#opera liveblog

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

Faust (Buenos Aires, 2016): Reactions, Part I

sorry it took so long on the turnaround everyone: work and life got a little busier than i planned last week lol

that’s a big chalkboard

depressed santa

psa within the unrelated psa that is this opera: if you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, PLEASE reach out for help. you are loved. life will get better.

addendum to the psa (that IS related to the psa of the opera): do NOT, however, call on satan if you are experiencing suicidal thoughts.

this is the end of the psa (for now)

satan just takin’ a little stroll through the audience!

how are you doubting his power when he just magically showed up right after YOU invoked him

look, he’s a tenor, he HAS to want the soprano(s) first

okay that’s actually kinda clever: méphisto shows faust the vision but we the audience are not privy to it

poof! look! a horny young tenor!

“corrupting a soul! ooh! this will be fun!”

nice chorus costume palette!!!

girls and fortresses are NOT the same nor should they be treated the same

also: why is the choreography PAINFULLY giving “high school musical theatre”

intimidation

giving siébel a sweater vest and glasses is Objectively Correct

“and now let us take off our hats for the Baritone National Anthem”

ONE OF THE GREATEST VILLAIN BANGERS RIGHT HERE, EVERYONE

what are you doing to my poor boy

tfw the new guy at the party is acting like a creepy stalker

why is it a gun? how’s he gonna ward off méphisto with that?

or that works too

well at least he nabbed a couple of méphisto’s assistants i guess

okay, so a bit of a tangent here:

i’ve never read the goethe but in boito’s mefistofele, the whole shtick is that mefistofele is trying to steal away a soul from god and that soul is faust’s. but here méphisto is talkin’ about marguerite and how SHE is directly protected by god, and of course bad boy here is gonna corrupt HER as well over the next few acts.

so a) is this idea of “satan trying and ultimately failing to steal souls held in particularly high esteem by god just for the satisfaction of getting one over on god” a theme in the goethe and b) did gounod/his librettists (“savannah the opera is not based directly on goethe” i know) and boito just put it in their operas but used opposite characters to do so?

anyway back to the opera

she pwetty (also what is that snack)

get ‘im

“you don’t have to respect her boundaries or choices, y’know” stop iiiiiiiiiiiiiit

long live the party! (also love the demon assistants closing the curtains lol)

[monotonous-minutia]

La Belle Hélène (Paris, 2000) reactions, Act 1

not sure how far I will get after spending several hours on the washer/dryer situation but here goes nothing. I fucking love this opera and this production is just the best.

iconic

also let it be known Felicity Lott was one of my first diva crushes

her expressions give me life

Offenbach and Pelly both just know what to do with a spunky little chorus

this guy cracks me up

she’s so adorable

hahahahaa

I love this kid so much and this aria is ridiculous in the best way

I can’t get over how hilarious it is to see Orestes portrayed like this given the way we see him in every other telling ever

having the chorus be a group of tourists is such a silly idea but it works so well with this production

I love this guy also this chorus is just the boppiest bop in the whole opera

this is so ridiculous lol

I love how this one line becomes an entire chorus

omg

this whole chorus and the staging is just the best

no ulterior motives whatsoever

poor guy barely knows what’s going on

okay that’s about all the energy i have for today, stay tuned for the rest

[beckmessering]

not-live-blogging chéreau’s walküre (1976-ish)

buckle up because few productions make my brain go as feral as this one, and 'tis a good day to go hog-wild on the internet

ACT I

siegmund is traumatised from 0.1 seconds in. objectively correct

not-at-all-subtle staring going on here

“LET ME LEAVE” “NO”

well. that is an announcement to make.

i kind of really want to know what she says?? is she telling him who’s coming? is she instructing him on what (not) to do??? 

siegmund. darling. your host already hates you. shut the fuck up <3

siegmund, we sit AT tables, not ON tables, while recounting seeing your mother’s dead body, but ok

BISEXUAL CHAOS CHILD!! (that has experienced a scarring amount of neglect/abandonment/violence already and he’s not even done talking)

hunding. we do NOT poke at our teeth while the houseguest recalls his extremely troubling youth. that is RUDE

YES girl manipulate your husband. sieglinde’s cleverness is so understated but this girl is a very smart cookie. we stan <3

matti salminen had five minutes to make hunding a scary bastard and understood the task 

the host has just announced his intention to kill him at dawn, is making him sleep in the kitchen, he has a crush, and he’s once again kind of about to cry. also objectively correct

Traumatic Childhood Reveal, Number Two: underage girl is married off to an openly abusive husband after being kidnapped as a little girl

wotan, u came to your underage daughter’s WEDDING and did NOTHING?! (not that surprising from the man who abandoned his young son alone in the forest but. hey)

they are delightful (and probably also touch-starved) and no one is allowed to say otherwise

get u someone the way these two hold on to each other <3 also this line?? kills me. sieglinde gets the BEST lines ok?!

a metaphor for self-recognition yes yes yes but on the very practical level: this is the first time both of them find another person with a similar scope of life experiences who actually understands them, so no wonder they fall in love

we appreciate the incorporation of physics when pulling a sword out of a tree

YES YES YES RUN AWAY TOGETHER

honestly. yes it’s against the law but the laws of this world have literally only ever caused them both undeserved misery so. fuck the law, go be happy

--

(at this point i went to get dinner and pretend everything stays this happy for a little while longer. also, i need to learn how to gif things because this act desperately needs to be gif’d. i cannot explain in words just HOW MANY delightful and thoughtful acting things they do (consistency is at like 13/10 here), how very chaotic siegmund’s energy is, how very wonderful sieglinde is, and just how much you can’t not root for these two.)

[operacascadia]

The Cunning Little Vixen, Final Part

The forester, now elderly, sits down and reminisces.

He thinks about the day of his wedding. And might I say, it's refreshing in opera for an older man to sing about how much he loves his wife.

He muses on time and aging. At this point in the opera, I'm typically in tears, and this version was no exception.

He looks with fondness at (what I presume are) his children and grandchildren.

He sets his gun down, and sees the baby vixen. The vixen chases a frog who lands on his face. The frog says, "my grandaddy told me all about you."

The forester sets the frog down, sits back, and smiles.

I think that animation is a really interesting way of performing this opera, and I think it really works. I'm just sad about the cuts, particularly the penultimate scene of the opera.

[lorillee]

was talking about this with my good friend goosewhisker not too long ago and like. okay. okay . if phoenix's metal detector worked on manfreds shoulder. could you IMAGINE what Von Karma Airplane Trips were like. they spend like 500 years in security because every single time manfred trips off the metal detector and he has like papers and everything about the stupid bullet but its always such a hassle and miles and franziska never actually find out why manfred always gets stopped at security because its just one of those things that as a child you never really question and then like 10 years later theyre at the airport and franziska brings up how annoying it was to sit on the other side of the metal detector while manfred was arguing with the guards for 3 hours every single time and nonchalantly wonders why that was anyway and miles is like "haha yeah" and thinks about it for half a second and then it Clicks and hes just . oh . oh. oh. okay. okay. that entire insignificant bit of my childhood has now been massively recontextualized in a direction. also important to note here that phoenix's conjecture on manfred not taking the bullet out because of the possibility of leaving a paper trail is frankly ridiculous because manfred has plenty of money and connections and there is no way he couldnt have found some backwater doctor to take this thing out with a bribe. the correct answer is that he simply chose to keep the bullet in his shoulder because he is clinically insane particularly in regards to literally anything to do with dl-6.

[cmbdragon98]

It was a mistake to try figuring out why people are so hesitant about the new star wars show.

The dudebros are reactionary, and only know how to repeat like, one joke based off of the beginning quotes of the trailer, ad infinitum.

Portions of tumblr star wars enjoyers are Too hung up on the whole..... anti/pro jedi mindset, falling into their own weird reactionary pitfall.

Fools, all of you.

Have you no simple adoration for Carrie-Anne Moss??? Dafne Keen??? Amandla Stenberg??? Fuck ton of lightsabers? The one cute alien youngling? What looks like a Star Wars mystery whodunit?

Fuck, you know what. You guys can just watch Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) eight times. Oh my god. I'm so over it.

[trickster-tabby]

I'm really fucked up tonight so imma liveblog Repo! The Genetic Opera

To anyone that hasn't seen it, tw for potential talk of gore and/or sex

[w1ng-gl0ss]

Finally getting around to watching Repo, ill liveblog for your viewing pleasure

I dont think i need to spoiler any of this, considering it came out in the lovely year of 2008, so consider this your one and only spoiler warning?

Anyways

Intro scene art is beautiful, as always, and the color palettes for this are to die for

[drfrankensteinvsthequeerborgs]

sometimes I forget how surprisingly central to 2000s horror Paris Hilton is, like between House of Wax, Supernatural, and Repo! she really does bring a camp factor that every good horror film needs

[siena-sevenwits]

Blogging books and such as I go is something that shocks me again and again with how much I enjoy it. I doubt I'll ever make a habit of it because I'm not the most successful at long-range habit forming. But that hardly matters - I can enjoy picking it up again and again.

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

Der Ring des Nibelungen: Die Walküre (Bayreuth, 1980): Reactions, Part II

and we continue!!!

@beckmessering​

we love a good pendulum! (and prelude)

yeah hunding doesn’t deserve valhalla

BRÜNNHILDE HAS ARRIVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tfw you’re in the middle of your dad’s disputes with his wife

wotan: “maybe i wouldn’t have fucked erda if i knew that i’d have even ONE daughter who constantly sang ‘hojotoho’ at top volume RIGHT BY MY EAR”

i want that dress

GIRLIE NO DON’T HELP *HUNDING*

i mean honestly? kinda valid

also fair

…ouch

hear me out: what if the existence of the divine and human free will AREN’T incompatible???

WHAT NO

noooooooooooooooooooooo

“…uh, did i interrupt something”

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

no love lost here

why did that skirt swoosh feel almost PERSONALLY OFFENSIVE

the PAIN

previously on the Ring… (but it actually works here for the story)

donald mcintyre is just *chef’s kiss*

OOF.

she fights for LOVE, which is honestly the best kind of fighting

YES GIRLIE GO OFF

WOTAN WHAT THE FUCK

she knows inside what she has to do

even though it hurts

they are…not doing well at the moment!

he’s trying his best tho

she can’t forgive herself

and she’s TRAUMATIZED

nonononono

oh BUDDY

gotta break the news somehow

she can end his suffering…

okay ngl he’s kind of a snack

and now for a commercial about valhalla

…but he can’t take his true love with him

and that’s a dealbreaker

even in the middle of this argument, his main concern is that she sleeps okay 🥺

not to make everything about the operas i’m perpetually thinking about, but definitely to make wagner roll in his grave…this is *so* les huguenots (giacomo meyerbeer, 1836) coded

she’s trying her best

SIEGMUND NO

she’s convinced

and she’s going to follow her gut and fight for her belief in love

i wanna hug them both so badly

oh HONEY

it starts…

LEAVE HER ALONE

YES BRÜNNHILDE

FUCK YOU WOTAN

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

heart: broken

if she can’t save one at least she can save the other

this boy is in AGONY

you can HEAR the pain in his voice

“orrrrrrrrrr just flop down on top of siegmund. whatever”

LEAVE BRÜNNHILDE ALONE

buddy you fucked up BIG time

[monotonous-minutia]

Les Huguenots (La Monnaie, 2022) reactions, Act V

the crosses falling on the floor was the sound of the gunshot im losing my mind a little Mr. Py 

seriously the sets and set changes in this show are just amazing

my god

it starts

i seriosuly can’t even with these sets

NEVERS

no stop chasing him leave him alone

NO NO NO NO

nooooooooo

reunited

it’s bad

Valentine returns

his sheer defiance and devotion in this moment

his reaction when he finds out Nevers is dead im crying

and we are allowed of all 3 seconds to mourn

everyone’s just so sad and it is only going to keep getting worse from here

wait no don’t go

she gives up everything for true love what else is left for her in this world :(

he’s so happy he gets to marry the love of his life

aww

holding it the right way

every time the women start singing i just get chills

a tiny bit of happiness amid the senseless tragedy

noooo

the happiness so fleeting

seriously fuck these guys

continuing to use the crosses as weapons is just devastating and every time the people get shot down they stand back up and keep singing

they sing no more :(

more excellent lighting choices

my heart is breaking

he knows what’s going to happen and yet he stays

now HE’S here

they’re all so brave i know what’s going to happen next I can’t handle this

SHE’S STILL STANDING

FUCK THIS GUY

he doesn’t deserve her mercy but she gives it anyway

NOOOOOOO

the way the opera ends with them continuing their murder song just kills me

the way the camera pans out in time with the final notes im fucking dead

no im not okay

[operacascadia]

The Cunning Little Vixen, Part 3

So, after their night of passion, the vixen is preggers.

So, only one thing to do: get the priest bird to marry them. Followed by a big dance that ends act 2 of the opera.

Act three starts off with a confrontation between the forester and Harasta the poacher.

The forester sets a trap using a dead rabbit. And soon, the progeny of the vixen appear:

They see right through the trap. The vixen and the fox talk about how many children they plan to have.

The vixen has a confrontation with the poacher. She attacks him and draws first blood, but he gets in a lucky shot and kills the vixen.

At this point, there is a major cut: an entire scene with the forester and the schoolmaster at the inn, where the forester consoles the schoolmaster on his broken heart, and sings about how his old dog can barely get up anymore. It doesn't add anything to the plot, but it's all about establishing a wistful atmosphere for the final scene.

[lorillee]

i might make a post about it later but sebastian is actually a kind of interesting foil for franziska and miles. like its pretty clear that franziska didnt become a prosecutor specifically for manfreds approval (see: miles' comment on her always having been a prosecutor) and likewise with edgeworth (see: his statement on his motivation for becoming a prosecutor having been to chase down criminals after what happened to gregory), but throughout the flashback case in investigations 1 it is so obvious that both of them desperately crave manfred's approval even to the point of competing over it. while this competition follows the usual format of franziska insisting on something and miles passively going along with it as opposed to actively engaging, he spends the entire case literally trying to be a mini-manfred and its very sad and also kind of cute. its pretty clear that at the very least he would not be the prosecutor he is without manfred's influence. furthermore, at the end of aa2, franziska also comments on the pressures and expectations being placed on her by virtue of being manfred's daughter - she felt that she was obligated to become a genius prosecutor simply because of her birth. while the wording indicated to me outside pressure rather than manfred specifically, the point remains that all their fathers did have a significant impact on their career choice.

unlike sebastian, however, theyre both quite competent at their jobs and manfred, unlike blaise, actually has confidence in their ability to perform to his expectations (see: him bullying badd into letting them try to solve the case). theres also the added parallel of "oops! my dad actually really sucks as a person" and the ensuing Complicated Feelings On Dad after this. franziska expresses an egregious amount of disdain for sebastian because she doesnt respect him as a person at all, but is honestly surprisingly sympathetic when it turns out his dad is a criminal. edgeworth, for his part, also doesnt seem to respect sebastian much at all, but at this point (post kidnapping) begins to because sebastian is finally showing a capacity for growth and self-reflection. anyways its just kind of interesting that in the game on Edgeworth's Daddy Issues we get a foil for him (and also franziska) who has daddy issues and only became a prosecutor in hopes of obtaining his fathers approval (something edgeworth is adjacently dealing with at the moment, with the legacy of both of his fathers partially causing his wishy-washiness on the "prosecutor or defense attorney?" question. a post that is sitting in my drafts to be pulled out after im done with this game)

[thelesbianoftheopera]

Ok so I'm listening to the 25th anniversary soundtrack because I'm so impatient to watch it on my birthday (in 19 days)

And I have a few notes

It's very chaotic- I'm not sure how I drew that conclusion but it feels like everyone just drank like 500 monster energy drinks. But they all sound really good!!!

Meg doesn't just say "He's here! The phantom of the Opera!" She BLOODY SINGS IT

Sierra Boggess is AMAZING (she literally has the voice of an angel (pun intended))

I am very afraid of this Madame Giry- she's kinda intimidating.. like she called the Ballet rats performance during Hannibal "disgraceful" though it did make me laugh.

Also The Phantom speaks a little more than in the 2004 movie (Where he spoke only 14 lines.)

Other than that so far so good! (Imma live blog this since I'm only on The Music of The Night)