal half-brother named David William Burchell, and a younger full brother, Stanley Micklewhite. He grew up in Southwark, London, and during the Second World War was evacuated 100 miles (160 km) north to North Runcton near King's Lynn in Norfolk, where he made his acting debut at the village school and had a pet carthorse called Lottie. After the war, his father was demobilised, and the family were rehoused by the council in Marshall Gardens at the Elephant and Castle in a prefabricated house made in Canada, for much of London's housing stock had been destroyed during the Blitz in 1940–1941:

At the age of 10, He acted in a school play as the father of the ugly sisters in Cinderella. His fly was undone and he got a laugh, and he took on acting based on the laugh. In 1944, He passed his eleven-plus examination, winning a scholarship to Hackney Downs School (formerly The Grocers' Company's School). After a year there he moved to Wilson's Grammar School in Camberwell (now Wilson's School in Wallington, London), which he left at 16 after gaining a School Certificate in six subjects. He then worked briefly as a filing clerk and messenger for a film company in Victoria Street and film producer Jay Lewis in Wardour Street.

Often playing a Cockney, He made his breakthrough in the 1960s with starring roles in British films such as Zulu (1964), The Ipcress File (1965), The Italian Job, and Battle of Britain (both 1969).

During this time he established a distinctive visual style wearing thick horn-rimmed glasses combined with sharp suits and a laconic vocal delivery; he was recognized as a style icon of the 1960s. He solidified his stardom with roles in Get Carter (1971), The Last Valley (1971), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), and A Bridge Too Far (1977).

He received two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for his roles as Elliot in Woody Allen's comedy Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), and as Dr. Wilbur Larch in Lasse Hallström's drama The Cider House Rules (1999). His other Oscar-nominated films include Alfie (1966), Sleuth (1972), Educating Rita (1983), and The Quiet American (2002). Other notable performances include in the films California Suite (1978), Dressed to Kill (1980), Mona Lisa (1986), Little Voice (1998), Quills (2000), Children of Men (2006), and Youth (2015).

He is also known for his performance as Ebenezer Scrooge in The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), and for his comedic roles in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), Miss Congeniality (2000), Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), and Secondhand Lions (2003).

He portrayed Alfred Pennyworth in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005–2012). He appeared in Nolan's films The Prestige (2006), Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014) and Tenet (2020). He also appeared in the actions films Now You See Me (2013), and Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014).

For More Then 7 Seven Decades He Has Graced The Silver Screen & Theater Plays Time & Time & Time Again & To This Very Day.

He Is Undoubtedly The Best British Actor To Day Other Then Noticeable Legendaey British Actors such as Sir Patrick Stewart & Sir John Hurt

Please Wish This Most Outstanding & Distinguished Actor Of The UK 🇬🇧 A Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊

You Know Him.  You Love Him

The 1  & The Only

SIR MICHAEL CAINE  🇬🇧

HAPPY 90TH BIRTHDAY 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊 TO YOU SIR CAINE & HERE'S TO YOU MAKING 100 IN THE YEARS TO COME

[beforeiread-studies]

A possible chronology for this exam season:

Today is 20.12.2022.

Finish writing my German Literature essay by Christmas (this gives me 2 days to read everything + 3 to write it)

Start studying for Italian Literature + studying 1 German text a day (for the German "Literature" exam) [that gives me almost 3 weeks to study Ita Lit before the exam -> Study for Modern History if I have time left]

12.01: Attend Modern History & Germanic Philology exam to listen to the style of the questions

13.01: Pass Italian Literature exam (+ deadline for German "Lit" essay)

Study for German Language exam

16.01: Pass German Language exam

Study for German "Literature" exam + Read the material for Modern History Exam + listen to the lecture recordings

26.01: Attend Modern History exam to listen to the style of the questions

27.10: Pass German "Literature" exam

Full-on study for Modern History exam + study a bit for Germanic Philology

30.01: Attend Germanic Philology exam to listen to the style of the questions

09.02: Pass Modern History exam

Full-on study Germanic Philology for 3 days

13.02: Pass Germanic Philology exam

Celebrate.

It's doable. It will be a full time, but a doable time and hopefully now a stressful time. Now I need to add this to my bullet journal to really visualize it and spend the rest of the day reading essays about Grimm's Cinderella.

[princesssarisa]

The Top 40 Most Popular Operas, Part 2 (#11 through #20)

A quick guide for newcomers to the genre, with links to online video recordings of complete performances, with English subtitles whenever possible.

Johann Strauss II's Die Fledermaus

The most famous Viennese operetta, a rollickling comedy set amid Vienna's high society.

Studio film, 1971 (Eberhard Wächter, Gundula Janowitz, Renate Holm, Waldemar Kmennt, Wolfgang Windgassen; conducted by Karl Böhm)

Mozart's Cosí Fan Tutte

A comedy of romantic partner-swapping, its cynical libretto juxtaposed with Mozarts sublime music.

Zürich Opera, 2009 (Malin Hartelius, Anna Bonitatibus, Javier Camarena, Ruben Drole, Martina Janková, Oliver Widmer; conducted by Franz Welser-Möst)

Verdi's Aida

The quintessential "grand opera": a tragedy of love vs. duty and country amid the pomp and pageantry of ancient Egypt, which inspired the Elton John/Tim Rice musical of the same name.

St. Margarethen Opera Festival, 2004 (Eszter Sümegi, Kostadin Andreev, Cornelia Helfricht, Igor Morosow; conducted by Josef Pancik)

Humperdinck's Hänsel & Gretel

The quintessential "children's opera," based on the classic fairy tale.

Studio film, 1981 (Brigitte Fassbaender, Edita Gruberova, Sena Jurinac, Hermann Prey, Helga Dernesch; conducted by Georg Solti)

Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore (The Elixir of Love)

A sweet romantic comedy in the Italian bel canto style.

Vienna State Opera, 2005 (Rolando Villazon, Anna Netrebko, Leo Nucci, Ildebrando d'Arcangelo; conducted by Alfred Eschwé)

Puccini's Turandot

A dark fairy tale of love and deadly riddles in ancient China: controversial in its Orientalism, but with thrilling music, including the ever-famous tenor aria "Nessun dorma."

Opera Hong Kong, 2018 (Oksana Dyka, Alfred Kim, Valeria Sepe, George Andguladze; conducted by Paolo Olmi)

Die Lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow)

Another iconic example of Viennese comic operetta.

Metropolitan Opera, 2014 (Renée Fleming, Nathan Gunn, Kelli O'Hara, Alek Shrader, Thomas Allen; conducted by Andrew Davis) (sung in English)

Act I, Act II, Act III

Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin

The most famous of all Russian operas, based on Alexander Pushkin's great verse novel of unrequited love.

Kirov Opera, 1984 (Sergei Leiferkus, Tatiana Novikova, Yuri Marusin, Larissa Diadkova; conducted by Yuri Temirkanov)

Verdi's Nabucco

The grand Biblical opera, based on the story of Nebuchadnezzar, that first launched Verdi to fame.

St. Margarethen Opera Festival, 2007 (Igor Morosow, Gabriella Morigi, Bruno Ribiero, Elisabeth Kulman, Simon Yang; conducted by Ernst Märzendorfer) (click CC for subtitles)

Rossini's La Cenerentola (Cinderella)

The world's most famous fairy tale reimagined as a "realistic" comedy of manners with sparkling bel canto music.

Studio film, 1981 (Frederica von Stade, Francisco Araiza, Paolo Montarsolo, Claudio Desderi, Paul Plishka; conducted by Claudio Abbado)