My Dad adored opera. When listening to the music he would go into a sort of trace and hum along, badly out of tune. He introduced me to this music when I was quite young and we had this little joke that we thought was so clever; if Giuseppe Verdi was English his name would be Joe Green…hahaha. And my Dad had heaps of those thick 78’s (for the younger readers – very old vinyl records, played at a fast speed). Included in this collection were recordings by Caruso and Gigli about which I still have nightmares; I am sure we used them for clay pigeon shooting or melted them into ashtrays...horrors.
Moving on: Treat yourself.
At least one a month there is an opera movie at Nu Metro Cinema Nouveau. They come from the New York Met and are the most incredible productions. They are new ie. I saw Tosca the other week and it was filmed earlier this year. The singers, orchestra, set, costumes…..everything, are just out of this world. The voices are so spectacular I get all dizzy and have to remind myself to breath. The singers are amongst the best in the world. I can assure you that if you haven’t listened to an opera before, watching one of these productions will change the way you feel. During the intervals you get to go backstage and meet the stars and you also get to see how they change the really enormous sets. It is fabulous. And you don’t even have to know the story…. There are English sub-titles which are actually very funny – and incredibly corny - to read. But it really doesn’t sound so corny sung in Italian.
Aida is being shown on Friday night (27th Nov) in Jhb – I have seen the trailer and the set alone is enough to keep you spell bound! Enjoy.
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