#scala culture

[thetwilightroadtonightfall]

I wanted to walk around Scala. I wanted to admire all the little canon worldbuilding details. I wanted to see all the different beautiful pieces of architecture they had set up, like the big gates, the towers, the arches, the plazas, all from different camera angles. I wanted to talk to the npcs and learn about the culture and what daily life is like in this era, how their systems work, what they complain about, what kinds of questions they might ask you. This is the first time we’ve seen Scala with other people living in it. The beta was already so beautiful and rich with lore just waiting to be explored, and it still might be, but it won’t be the same if it isn’t your own character and your own eyes experiencing the city

[artangelo2]

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[opera-ghosts]

On this postcard printed in Russia 1900 we see the great baritone Mattia Battistini (1856-1928).

Favourite of the Romanov's Family Mattia Battistini

Mattia Battistini was the most acclaimed singer of his time by the Russian aristocracy. He returned to Russia regularly for 23 seasons! Many times he have been in Odessa. An interesting story happened in our city was found in the diaries of the famour russian singer Yuriy Morfessi.

Mattia Battistini was born in Rome and brought up largely at Collebaccaro di Contigliano, a village near Rieti, where his parents had an estate.

A 22-year-old Battistini made his operatic debut at the Teatro Argentina, Rome, as Alfonso in Donizetti's La favorita, on 11 December 1878. During the first three years of his professional career he toured Italy, honing his voice and gaining invaluable experience by singing principal roles in such varied operas as La forza del destino, Il trovatore, Rigoletto, Il Guarany, Gli Ugonotti, Dinorah, L'Africana, I Puritani, Lucia di Lammermoor, Aida, and Ernani.

From 1892 onwards, Battistini established himself as an immense favourite with audiences at Russia's two imperial theatres in Saint Petersburg and Moscow: Mariinsky and Bolshoi. He returned to Russia regularly, appearing there for 23 seasons in total, and touring extensively elsewhere in Eastern Europe, using Warsaw as his stepping-stone.

Battistini recorded a lot and willingly; there are several dozen titles in his discography. These are not only arias from Italian operas - Verdi, Donizetti, Rossini; today you can listen to him performing Mozart, Weber and even Wagner. Battistini enjoyed the special favor of the royal Romanov family and became a favorite artist of the Russian nobility. The financial situation of Battistini was luxurious, any of his wishes were fulfilled. He traveled to Warsaw, Saint Petersburg, Moscow and Odessa like a prince, travelling in his own private rail coach with a retinue of servants and innumerable trunks containing a vast stage wardrobe renowned for its elegance and lavishness.

The singer's repertoire also included Russian music that was new at that time: in 1899 he performed in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin on the stage of the Warsaw Opera House. Onegin performed by the recognised master of bel canto is an unexpected look at the music of Tchaikovsky for the modern listener.

He gave his last concert performance one year before his death, his voice was still in very fine condition. His career lasted almost 50 years!

An interesting story happened with the famous Russian singer of Greek origin Yuriy Morfessi during the Mattia Battistini's tour in Odessa.

Yuriy Morfessi wanted to become an architect, with the support of the Greek community he entered the school, but one day, returning home from classes, he noticed a large crowd on Primorsky Boulevard. People surrounded a strange apparatus with a bell, and the owner of this curiosity called out to the crowd: “Great Century's Wonder - a gramophone machine! It will record your voice, and whoever likes the recording will receive it for only 20 kopecks, which will make a step towards immortality, preserving his voice for posterity."

From the bell just sounded an anecdote with a stench, which was reveling in the big guy who was standing there and then who had just sounded that vulgarity, clearly anticipating the reaction of the descendants. Yuriy sighed, felt a few coins in his pocket, which he grabbed from breakfast in pencils, and handed the owner the gramophone. He put a brown plate on a rotating disk and turned the bell towards the next contender for immortality. Yura thought for a second what to say to the descendants, but did not say anything, and sang "The Weeping Willows Slumber", my mother's favourite romance. And when he finished, he felt that someone was pulling him to the side by the sleeve.

A short, elegant man said, Boy, you have a nice tone. It makes sense for you to see a specialist." The specialist turned out to be the famous Italian baritone Mattia Battistini, who was just on tour in Odessa. Battistini did not know the Russian language, and spoke delicious: "Bravissimo!"

From Yuriy Morfessi Diary:

Teachers, they directly advised: why do you need science, Morfessi? You will enter the theater, and life will teach you everything else. I myself was drawn to the theater ... I saved up money in order to listen to the operetta and the Italian opera that often came to us from the upper tiers of the gallery. Odessa was a very musical city, and who among the Italian stars did not tour with us: Marcella Zembrich, Mazini, Tamagno, Giraldoni and many others and, of course, the divine Battistini.

I remember my acquaintance with Battistini. Acquaintance is too loud, even blasphemous. With awe I stepped into the Londonskaya Hotel occupied by the king of baritones. You shouldn't tremble! A great artist, wrapped and caressed by world fame. I knew his biography. I knew that, unlike other Italian singers, Battistini was from an aristocratic family and in his youth served in the guard of his king. I also knew that many crowned heads of Europe, including our emperor, treated him with particular favor precisely because, being a great singer, he was also a man of high society.

After all this, my trepidation of a sixteen-year-old provincial youth is understandable. But the first impression dispelled all my fears. Battistini was charmingly simple with me. Sovereign simplicity, disarming and conquering. But there was something majestic about his manner. Many years later, remembering this meeting, after I got to St. Petersburg and saw the great light myself, I realized the simplicity of Battistini's evasion.

With a captivating smile, straightening the folds of the most wonderful business card - I have never seen one like this before - Battistini sat down at the piano, took a note and addressed me in French:

"Repeat!"

I, who had had time to listen to Battistini in a number of operas, took this note in his own style and spirit.

Removing his long, thin fingers from the key, the demigod looked at me in amazement.

"Young man, you have a rare imitative talent! You convey my voice with indescribable accuracy!

And, turning to my patron, Battistini continued: - He needs to go to Italy and go directly to the famous Cotoni. If he is even the second Cotoni, he will make himself a world name. Send it to Italy without wasting time! The wizard Cotoni will process his voice ...

I never got to Italy ... Everyday reality surrounded me from all sides, taking something, giving something in return. Where could one think of Italy! And here, in Odessa, my artistic career grew by leaps and bounds...

From: odessa-journal.com

[familythings]

Highlight of the Day - 03.08.2024

Apart from the hot summer and the peak of holiday season, the world is abuzz with lots of developments. As the last 24 hours were full of several important news, we chose to share 3 current highlights for today. Kamala Harris the to-be-Democratic-Nominee for President of USA The highlight news of today is that Vice President Kamala Harris was able to collect enough Democratic Party delegate…

[minami-mad-fish]

they don't know I'm madly in love with a pic.

[mdameninie]

24H à Milan, en Italie

[sayitaliano]

This year (2024) the Opera season will open with the play La Forza Del Destino once again by Giuseppe Verdi. If you want to know more about the Opera, look here. You can watch it, as every year, on Raiuno on December 7th at 5:45 PM (GMT+1) [link here- you will need an Italian vpn to watch]. As for past year, you may listen to it on Rai Radio3 and watch it on Raiplay for 15 days after the end [link above are valid this time too].

7-8 Dicembre

Today (7 dicembre) is Milano’s patron day, Sant’Ambrogio, and the town is plenty of little-cozy-Christmas-like markets: these are called “Obej Obej” (it sounds like “obey” repeated twice) and are pretty famous in Italy. This name was given as a reminder of the time when the papal herald entered Milan and started giving gifts to the kids, and these kids yelled “oh bej oh bej!” that in Milan’s dialect means “oh nice oh nice!”.

Tonight will be also celebrated the opening of the Opera season at the theater La Scala, again in Milan. It’s generally a huge party with many famous people, both political and not, followed by many TVs (but it’s not broadcasted “live”, you have to be there to see it). This year the chosen play is “Andrea Chénier”.

Christmas lights and decorations mostly start showing up today and tomorrow (8 dicembre) - the Immacolata Concezione holiday (a religious holiday, but also a National holiday): people, staying home from work, start putting decorations in their houses and also Christmas shopping begins for real.

[louisupdates]

ALL OF THOSE VOICES

Louis Tomlinson’s feature length documentary

• Louisupdates Tumblr:

“It hit me like a ton of bricks. I was not prepared for it, not at all.” [x]

“It had always been in my mind that it would be cool if we weren’t the standard boyband that got given songs and sang them.” [x]

“Life always throws shit at you. Yes, I’ve had more to deal with than most people my age. But then, when the natural things happen in life, when things weren’t going my way, I couldn’t deal with it. I was like, I’ve already had so much to deal with in my life, so when am I going to start winning?” [x]

Louis at CCME with Liam Payne, & on the Late Late Show 2019 [x]

Louis plays Premios Telehit in Mexico City 2019, and Louis’ family describes Louis’ relationship with his mother Johanna [x]

Louis conversing with his family about the transition from breaking into the music industry to taking charge of his own life; rehearsing with voice coach Helene Horlyck for tour; clips from the Scala benefit concert for War Child in February 2020; and clips from the first Louis Tomlinson World Tour concerts in Barcelona and Madrid, March 2020, before the pandemic brought everything to a stop. [x]

Louis spends time with son Freddie in Los Angeles, including a magical moment flying a kite on the beach. “When you’re running with it, it looks really good, you should have a look! ‘Cuz sometimes you’re just running forward, and you’re missing all the action!” [x]

Louis describing writing Faith In The Future in Mexico during lockdown, & the first LTWT22 concert, on 1 Feb 2022 in Dallas, Texas [x]

Louis starts to record his new album at Wendyhouse Studios in London [a repeat, x]

Louis in the studio with Theo Hutchcraft, recording his single, Saturdays [x]

Louis starts the Louis Tomlinson World Tour in February 2022. First stop: Dallas. [x]

Fans camping for shows [x]

Louis being one of the lads when touring on the road. [x]

16th March 2022, Los Angeles, USA. For the first time Freddie is coming to see his dad performing on stage. [x]

Louis works on Faith In The Future while on his first world tour. [x]

Louis and team start the tour in Iceland at the Blue Lagoon [x]

“It’s become a bit of a thing, for some reason, I’ve started challenging people to races. ‘Cuz I used to be quick when I was about 16-years-old, and obviously fourteen years later, I’m not as quick as maybe I think I am.” [x]

In Poland, Louis finds out he has a fracture in his right arm that will need to be immobilized (it won’t be the last time). [x]

LTWT22: from Doncaster to Latam [x]

Louis arrives to start tour in Latin America! And LTHQ interviews some experts on Latam fan culture who are not from South America. [x]

Louis takes in the successful Latam leg of LTWT and takes the band for an outing in Brazil. [x]

Louis and the band bond in Brazil. [x]

Louis and LT band sit down to listen to the final minutes of the new album (and the adorable Mr. Dinnadge). [x]

AFHF 2022: MALAGA [x]

AFHF MALAGA, and the sublime, unreleased Change [x]

One Direction comes to an end. [x]

Louis marvels how he started LTWT with venues of “2000 cap” in the USA and ended with 30,000+ in Milan (3.9.2022). [x]

The End [x]

• AOTV TikTok:

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13, part 14, part 15, part 16, part 17, part 18, part 19, part 20, part 21, part 22, part 23, part 24, part 25, part 26, part 27, part 28

• TOKYO PREMIERE (13.3.2023): Tumblr

• MEXICO CITY PREMIERE (20.3.2023): Tumblr

• LONDON PREMIERE (13.5.2023): Insta, Tumblr

INSTAGRAM TEASERS:

27.3.25: “It was so fucking fun.”

28.3.25: “I was like, well if I’m not gonna fucking sing, then what else, what else can I do for this band? … It had always been in my mind that it would be cool if we weren’t the standard boyband that got given songs and sang them.”

29.3.25: “Where I left One Direction was I’d come off the stage feeling like… a God.”

30.3.25 “This is my first headline show. Ten songs with you guys! I just want to say thank you. The rain has been fucking awful. Thank you for staying. Let’s have a good time! I’m going to be singing a few of my singles, a few of my new ones.” Louis at CCME in Madrid, 2019.

31.3.25 “There’s always been a fantastic bond between Louis and his mum.”

2.4.25: A look at Louis Tomlinson’s debut solo show at Scala, London - February 2020

3.4.25: Louis starts to record his new album at Wendyhouse Studios in London

5.4.25: “I hear a lot about when they have a tour bus, they convert the back lounge into a bedroom for them. If they want to do that, that’s fine, but Louis didn’t do that. We had the back lounge as a back lounge. He just had a bunk like everyone else.”

6.4.25: “It was a really nice feeling going from not touring at all, to what felt like every leg of the tour in terms of size, getting bigger and bigger and bigger.”

7.4.25: “I never had this luxury of playing Doncaster in the band. From the first two songs I was out there, it just felt so f**king special.”

8.4.25: “It feels so good to be back in these places because I’m lucky enough to have people here who want to see me”

9.4.25: “Bringing my mates along means sharing those moments and remembering not to take any of it for granted.” Louis and his team helicopter to a lush escape aboard a Brazilian yacht.

11.4.25: “Standing there today, It hit me hard. This is everything I’ve ever worked for. Everything I’ve ever wanted.”

13.4.25: Creating ‘Faith In The Future’ whilst on tour.

14.4.25: “What’s been so nice about this tour is feeling the chemistry bubbling between us as a band... Having these moments of togetherness makes the show better.”

15.4.25: “Getting rid of my self-doubt and embracing my confidence naturally leads to better writing because it means you’re willing to be brave.”

16.4.25: “When I’m on stage, the energy in the room is undeniable. It’s pure passion and overwhelming support.”

17.4.25: Louis Tomlinson on The Late Late Show with James Corden, Los Angeles — October 2019.

19.4.25: Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan backstage before playing the same festival in Mexico.

20.4.25: Louis gets ready for his first solo tour with vocal rehearsals.

23.4.25: “Part of the magic was that you were going through this mind altering situation but that’s what made it feel amazing.”

[thatshowthingstarted]

Amber necklace sixth century B.C.,

Hallstatt culture, Wierzbnica, Poland.

Photography by BPK, Scala, Florence

[thetwilightroadtonightfall]

hi please consider this late night thought I had:

[ballet-symphonie]

Hi Ale,

Since you’re Italian, can you explain why some of the Italian ballet stars aren’t as famous as the Russian or American dancers? Eg Virna Toppi, Susanna Salvi, Nicoletta Manni?

The only Italian dancers who’ve basically made themselves international stars in the ballet world by are/were Ferri, Fracci, Bolle and now Tissi.

I honestly think that it it’s because of two reasons:

1. how they market themselves. American dancers use social media to get big (Isabella Boylston, Skylar Brandt, Tiler Peck) and for Russia it’s basically based on if you align yourself with Putin policies (Polunin, Zakharova, Gracheva, Shipulina is married to a vocal supporter, I think Zhiganshina posted a pro-Russia thing too?) or not (Smirnova, Osipova)

None of the Italian dancers really have a way to get themselves known in the international world imo. Italy is known for opera, food, and painting, I wouldn’t see ballet at La Scala unless there was a Russian there. (Side note: I loved how La Scala didn’t invite Zakharova for their recent Swan Lake, but they hired Smirnova instead😂it’s your loss, Sveta!)

2. I hate saying this, especially during the war, but Russia is basically the hot spot of ballet right now because of their rigorous training, the quality of good dancers, and sink or swim mentalities. Most people regardless if they’re in the ballet world don’t really see Italy as a ballet hotspot. Russia is THE place for ballet. Same with their ice skating, gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics. They put the best time and effort into those who’ve given up their childhood to train.

Is there any other reasons why Italian stars aren’t big worldwide?

Hmm I have a lot of mixed thoughts to your points here.

As someone who's currently in Italy, Roberto Bolle is absolutely a household name. Nicoletta Manni and to a slightly lesser extent, Timofej Andrijashenko are both quite popular and well known. Manni is everywhere, even more so after their proposal at the Arena di Verona went viral. You can see her in advertisements, on the posters of La Scala, and frequently in the news. Nicoletta was just titled as "Officer of Merit" of the Italian Republic and publically recognized by our president, Sergio Mattarella. A few days later, she received the "Women of the Year" award by a promiemnt womens rights group called "Associazione Nazionale Donne Elettrici".

Italy has a diverse and robust culture and ballet at La Scala has historically been a part of that. Many Italian dancers and arts organizations are not as social media crazy as in other countries, we're more concerned with the art form and preserving its nature and longevity - not advertising it as something it's not or playing it up to match fickle trends. The historical importance is why La Scala has been a cultural center of high arts for centuries now, so many international stars speak so highly about it and desire to perform here- ballet, opera, and orchestra. Also, disrespectfully, if you wouldn't go see the ballet La Scala without a Russian headliner, then let someone else have your ticket. You don't know what you're missing.

2. I actually don't think Russia is the hotspot for ballet currently. The quality of training has declined at both BBA and VBA, and both of their main companies are being drastically mismanaged under politically messy leadership. The quality of good dancers remains, but most are from an older era. Furthermore, the training in Russia is quickly becoming dated, their dancers are not graduating with the skills to succeed in a repertoire that goes beyond Petitpa (and often lately, even the Petipa leaves a lot to be desired)

More importantly, ballet in Russia is not evolving or innovating. There are so few premieres with merit nowadays. A decent Coppelia and a stolen Pharoah's Daughter and some unremarkable, dated neoclassical pieces. Russian ballet has not taken off during the war, it's dying. MT's and BT's licenses to perform works are expiring left and right, BT has been performing Ratmansky's work without permission and credit to bolster their repertoire. Furthermore, no foreigners are coming to create commissions, many talented Russian choreographers have left the country such as Ilya Zhivoi and we're long past the golden age of Soviet innovation on stage.

In my opinion, the current hotspots are where new works are being created to great acclaim, and ballet is finding new audiences and new heights. The UK, with the Royal, English National, Akram Khan, Wayne McGregor, Matthew Bourne, Rambert, and fantastic curation by Sadler’s Wells. Canada, with the National Ballet's exciting rep, Medhi Walerski and Ballet BC and their collaborations with École supérieure de ballet du Québec, Crystal Pite's Kidd Pivot. Germany And then of course, New York with Kyle Abraham, Lauren Lovette, and Robert Battle at Paul Taylor, Yin Yue and her company YYDC, GALLIM, and the multitudes of creation spaces like ABT's Incubator, DANCE LAB NYC, and that's before we even get to the commercial scene.

[lightandfellowship]

Headcanon: the number 7 is considered a holy and lucky number in Scala society. People believe that if you incorporate it into your daily life, it will provide you with protection and prosperity.

This belief is so commonplace and has existed for so long now that it's not just reserved to the culture, it's ingrained in a lot of regulations and laws too. Not everybody believes in the idea, but it's widely accepted as just a normal part of life, with few people questioning where it came from, why it's here, and if it's even true.

This is also why it's common practice in Scala for Keyblade wielding schools to require exactly seven students per class. Aside from the rule that dictates that this be the case, it's simply believed that a class is more likely to be successful and pass their Mark of Mastery exam if there are seven students.

Becoming a Keyblade wielder is a highly sought after thing due to their high status in Scala society, and the criteria to be accepted into a school is pretty strict, so finding exactly seven students per class is rarely ever an issue.

[secular-jew]

In 1920, Syria Palestina was a Roman-named colony or region, not a country, (aka Palestine), stretching from Iraq to southern Syria, and of course, there was no country called Jordan. The word Palestine was 100% derived from the Hebrew name for the Philistines. There is no evidence of a written language left by the philistines and the only name that they were known by was the name given to them by the Hebrews at the time. The evolution of the word went something like this:

פלש—פלישתים—ארץ פלשת—סוריה פלסטינה/פלשתינה—פלסטין/פלשתין

PaLaSh—plishtim—the land of paleset—Syria Palestina (the name given to the land of Israel and Judea as a punishment by the Roman)—- Palestine

PaLaSh is the Hebrew root word for invade meaning we called the sea fairing invaders by their actual name, invaders

Important to know that the Arabs absolutely DENIED ANY RELEVANCE and would not ascribe and meaning re: "Palestine" for themselves.

Arab nationalists in the post-WWI period ADAMANTLY rejected the designation. Arab spokesmen continued to insist that the land was, like Lebanon, merely a fragment of Syria. On the grounds that it dismembered an ideal unitary Arab state, they fought before the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry and at the United Nations. The Arab historian Philip K. Hitti informed the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry that “there is no such thing as Palestine in history.”

In 1937, Awni Bey Abdul-Hadi, founder of the first Palestinian Arab political party, testified to the Peel Commission, "There is no such country as Palestine. 'Palestine' is a term the Zionists invented. There is no Palestine in the Bible. Palestine is alien to us."

In May 1956, Ahmed Shukairy, who became the first head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (at a time when Jordan had annexed the "West Bank" and Egypt controlled Gaza), declared to the United Nations Security Council, “It is common knowledge that Palestine is nothing but southern Syria.”

In February 1970, Prince El Hassan bin Tala of Jordan, stated to the Jordanian National Assembly that "Palestine is Jordan and Jordan is Palestine; there is one people and one land, with one history and one and the same fate." Seven months later, the PLO attempted to take over Jordan, lost, and were unceremoniously, kicked out.

In 1977, PLO Executive Committee member Zahir Muhsein stated, "The Palestinian people do not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for our continuing struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. … In reality there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians, and Lebanese."

One might argue that this particular group of Arabs established, sometime in the mid 1960s, a political identity as "Palestinians," when Arafat returned from strategic partnership meetings with the Soviets communists who were attempting to gain a larger foothold in the region, and advised him how to use "Palestine" identity as a cudgel against Israel.

What they are NOT is "ancient" inhabitants of the region which, under Ottoman rule, was also dubbed "Syria-Palestine." What they are NOT is any sort of distinct ETHNIC group—like the Judeans (Judea/Samaria/Israel), the Phoenicians (Lebanon), the Kurds, the Druze, or the Circassians. They are Arabs, sharing the language, culture, religion, cuisine, ethnic group, etc. of the people of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Prior to the 1960s, before the PLO was created, there were ZERO Arabs self-identifying as Palestinians. During the 19 years that Jordan controlled the so-called "West Bank" (Judea and Samaria, which had been cleansed of Jews by the Jordanians) and when Egypt controlled Gaza, there was no movement to create a "Palestinian" state.

Attached is a photo of the Palestine Symphony Orchestra in 1936, which consisted of 73 jewish musicians, and conducted by none other than Arturo Toscanini (born in Parma, father was a tailor). Toscanini was the music director at La Scala, before spending spent 7 years conducting the New York Metropolitan Opera (1908-1915) and the New York Philharmonic (1926-1936). He lived out his latter years in NYC, about a 1/2 mile from where I lived for a decade from 2005-2015 in Riverdale (Bronx), which is now called Wave Hill, a non-profit cultural institution and botanical garden, located on 26 acres adjacent to the Hudson River.

[leporellian]

thesis vii. the monster stands at the threshold... of becoming.

-

jeffrey jerome cohen, “monster culture” / backstage at the magic flute at the metropolitan opera house, NY, circa 1905 / "opera house" by thomas rowlandson and auguste charles pugin / the philadelphia metropolitan opera house before and after renovation / porgy and bess in rehearsal at the met, dir. james robinson / tosca act 1 original set design by adolf hohenstein / tosca at the san fransisco opera, dir. shawna lucey / wozzeck at the opera bastille dir. william kentridge / carmen dir. juan guillermo nova at the sng maribor / kids music cafe at the sydney opera house / don giovanni dir. robert carsen at la scala / madama butterfly dir. matthew ozawa at the detroit opera / the isango ensemble's edition of treemonisha dir. mark dornford-may / m. butterfly dir. james robinson at the santa fe opera / die meistersinger von nürnberg dir. barrie bosky at the bayreuth festival / rigoletto dir. david mcvicar at the royal opera house / the view from the stage at the margravial opera house, photographed by klaus frahm

[luxuriainash]

us: scala is a beautifully diverse world that cannot be easily compared to any region in this world, especially when you take its immense cultural differences through the ages into account

also us: lol Scalans Are British (actively ignoring the ones with other accents)

[for-hunger]

nothing but surrender- reference post

Information and references from my Hannibal/Will forcemasc fic, nothing but surrender. mostly for my own collection

Our couple

Hannibal

Will

non-passing

(post-haircut and more t)

My visual references for Will and Hannibal's opera suits, respectively

Cultural/intellectual references

A little Wittgenstein

The Wile E. Coyote/Road Runner in psychoanalysis lecture is based on one I caught by this scholar

The Dracula erasure mentioned at Mix

Der Zauberberg, or The Magic Mountain, is a 1924 modernist masterpiece by Thomas Mann (best known by the gays for writing Death in Venice). I stole a bunch of Will's little speech about his mother from it

A big influence on my Hannibal perspective is In A Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes, a noir about toxic masculinity from the POV of the killer

The prostate orgasm porn channel that Hannibal makes Will watch lmaooo

Will mentions checking out the MoMA PS1 Art Book Fair (archive) and Hannibal talks about a signing of Original Plumbing

Hannibal and Will's debate in Ch 7 is mostly informed by Feminism Against Cisness and the essay Hannibal cites, Is the Rectum a Grave?

The short ribs recipe that Hannibal makes in Ch 8 is from Start Here by Sohla El-Waylly (couldn't find it online but it's excellent, use a lot of anchovy and whatever meat you want (; )

This is not a book or anything, but some of Will's dialogue in Ch 8 was inspired by this post I saw on that t4t app by a user named onthehill: “I want to be with him. I want to be him. I want him to hold me. I want to have a body like his. I want him to love me. I think I could be loved if I was him. I want, want, want.”

Steve Reich's "Come Out" and the story

Hannibal's Cape house, in my mind (might be a bonus chapter at some point)

Shea Stadium was a diy venue in Bushwick

Will references Met performances of Aida, which famously include horses as well as a section titled "the Dance of the Moorish Slaves". He would, indeed, hate it.

David Bowie's Peter and the Wolf

Ch 11 opera references: Victoria de los Angeles's Mélisande , and the 2012 version of Pelléas et Mélisande that I watched as inspiration.

Huberd's Shoe Grease (favorite among bootblacks) and a podcast I listened to about bootblacking

the Marc Chagall murals at the Met

Symbolism (in poetry)

The Rite of Spring

I'm not telling you what the sex party is that the boys go to because I haven't gone in a long time and I've exaggerated its friendliness but let's just say it's named after this movie

Much of Will and Hannibal's conversation about stoneness in Ch 14 comes from the gorgeous lesbian history book Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold

Tam Lin

Soundtrack

Locations

Nitehawk Cinema Williamsburg (bar)

Mood Ring

Mix Film Festival (RIP) (I think it still happens in, like, Berlin)

Prospect Park/Grand Army Plaza

Teatro alla Scala, Milan

Lincoln Center

The Met

And the parterre boxes where the boys sit: