Saturday
Jan162010
OperaNow! #97: TWEEEENNNSS!!!!!
Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 2:55AM 
This one is for the tweens...you are young and hot and want to kill me...because I'm so old...
Our girl Anne in DC takes apart Placido and his role(s) as director of 2 major companies...Franco Z is up to more crazy talk...no dearth of divas (buy a recording now!)...from pop star to opera star to crazy person?
Plus of course, Oliver's Corner and Doug Dodson's E-news...
This week we feature The OC, Doug Dodson, and Matt Garrett.
Reader Comments (27)
Where do you draw the line?
Great having you back!
Oliver; I was missing Franco Bonisolli's madness in the "No, no principessa..." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-axlXcewUjg
;)
Thanks, all. It's nice to be back!
It's great to have the boys back. An informative OC and, as usual, one has to agree with everything Doug Dodson says.
This from the UK. Great to have you back. Loved Oliver's corner. We saw the first "Popstar to Opera Star" on Friday evening. Doug would have loved it. It was beyond description. Jimmy Osmond went first. he warbled O sole mio........and he got through to next week. 'Nuff said.
I'm sure you've seen this by now - http://www.itv.com/entertainment/popstartooperastar/
and there's a Facebook page.
Booo! your link's videos are only available to viewers in the UK.
We're being cut off by the Motherland.
This is the guy that thinks your podcast is for tweens?
http://www.blackplanet.com/barentru/
wow. He needs a sandwich with extra mayo, and a roll of paper towels to dry off all that sweat.
Not the same guy
What about my amazing contributions? Oh wait...
so glad you guys are back! i discovered your podcast while you were on break and fell in love with them. i am new to listening to opera and i am learning so much from your show...and it's fun to listen to also!
:)
Thanks, Dinky.
Re: Bonisolli's 4 high C's. Thanks Ole. I should have consulted you for this segment which found me at my worst level of preparation. If any of you other listeners care to submit your favorite Calaf moments, please do.
OC
Oliver, how can you keep teasing us with Cosi? I'm starting to think it's never going to happen!
I'm glad you guys are back, but, I must say, I was disturbed by the dearth of dick jokes. Surely you didn't take Barentru to heart?!
I don't mean to be a dick-tease with Cosi. As I said before, I am living under very unusual circumstances. All my CD's and books are in boxes and it's impossible for me to do the listening and research I normally prepare for Oliver's corner. There are a few operas that I can rattle off like Hoffman and Don Giovanni. But as this podcast made evident, when I am not fully prepared, I get nervous and blather.
Cosi deserves its own podcast. I promise those segments will represent my best effort and will win me a MacArthur Genius Grant.
In the meantime, what's your vote for the next Essential Opera?
Thrilled to have you guys back, the constant TWEEEENS references had me laughing awkwardly on public transportation. Though I have to disagree with the notion that Fleming's Verismo is some wild foray into unexplored territory, less than half of the tracks are truly obscure and, frankly, at this point in her career I'm not even sure she can appropriately produce Verismo sound. Can't wait for next week.
I concur, Kwame. Her voice never had enough "steel" for my money. Although, I do like this description from Amazon...
"One of the most beloved and celebrated musical ambassadors of our time, soprano Renée Fleming captivates audiences with her sumptuous voice, consummate artistry, and compelling stage presence."
Ambassador? Who appointed her? Obama?
Barentru=Barentyne-Truluck
Was this a secret Opera Busters? Do I win?
Nice Googling, Terry.
"Music chose me. I first performed in public at the age of four and tried to leave music as a career on more than one occasion, but I always came back to music as a career"
apparently, he listens to a DIFFERENT opera podcast produced by his friend in New York.
Was he slamming us to steer an audience that way?
I doubt that he likes baroque opera as much as Doug and I do.
Who????
Oh...I just saw...
"I doubt that he likes baroque opera as much as Doug and I do."
Obviously, you didn't keep searching! I think he does like some Baroque... Handel...
wow. and he also likes soft porn.
I guess we're likes peas and carrots
Terry, you're my Research Hero.
Can you do some pro-bono work for The Opera Company?
Thanks for checking our blog out! And thank you Oliver for turning me on to the Nilsson/Corelli/Moffo TURANDOT.
I believe Doug mentioned missing reading the libretti + translations when downloading the music via iTunes. EMI Classics provides a decent collection of libretti + translations for free download at:
http://www.emiclassics.com/theoperaseries/mid_price_opera_catalogue.htm
It isn't quite the same as having a cd booklet with additional liner notes in hand but still.
Does The Opera Company need a cyber stalker on staff? If you have a new Ring cycle based on Tolkien and want me to force Rolando Villazon to play the part of Frodo... I'm in. The guy was born for that role.
Anyway, the Pop Star to Opera Star episode 1 & 2 is on the youtube, start here. It's really bad video... and content. I wasted an hour on it, but it was at work at least. I'm more hopeful about the upcoming BBC radio show, the Panty Girl Prize.