Alfredo to Violetta: “So, I hear you have tuberculosis.”
Alcina to anyone: “You want to play with my magic urn?”
Pinkerton to Cio-Cio San: “I have even more ice-cream at my house.”
Cherubino to the Countess: [fidgety silence with occasional longing glance, then suddenly turns red and bolts for what turns out to be the wrong bathroom]
Mimi to Rodolfo: “You want to go back to my place?” Rodolfo: “Where do you live?” Mimi: “In a garret.”
Pinkerton killed me.
The worst thing is I could imagine half of those in the actual libretto, without a hint of irony.
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Madama Butterfly has got to be one of the unintentionally (?) skeeziest opera concepts ever.
I could too – I think it’s one of the reasons I prefer my opera not in English, so I don’t have to understand all the words if I’d rather not. Some libretti are great, e.g. Lorenzo da Ponte’s ones for Mozart, or Hugo von Hofmannsthal for Strauss. But some of the others . . .
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I have a real problem with MB, as I hate Pinkerton right from the start. And then I think, OK Butterfly, get a life! OTOH the Ponnelle/Freni/Domingo film is gorgeous, and I liked the latest Met version (visually). I keep trying to come up with other pick-up lines but my brain is stuck on your Boheme line. (there must be a good one to go with Othello)
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I will have to think about one for Othello!
MB seems to lend itself to treatments that are (perhaps on purpose?) so nice visually that one forgets what’s going on.
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Something to do with a gag reflex?
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“Cherubino to the Countess: [fidgety silence with occasional longing glance, then suddenly turns red and bolts for what turns out to be the wrong bathroom]”
That happened in Figaro’s Wedding
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That sounded like such a fun production – I would love to have seen it.
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Ditto!
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I think there is some chance it will tour
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For real? I will keep an eye out – if it goes anywhere here, it’ll probably go to New York? (I hope?)
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If I hear anything I’ll let you know.
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