I can't resist opera trivia!

And obviously you can't either or you wouldn't be here.
So when I looked back at my posts for the last couple of weeks and noticed that they have been somewhat review-heavy I decided this week to revert to grab-bag mode and just bring to your attention a few things which have caught me eye recently and the knowledge of which will increase your IQ, shrink your waistline and bring you lasting happiness. Or not. You be the judge.

First up: Last month soprano Anna Netrebko was given the title of National Artist by Russian thug leader Vladimir Putin. Less than one month later she has appeared in the March "The Sex and Music" issue of Playboy. I'm not kidding. There are no racy pictures so as usual you guys out there are going to have to buy Playboy for the articles. Question: Which of these honours do you suppose she enjoyed the more?

The Cornish Opera continued to cause problems at the Met. This time it was Deborah Voigt who had to cancel because of illness on Tuesday. Finally, on Friday night La V and Mr Heppner actually performed together. The Met streamed the entire performance through their web site. I listened to the whole thing and if you check back here in a couple of days I'll post something about the experience.

With Portland Opera's production of Aida being just around the corner I got to thinking about how if you mention the opera Aida to someone who is thinking about buying a ticket to the show there is a very good chance you will be asked not "Who is singing Amonasro?" or "Will the orchestra be tuning to Verdi's preferred pitch of A=432 Hz?" but "Will there be an elephant?" Audiences seem to love having animals on stage during an opera. Not so the animal welfare people who have complained about the presence of a cheetah and lions in a recent production of Aida in Johannesburg. Answering the suggestion that the animals were there to lend some sense of 'authenticity' to the production and explaining how stressed the animals get in being moved through the city in trucks during rush-hour with the attendant noise etc. an NCSPA spokeswoman said "If they are doing Otello next week, would they bump off Desdemona for authenticity's sake? Of course not, so why are they using live animals in Aida?" She does have a point. Oh, Portland Opera's production? No elephant.

While on the subject of Aida, for those of you who have not seen it here is the video of Roberto 'Clyde' Alagna, husband of Angela 'Bonnie' Gheorghiu, stalking off the stage at La Scala, Milan in 2006 when the audience booed his performance of the leading male role, Radames. His place is taken by the understudy who has been pushed onstage by the stage manager - while dressed in jeans and a roll-necked shirt! And isn't the look on Amneris' face priceless when she turns and sees someone other than Alanga?







This just in. Next season the most expensive seats at Royal Opera House Covent Garden are to be priced at 210 British pounds. That's for one opera. The article is here. The most expensive seats for a Yankees game at its new stadium will be $2500. That's for one game. The article is here. Discuss. Particularly in relation to which match-up will provide the better value: Don Giovanni/Don Ottavio or Yankees/Red Sox.

When I went to hear Stephen Sondheim interviewed by Frank Rich at the Schnitzer Auditorium a couple of weeks ago I couldn't help compare some of his work to that of Kurt Weill. That set me to thinking about Weill's wife Lotte Lenya. I wonder what he would have thought had he known that in 1963 , some thirteen years after his death she would play Rosa Klebb, the female villain, in the Bond movie From Russia with Love? Yep, that's her in the picture above. Ms Lenya did not, as far as I know ever appear in Playboy. Anyway, it was a very interesting interview and I really do promise to tell you more about it next week.

Finally and in keeping with the spirit of "How many tenors..." (see last week's post) and wishing to maintain the intellectual standards you have come to expect here, I thought it might be fun to have an occasional series addressing the issue of how a light bulb gets changed in an opera company. We'll begin this week with the singers without whom none of this would be possible and with whom it is still only barely possible. So, here goes:

SOPRANO: I do NOT change light bulbs; nowhere in my contract does it SAY I change light bulbs. ...I didn't break it during the fioratura aria, did I...?

MEZZO-SOPRANO: Eh, sure. Why not. I'm already wearing pants and half way up a ladder anyway.
Variant: How many mezzo-sopranos does it take to change a light bulb? Two. One to change the bulb and one to complain that it is "too high."

CONTRALTO: Oh, for heaven's sake, what's all the fuss? Give it to me, I'll do it.

COUNTERTENOR: What kind of question is that? Of course I know how tochange a light bulb. What, you think that just because I can sing two octaves higher than most men that I don't know how to do what most men can? Is that it?

TENOR: How many tenors does it take to change a light bulb? Just one. He holds on to the bulb and expects the world to revolve around him.

BARITONE: Of course I can. Easily. With one hand tied behind my back. While juggling three other light bulbs in my tied hand.

BASS: Oh, why not, I've got an hour and a half until my first entrance, anyway.

These were gakked from the Internet and so are unattributed. Please feel free to send me suggestions for any others.

And finally: Willamette Concert Opera will be performing Beethoven's Fidelio this week. For those of you who want to catch a local performance you'll see from their website that they are here in town on Saturday evening. As the group's name suggests this will be a concert performance. I shall be attending - it's free; wild horses couldn't drag me away! And I don't know Fidelio very well (okay, I barely know it at all!) so I am excited. I shall report to you next week about how it went.

Have a great week and do remember to check back on Wednesday!