#Ariane et Barbe-Bleue

[opera-ghosts]

REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST: The seven spouses of Bluebeard (Geraldine Farrar on the right being the seventh) in Paul Dukas‘ “Ariane et Barbe-Bleue“ on March 29, 1911 at the Metropolitan Opera. Arturo Toscanini conducted the United States premiere.

[pasdetrois]

like eve before you

George Frederic Watts, Eve Tempted (detail) • Vievee Francis, "Apologia" • Edmund Blair Leighton, The Keys (detail) • Maria Tatar, Secrets Beyond the Door: The Story of Bluebeard and His Wives • Angela Carter, "The Bloody Chamber" • Heinrich Aldegrever, Adam and Eve • Gustave Doré, Illustration for "Blue Beard" • Paul Dukas, Ariane et Barbe-bleue • Glen Duncan, I, Lucifer • Hans Baldung Grien, Eve, Serpent and Death • Erika Steiskal, Illustration for "The Bloody Chamber"

[lesser-known-composers]

Paul Dukas (1865 - 1935) - Ariane et Barbe-bleue: Act I: Ariane, que faite-vous? (The Nurse, Ariane, The Underground Chant) ·

Marilyn Schmiege

Choir: Cologne Radio Chorus

Conductor: Gary Bertini

Orchestra: Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra

[bakaity-poetry]

[Trying to see the proportional relation]

.....Alain Badiou

Ended his class with a reading

Of “Ariane et Barbe-Bleue” which

Is an opera by Paul Dukas. You

And me had gone pretty far

By the time this day came, and

Something very fragile in me breaks

When somebody says my name, or

Even a variant of it. I was tired.

I think Badiou discusses “Ariane”

In Being and Event which

I have not read. In class he said

That the story of the opera is

About the relationship between law

And freedom, and that it shows

That the desire for freedom is not

So simple. Ariane experiences an Event

That causes her to demand freedom, Badiou

Said, but she is unable to convince anybody

Else, any other women to want freedom; she ends up alone.

She genuinely falls in love with the wicked

Bluebeard at the beginning. Bluebeard

Who previously got women by having a castle

To lock them in. This woman Ariane

Does not have to be taken

By force. When she enters

His castle he hands

Her seven keys, six

Of which he gives her permission

To use, and leaves. She hears the cries

Of his other, imprisoned wives,

Coming from behind a door. So she uses

The forbidden key, releasing them.

Meanwhile Bluebeard is assaulted

By the local peasants, who want

To free Ariane, fearing her fate will turn out like

That of the women who came before her.

But Ariane is already free

In herself, and proves this freedom

By bringing the wounded Bluebeard

Home, caring tenderly for him, and then

Declaring that she’s leaving him for good.

By the end Bluebeard’s shattered, sobbing,

Bleeding. Ariane

Invites the other wives to leave with her

In a wrenching aria, pleading

With them one by one to taste

With her the freedom awaiting

Them, The World. But they all prefer confinement

Even though they had longed

For freedom before Ariane opened

Their door. Once liberty arrived they were no

Longer capable of it, preferring to serve; even a gutted,

Hollowed-out power. Ariane exits

Alone. The end. Badiou narrated

This with emotion and

I cried. Maybe cos I was tired and

That thing about my name or because

I am not heroic or free.

I had missed half of Alain Badiou’s

Lectures messing around with you

On the couch by the fire; in the women’s

Toilets; up on the hill. If this were a suitable parable,

And it isn’t, I would try to tell myself

That those very early mornings in Brooklyn when I sat

Up in your bed feeling wrong and

Got dressed and walked away, I should

Have stayed away cos I don’t need you.

Maybe I don’t need you. But I want

You. Maybe I don’t love you. But

I am getting to know you. Maybe

What made me cry in class was how tired

I was and how sad and hard

It is, and how rare, to undertake an act

That’s truly free, and not just a response

To a confused surge of drives and fears.

~ Ariana Reines

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

Alright, everyone, I am definitely planning to watch/liveblog the Vienna Don Pasquale (as requested by @rayatii) and the new Faust from Paris over the weekend, but please put which 2-3 of the following productions you would also like me to liveblog this weekend (the first six were the leftovers from today‘s list; I have also added four other productions that have been sitting in my to-watch bank for a hot minute):

Ariane et Barbe-bleue (Lyon, 2021)

or

La gioconda (San Francisco, 1979)

or

Francesca da Rimini (Paris, 2011)

or

La gazza ladra (Cologne, 1987)

or

Guillaume Tell [in 1776] (Southern Illinois Music Festival, 2016)

or

Orpheus in the Underworld (BBC TV movie, 1983)

or

La Juive (Munich, 2016)

or

Le roi Arthus (Paris, 2015)

or

Die tote Stadt (Strasbourg, 2001)

or

Orphée et Eurydice (Sydney, 1994)

[bluebeards-wife]

Still images from The National Opera of the Rhin’s rendition of Ariadne and Bluebeard, based on the tale by Maurice Maeterlinck, with Marc Barrard as Bluebeard and Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet as Ariane.

[sourwormsaresour]

La Squadra Names

Based on this naming convention post I responded to and a few headcanons about the members sprinkled here and there added in. 

Risotto Nero ➡️ Dante di Nero 

Reasoning Behind Real Name:

Named after biological mother and aunt’s biological father, Dante Ferraro I.

Last name came from adoptive uncle’s side.

Family Background: 

Most of the biological mother’s side of the family originated from the Piedmont region. Biological father’s side came from Sicily.

Family traces back to Sicily and Armenia, although there is no more connection to the latter.

Biological parents currently live in Sicily. Risotto and his immediate family resided in Turin.

Reasoning Behind Code Name:

Name chosen by Sorbet and Gelato when initiated. Was given a list of names and picked the first one that caught his eye. 

Became Risotto Nero after being promoted to leader of La Squadra. 

Immediate Family Info:

Grew up with his adoptive aunt, uncle, and younger cousin.

Cousin’s name was Alberto di Nero. RIsotto picked it out himself when he was five. 

Sorbet ➡️ Alessandro Versace II

Reasoning Behind Real Name:

Named after his father and hoped to carry the family name.

Preferred to be called Sandro by his closest peers and teammates. Most still call him Sorbet out of respect. 

Family Background:

Family came from Calabria, Italy but have long history of family members being from Sicily.

Part Greek and Sicilian on his father’s side by descent. 

Immediate family lived in Calabria until they had to move to Sicily when they became poor.

Reasoning Behind Code Name:

Name was chosen by the mafioso that recruited him to Passione. 

Original code name was Granite di Versache before stepping down as senior member of La Squadra. 

Immediate Family Info:

Grew up with a father and mother. Was an only child.

Had a dog name Dolce as a child but gave it away when his mother became too sick to care for it.

Gelato ➡️ Fabrizio Rosso

Reasoning Behind Real Name:

Named after his mother’s late half-brother, Fabriano ��Rico” Cavallaro.

Was nicknamed “Pazzo Rico” as a kid for how crazy he was willing to go to get what he wants. 

Unknown whether the surname comes from his mother’s side or father’s side.

Family Background:

Both parents claim their respective families came from Sicily, Italy, but there are no historical record to confirm or deny it.  

All surviving family members had in Sicily all their life and no one ever thought about leaving their region alive.

Majority reside in some run-down neighborhood sprinkled around the region. 

Reasoning Behind Code Name:

Name was chosen by Polpo when he was inducted into Passione. 

Original name was Affogato Rosso before stepping down as senior member of La Squadra. 

Immediate Family Info:

Grew up with a father, mother, and 12 younger siblings. Only 7 of them would be alive or not missing by the time Gelato was 18. 

Remaining siblings are named Stefano, Leone, Noemi, Oscar, Carina, and Carlo. Carina and Carlo are twins and Noemi was part of a set of triplets.

Stefano and Noemi are Gelato’s full siblings while the rest are half-siblings. He still regards all as his full blood. 

Ghiaccio ➡️ Ghiaccio Francescon 

Reasoning Behind Real Name:

Originally went by Ariana Bianchi before transition. Named after his mother’s favorite opera Ariane et Barbe-bleue.

Never got a chance to choose a new name as a male so he stuck with his code name instead. 

Last name was mother’s maiden name. Original last name came from his step-father. 

Family Background:

Part Venetian on his mother’s side. Biological father’s side is unknown, though rumored to be of French origin as well as Italian.

Step-father came from Florence but grew up in Venice before meeting Ghiaccio’s mother. 

Family mostly lived all around the world, depending on what they needed to train for, but their home is based in Rome. 

Reasoning Behind Code Name:

Name given to him by Risotto when he joined La Squadra. 

Ghiaccio personally asked Risotto for one and immediately took the name to heart ever since. 

Immediate Family:

Had a biological mother but raised by step-father after she passed away. Biological father was ex-husband that his mother divorced before Ghiaccio was born. 

Grew up with step-father and older half-brother. Half brother’s name is Amadeo Müller. Last named belong to previous ex-husband before Ghiaccio’s biological father.

He later became known as Secco under Cioccolata’s control. 

Illuso ➡️ Isidoro de Spagnola Fernández

Reasoning Behind Real Name:

Simply goes by Isidoro by his friends or just Illuso to his teammates.

As a designer, he went by the moniker ISI, due to it’s seemly symmetrical appearance, and signed his work as such. 

Follows naming convention where both surnames are used as part of his name. de Spagnola is his father’s surname and Fernández is his mother’s surname.

Family Background:

Immediate family immigrated from Spain so parents can pursue their art careers.

Overall family history goes as far as a noble family of Castille that started marrying into the royal family before eventually off-shooting from the Habsburgs in the 1500s.

Only a few distant family members have remained in Spain. Others, like Illuso’s immediate family, have moved to other places around the world. 

Reasoning Behind Code Name:

Moniker was eventually used for his mercenary alias and eventually evolved to become the name Illuso. 

Wanted to stand out from the other “food-based” code names. 

Immediate Family:

Grew up with a mother and father as well as two older siblings. Mostly raised by older siblings due to parents’ negligence. 

Older sister and brother are named Catalina and Hugo respectively. 

Prosciutto ➡️ Francesco di Aiello

Reasoning Behind Real Name:

Given by his mother because it sounded regal and “Hollywood” enough to possibly make it big as an actor.

No one knows his real name is Francesco except for Pesci during a night of excessive drinking. The latter was sworn into secrecy afterwards. 

Takes on mother’s surname but has considered changing it for various reasons.

Family Background:

Mother’s family came from Campania and history goes as far as that. Biological father is unknown but rumored to be from Rome or Sardinia. 

Moved around a lot in Rome to avoid getting evicted. 

Reasoning Behind Code Name:

Name given by Ghiaccio after noticing how the Stand’s abilities resembles the moisture being sucked out of pork when making Prosciutto.

Initially was skeptical about the name reasoning but went with it anyways. 

Immediate Family:

Grew up with a single mother and half younger brother. Younger half brother’s name is Cassio Montagna.

Biological father left the family after Prosciutto’s birth, despite promising to help raise him. 

Cassio left home shortly after witnessing Prosciutto kill their mother and became his biological father’s legitimate son soon after. 

Neither brothers have seen each other since. Cassio refuses to acknowledge Prosciutto, despite the other trying to reach out whenever he can. 

Formaggio ➡️ Massimo Umbro

Reasoning Behind Real Name:

Named after actor Massimo Serato, who his father was a fan of. 

Grew up struggling to pronounce his name and ended up earning the nickname Mo for a while. Absolutely hates that nickname now and will beat you up if you call him that out of nowhere.

Was nicknamed “Il Surcieddu” as a kid by an old visiting Sicilian man that he tried to pickpocket. 

Family Background:

Both sides of the family come from the Umbria region, father was from Perugia and mother from Terni. 

Family history goes back to the 1000s from farmers residing in the area. No one in the family does farm work anymore. 

Family is full of cousins and distant relatives that either live in Umbria or Sicily. 

Reasoning Behind Code Name:

Came up with the name Formaggio as a joke but stuck with it. Was actually eating cheese when he came up with it. 

Tried to get his teammates to call him Gio as his nickname instead but it never happened. 

Immediate Family:

Grew up with a mother and father, alongside 6 other siblings as a middle child. 

Older brothers are Mattia, Gabriele, Lorenzo, and Tommaso. All of them passed away right before Formaggio decided to change his life around and become a line-worker at a factory. 

Younger sisters are Guilia La Porta and Sofia Orsatti. Both have already married and taken their husbands’ names by the time Formaggio first met La Squadra

Pesci ➡️ Luca Passalacqua 

Reasoning Behind Real Name:

Named by his grandparents. Parents wanted to name him Andrea but were ordered not to. 

Pesci has debated on whether to be called Andrea instead ever since he joined La Squadra. 

Nicknamed Lulu by Sorbet and Gelato. 

Last name dates back to an old merchant family known for foreign imports during the Renaissance. 

Family Background:

Both families come from Portofino, though they have some family history of being from Venice and Milan. However, his grandparents’ controlling nature makes it hard to confirm or deny facts beyond what they’re willing to say or fabricate.

His father’s side has established a successful fishing business for years, even centuries, under that name. 

Mother’s side is mostly unknown to Pesci, since she was adopted as a child and grew up in Portofino. 

Reasoning Behind Code Name:

Given the name Pesci after a member commented about his background in the fishing industry. 

Stuck with it after Prosciutto mentioned it was a good name to have.

Immediate Family:

Grew up with his father, mother, and paternal grandparents. Was an only child

Parents struggled to conceive him and pressured to so by grandparents. Pesci always asked for a sibling and never understood why he never had one until he joined La Squadra. 

Melone ➡️ Ezio Romana

Reasoning Behind Real Name:

Parents literally chose a random name that would be simple yet memorable in an academic setting. 

Considered changing his last name to his late wife’s in memory of her. 

Family Background:

Family history is unknown beyond being Italian. No one on both sides really bothered to track their heritage. Most members live around the world in various countries. 

Only knew that parents used to live in France and Germany before moving to Italy in order to pursue their education and careers, and may be French or German too. 

Lived in Rome his whole life until he moved alone to study at Polytechnic University of Milan.

Moved to Turin briefly for work before going back to Milan to pursue his doctorate and new job. 

Reasoning Behind Code Name:

Had a habit of signing his letter E sideways, making it resemble the letter M. 

Illuso suggested choosing a name that started with an M and the name Melone stuck ever since. 

Immediate Family:

Grew up with a mother and father as an only child. 

Had a late wife named Vittoria “Tori” Ann Shelly, a  student from England he met during a work event and eventually was a classmate of his during their doctorate program.

Melone refuses to talk about  ever since she passed and will get terrifyingly angry if pushed to do so. 

[daisyschadwickfa]

Trying to see the proportional relation By Ariana Reines

Trying to see the proportional relation Of one memory to another One is so strange, and then To try and see what looms And doesn’t for the other person Who was there, it gets stranger, Especially when you’ve read His email. I don’t know how people Understand their lives, measure Their sensations against “objective” Or so-to-speak democratic estimations, Whether people accept the externality Of events, “events,” as things That happen to them. I refuse To accept some coagulate Of other people’s Impressions in exchange for this Privacy, no matter how flawed it is. This is lyric poetry. It has to be. It has No other hope. What was it About you and me that made whatever Happen to us. In New York Everything fell apart. What I dreaded And expected. But still. Tonight It is dark and the weather is cooler Than it’s been. It has taken A while for Fall to break; the global Warming kept me in summer Love with you like I was under a Fermata. Now that the times Are changing, I feel Even more for you; or I feel nothing. I can’t tell; it’s kind Of scary. I was sick of thinking About you this morning but I was listening to Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen in order to think about You for literary purposes. When I feel nothing for a person I get scared I’m losing my humanity And that turning cold means My heart’s been botoxed: we’re All fucked. I watched a movie on YouTube Called Ladies and Gentlemen, Mister Leonard Cohen that was made when He was still just a poet and only Famous in Canada. He’s a pretentious little nerd In it, self-important, teacher’s pet wit. I think that, making music, he became So much nakeder, much more desperate. The talent, real, even pure, even Natural, had to ripen in The artificial man. Alain Badiou, on the day Of his class, said, “Because an event Is pure rapture, an event disappears Immediately: it does not exist Objectively, but only by appearing And disappearing.” This is both Precise and vague; it is attractive I guess. I guess since you and me did not Disappear immediately, it was Not pure rapture, not in these Terms, but my smile Was real each time I swallowed Your cum. Getting Fucked by you was great; I could Feel it in my organs, but You didn’t make me go insane Except for maybe once Or twice. Actually maybe I am Being unfair. Maybe the fucking really Was that great. In this moment I Can’t remember. I just read a poetry Review in which the reviewer States that a certain book Made his cock feel as though It were tall as a tree. That’s Nice. I have no idea What it feels like to have A cock. Sometimes I feel As though I’m getting close To understanding and then Something happens to make Me have no clue again. When Sinan Fucks me, we lose our individuality So severely it’s like we’re both Gasping after an animal that’s his Cock that is beyond us and I lose All sense of the world. His cock’s Not even him, and he’s not him either And we aren’t anything. It’s strange, the possessive. Didn’t Thomas Mann write a book called Herr Und Hund or something like that? Man’s best friend. What belongs To him. Me and Sunder Talked about how scary and arousing It is to watch men masturbate, cos Everyone relates differently to his. Like dicks are always almost but never Quite another. Je est un autre, Said that brat Arthur Rimbaud. I am definitely in love with you As I write this. You are so petty And superfluous I cannot stand You. Sinan is definitely In love with me. I know, because I saw him tonight. I love Him too. You are gracious To accord me the space and time In which to develop, or to elaborate Upon, as the French say, these Extreme emotions I am, despite The odds and certain lapses, So capable of feeling. It was good to slap Your face and to admit That your asshole Made me nervous. Your eyes had a way Of going soft and shiny When you said the really Tender things. We admitted It was intimidating For us both to hear each other describe People we’ve fucked and been In love with. I’m proud of what We accomplished together. Alain Badiou Ended his class with a reading Of “Ariane et Barbe-Bleue” which Is an opera by Paul Dukas. You And me had gone pretty far By the time this day came, and Something very fragile in me breaks When somebody says my name, or Even a variant of it. I was tired. I think Badiou discusses “Ariane” In Being and Event which I have not read. In class he said That the story of the opera is About the relationship between law And freedom, and that it shows That the desire for freedom is not So simple. Ariane experiences an Event That causes her to demand freedom, Badiou Said, but she is unable to convince anybody Else, any other women to want freedom; she ends up alone. She genuinely falls in love with the wicked Bluebeard at the beginning. Bluebeard Who previously got women by having a castle To lock them in. This woman Ariane Does not have to be taken By force. When she enters His castle he hands Her seven keys, six Of which he gives her permission To use, and leaves. She hears the cries Of his other, imprisoned wives, Coming from behind a door. So she uses The forbidden key, releasing them. Meanwhile Bluebeard is assaulted By the local peasants, who want To free Ariane, fearing her fate will turn out like That of the women who came before her. But Ariane is already free In herself, and proves this freedom By bringing the wounded Bluebeard Home, caring tenderly for him, and then Declaring that she’s leaving him for good. By the end Bluebeard’s shattered, sobbing, Bleeding. Ariane Invites the other wives to leave with her In a wrenching aria, pleading With them one by one to taste With her the freedom awaiting Them, The World. But they all prefer confinement Even though they had longed For freedom before Ariane opened Their door. Once liberty arrived they were no Longer capable of it, preferring to serve; even a gutted, Hollowed-out power. Ariane exits Alone. The end. Badiou narrated This with emotion and I cried. Maybe cos I was tired and That thing about my name or because I am not heroic or free. I had missed half of Alain Badiou’s Lectures messing around with you On the couch by the fire; in the women’s Toilets; up on the hill. If this were a suitable parable, And it isn’t, I would try to tell myself That those very early mornings in Brooklyn when I sat Up in your bed feeling wrong and Got dressed and walked away, I should Have stayed away cos I don’t need you. Maybe I don’t need you. But I want You. Maybe I don’t love you. But I am getting to know you. Maybe What made me cry in class was how tired I was and how sad and hard It is, and how rare, to undertake an act That’s truly free, and not just a response To a confused surge of drives and  fears.

[bluebeards-wife]

I trust what you are seeking is found in the tale, Ariane et Barbe-bleue.

Honestly, I’d be fascinated to see how Bluebeard would work in EAH. Like, in the show it’s implied that no one really dies playing out their story and the book even gives examples of characters avoiding their deaths and it being okay (like Ginger’s mom). How would a story where there have to be deaths work? Sure, It’d be fine for the one destined to be the last wife but what about the ones who have to be his previous wives? Is there a way around their deaths or are they just screwed?

[operaeoperanews]

👏👏👏❤️ #Repost @stefanopoda • • • • • • Prix du Syndicat de la critique française Claude-Rostand (meilleur spectacle lyrique du 2019) : Ariane et Barbe-bleue de Paul Dukas, mise en scène, scénographie, costumes, chorégraphie et lumières de STEFANO PODA (théâtre Capitole de Toulouse) Palmarès Grands Prix de la Critique Le Syndicat professionnel de la critique vient de dévoiler le palmarès des 56e Grand Prix. Fondé en 1877, le Syndicat professionnel de la critique, devenu Association professionnelle de la critique de théâtre, musique et danse, regroupe aujourd’hui 145 journalistes ou chroniqueurs de la presse écrite et audiovisuelle, française et étrangère. Le palmarès de ses Grands Prix, créés en 1963, est le fruit du vote de l’ensemble de ses membres et a pour but d��attirer l’attention sur les réalisations et les artistes les plus marquants de la saison. https://www.instagram.com/p/By-oZ9AimXL/?igshid=wzc0an4m1fmv

[opera-ghosts]

Suzanne Berchut, called Suzanne Balguerie (29 June 1888 – 17 February 1973) was a French operatic singer. Admired by Fauré, Dukas, Poulenc, and Messiaen, she was one of the greatest sopranos of the interwar period. Balguerie studied singing at the Conservatoire de Paris. She first became known through concerts, which allowed her to interpret the modern music that interested her most. She died in Saint-Martin-d'Hères on 17 February 1973 at age 84. In 1921, at the Opéra-Comique, for her first appearance on stage, Balguerie played Ariane in Dukas' Ariane et Barbe-Bleue. Her performance won praise from Gabriel Fauré who said : "I don't think there is a more important role for the theatre, both in terms of its proportions and in terms of all the qualities it demands. Mrs. Balguerie emerged from the ordeal triumphantly. [...][She] possesses, at the same time as a beautiful warm, well timbred, extended voice, a sure voice, and, rare quality, a very remarkable verbal articulation. [...][She] played this role of Ariane whose nuances are infinite, with a truly remarkable accuracy and simplicity". Balguerie then made a career at the Opéra-Comique. She played Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, the countess in The Marriage of Figaro, Tosca and Mélisande. In 1923, she appeared in Fauré's Penelope. She first sang the role in 1931." In 1925, Albert Carré, the director of the Opéra-Comique, scheduled Tristan und Isolde for Balguerie. As with Ariane, it was a triumph: "Madame Balguerie, feline, passionate, a sorceress... with a prodigious voice, is the Wagnerian Isolde herself". Balguerie sang Isolde 275 times. In 1936, Balguerie premiered two of the Poèmes pour Mi by Messiaen. "She did it with extraordinary vocal power and dramatic intensity", wrote the composer, who was at the piano. The same year, Adrien Rougier dedicated two of his Trois mélodies sur des poèmes d’Albert Samain, pour soprano et piano to her. At the Opéra-Comique, Balguerie premiered works that are not very popular today. In 1922, Jean Cras' Polyphème and Alfred Bachelet's Quand la cloche sonnera.[8] In 1923, La Brebis égarée, Darius Milhaud's first opera, with a libretto by Francis Jammes. In 1924, Henri Rabaud's L'Appel de la mer. In 1927, Balguerie premiered Léo Sachs[9] Les Burgraves at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées which she then revived at the Opéra Garnier.At the Opéra Garnier, in 1923, she sang the role of Brünnhilde. In 1932, she premiered Alfred Bachelet's Un jardin sur l'Oronte, and, in 1934, Georges Martin Witkowski's La Princesse lointaine, with a libretto by Edmond Rostand. She also performed as Marguerite in a series of Faust. In 1944, at Bordeaux, she premiered Richard Strauss' Die ägyptische Helena in France.

[lesser-known-composers]

Paul Dukas  - Ariane et Barbe Bleue   Introduction to act 3

[chthonic-cassandra]

I have some more recommendations:

The SurLaLune published collection Bluebeard Tales from Around the World is an absolute treasure trove and well worth buying if you have significant interest in variations on the story; you can also find a lot of wonderful materials at their website.

Academic Texts: Casie E. Hermansson, Bluebeard: A Reader’s Guide to the English Tradition and Reading Feminist Intertextuality Through Bluebeard Stories Grisela Pollack, Bluebeard’s Legacy: Sexuality, Curiosity, and Violence

Theater: Maurice Maeterlinck, Ariane et Barbe-Bleue or The Useless Rescue (and the opera based on it, composed by Paul Dukas) Béla Bartók (composer) & Béla Balázs (librettist), Bluebeard’s Castle [imagine little hearts around this one; it’s my favorite adaptation ever]

Fiction: Gregory Frost, Fitcher’s Brides Suniti Namjoshi, “A Room of His Own” in Feminist Fables A. S. Byatt, Babel Tower 

Film: Bluebeard (dir. Catherine Breillat) The Piano (dir. Jane Campion)

Do you know of any books or poems about Bluebeard? I read the Bloody Chamber and loved it.

Yes, The Bloody Chamber is delightful, and so vividly written. Here are my suggestions to go further with the Bluebeard archetype:

Bluebeard (Barbe-Bleue), Charles PerraultBluebeard (Blaubart), The Grimm BrothersBluebeard, Carol Ann Duffy, in Duffy/Supple/StillBluebeard’s Egg, Margaret AtwoodBluebeard (Barbe-Bleue), Amélie NothombThe Seven Wives of Bluebeard (Les Sept Femmes de Barbe-Bleue), Anatole FranceWomen Who Run With Wolves, Clarissa Pinkola EstésBluebeard, Francesca Lia BlockWaiting for Bluebeard, Helen IvorySecrets Beyond the Door, Maria TatarMr. Fox, Helen Oyeyemi& of course :Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë, and a few works on the question:

- Bluebeard and the Beast: The Mysterious Realism of Jane Eyre, Jessica Campbell- Tradition and Transformation: Fairy Tales in the Victorian Novel, Jessica Campbell - Bluebeard Gothic: Jane Eyre and Its Progeny, Heta Pyrhoenen

Have fun!

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

if anyone is interested in learning about different operatic adaptations of the Bluebeard story and how they relate to feminism, this is happening from March 22 to March 26!

[blackkudos]

Grace Bumbry

Grace Melzia Bumbry (born January 4, 1937), an American opera singer, is considered one of the leading mezzo-sopranos of her generation, as well as a major soprano for many years. She was a member of a pioneering generation of singers who followed Marian Anderson (including Leontyne Price, Martina Arroyo, Shirley Verrett and Reri Grist) in the world of classical music and paved the way for future African-American opera and classical singers. Bumbry's voice was rich and sizable, possessing a wide range, and was capable of producing a very distinctive plangent tone.

In her prime, she also possessed good agility and bel canto technique (see for example her renditions of the 'Veil Song' from Verdi's Don Carlo in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as her Ernani from the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1984). She was particularly noted for her fiery temperament and dramatic intensity on stage. More recently, she has also become known as a recitalist and interpreter of lieder, and as a teacher. From the late 1980s on, she concentrated her career in Europe, rather than in the US. A long-time resident of Switzerland, she now makes her home in Salzburg, Austria.

From mezzo to soprano to mezzo

Bumbry's career in the world of opera was a remarkable and long one, if somewhat controversial. Initially, Bumbry began her career as a mezzo-soprano, but later expanded her repertoire to include many dramatic soprano roles. In the mid-1970s and 1980s she considered herself a soprano; but in the 1990s, as her career approached its twilight, she often returned to mezzo roles. She was one of the more successful singers who have made the transition from mezzo-soprano to high soprano (along with her compatriot and contemporary Shirley Verrett); however, audiences and critics were divided over whether she was a "true" soprano. Nonetheless, she sang major soprano roles at most major opera houses around the world up until the end of her operatic career in the 1990s—singing Turandot at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden (London) in 1993, for example. Her operatic career spanned from 1960 (her debut in Paris as Amneris) to 1997 (as Klytämnestra, in Lyon, France).

Early life and career

Grace Bumbry was born in St Louis, Missouri, to a family of modest means. In a BBC radio interview she recalled that her father was a railroad porter and her mother a school teacher. She graduated from the prestigious Charles Sumner High School, the first black high school west of the Mississippi. She first won a local radio competition at age 17, singing Verdi's demanding aria "O don fatale" (from Don Carlo). One of the prizes for first place was a scholarship to the local music conservatory; however, as the institution was segregated, it would not accept a black student. Embarrassed, the contest promoters arranged for her to study at Boston University College of Fine Arts (1955) instead. She later transferred to Northwestern University, where she met the German dramatic soprano and noted Wagnerian singer Lotte Lehmann, with whom she later studied at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California, and who became her mentor in her early career. She also studied with renowned teachers Marinka Gurewich and Armand Tokatyan. In 1958, she was a joint winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions with soprano Martina Arroyo; later that year, she made her recital debut in Paris. Bumbry made her operatic debut in 1960 when she sang Amneris at the Paris Opéra; that same year she joined the Basel Opera.

She gained international renown when she was cast by Wieland Wagner (Richard Wagner's grandson) as Venus at Bayreuth in 1961, at age 24, the first black singer to appear there, which earned her the title "Black Venus". The cast also included Victoria de los Angeles as Elisabeth and Wolfgang Windgassen as Tannhäuser. Conservative opera-goers were outraged at the idea, but Bumbry's performance was so moving that by the end of the opera she had won the audience over and they applauded for 30 minutes, necessitating 42 curtain calls. The ensuing furor in the media made Bumbry an international cause célèbre. She was subsequently invited by Jacqueline Kennedy to sing at the White House. (She returned to the White House in 1981, singing at the Ronald Reagan inauguration.) Having begun her operatic career on such a high note, she achieved the rare feat of never falling back on small or comprimario roles.

Bumbry made her Royal Opera House, Covent Garden debut in 1963; her La Scala debut in 1964; and her Metropolitan Opera debut as Princess Eboli in Verdi's Don Carlo in 1965. In 1964, Bumbry appeared for the first time as a soprano, singing Verdi's Lady Macbeth in her debut at the Vienna State Opera. In 1966 she appeared as Carmen opposite Jon Vickers's Don José in two different lauded productions, one with conductor Herbert von Karajan in Salzburg and the other for Bumbry's debut with the San Francisco Opera. In 1967 she sang Carmen again in her debut with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company and returned to the San Francisco Opera in 1967 for her first performance of Laura Adorno in La Gioconda with Leyla Gencer as Gioconda, Renato Cioni as Enzo Grimaldi, Maureen Forrester as La Cieca and Chester Ludgin as Barnaba.

In 1963, she married the Polish-born tenor Erwin Jaeckel. They divorced in 1972.

Later career

In the 1970s, Bumbry—having recorded many soprano arias-began taking on more soprano roles. Her first unmistakably soprano role was Salome in 1970 at Covent Garden (both Santuzza and Lady Macbeth, which she had previously sung, can be considered 'transition' roles between mezzo and soprano). In 1971, she debuted as Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera (a performance that also marked James Levine's house debut as conductor). She also took on more unusual roles, such as Janáček's Jenůfa (in Italian) at La Scala in 1974 (with Magda Olivero as the Kostelnička), Dukas's Ariane et Barbe-bleue in Paris in 1975, and Sélika in Meyerbeer's L'Africaine at Covent Garden in 1978 (opposite Plácido Domingo as Vasco da Gama). Because of her full, dramatic soprano sound, she also began assuming such roles as Norma, Medea, Abigaille and Gioconda—roles not coincidentally associated with Maria Callas. She first sang Norma in 1977 in Martina Franca, Italy; the following year, she sang both Norma and Adalgisa in the same production at Covent Garden: first as the younger priestess opposite Montserrat Caballé as Norma; later, as Norma, with Josephine Veasey as Adalgisa.

As an interpreter of lieder she often performed with the German pianist Sebastian Peschko.

Other noted soprano roles in her career have included: Chimène (in Le Cid), Elisabeth (in Tannhäuser), Elvira (in Ernani), Leonora (both Il trovatore and La forza del destino), Aida, Turandot and Bess. Other major mezzo-soprano roles in her repertory included: Dalila, Cassandre and Didon (in Les Troyens), Massenet's Hérodiade, Ulrica, Azucena, Gluck's Orfeo (her only trouser role), Poppea and Baba the Turk.

In 1991, at the opening of the new Opéra Bastille, she appeared as Cassandre, with Shirley Verrett as Didon. Because of a strike at the opera, Verrett was unable to perform at the re-scheduled last performance (this incident is recounted in Verrett's autobiography), and Bumbry sang both Cassandre and Didon in the same evening.

In the 1990s, she also founded and toured with her Grace Bumbry Black Musical Heritage Ensemble, a group devoted to preserving and performing traditional Negro spirituals. Her last operatic appearance was as Klytämnestra in Richard Strauss's Elektra in Lyon in 1997. She has since devoted herself to teaching and judging international competitions; and to the concert stage, giving a series of recitals in 2001 and 2002 in honor of her teacher, Lotte Lehmann, including in Paris (Théâtre du Châtelet), London (Wigmore Hall) and New York (Alice Tully Hall). A DVD of the Paris recital was later issued by TDK.

In 2010, after an absence of many years from the opera stage, she performed in Scott Joplin's Treemonisha at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris; and in 2013, she returned to the Vienna State Opera as the Countess in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades.

Her advice to young singers is: "To strive for excellence, that's the answer. If you strive for excellence, that means that you are determined. You will find a way to get to your goal, even if it means having to turn down some really great offers. You have to live with that, as you have to live with yourself."

Recordings and honors

Of her recorded legacy, there's much from her mezzo period, including at least two Carmens and three Amnerises (possibly her most frequently performed role onstage and most frequently recorded), Venus (with Anja Silja as Elisabeth, at the 1962 Bayreuth Festival), Eboli and Orfeo. There are no commercially released complete studio opera recordings with her in a soprano role, but there are recordings of live performances of Le Cid (with the Opera Orchestra of New York), Jenůfa (at La Scala) and Norma (Martina Franca), in addition to some commercial compilations that include arias in the soprano repertoire. Interestingly enough, many of these were recorded in her "mezzo period", in the 1960s (including excerpts of La forza del destino in German, with Bumbry as Leonora and Nicolai Gedda as Alvaro). She also recorded music for the musical Carmen Jones, based on the Bizet opera; as well as operetta (Johan Strauss II's Der Zigeunerbaron), oratorio (Handel's Israel in Egypt and Judas Maccabeus), and an album of pop songs.

Bumbry has been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame. Among other honors, she was bestowed the UNESCO Award, the Distinguished Alumna Award from the Academy of Music of the West, Italy's Premio Giuseppe Verdi, and was named Commandeur des Arts et Lettres by the French government. On December 6, 2009, she was among those honored with the 2009 Kennedy Center Honors, for her contribution to the performing arts.

Wikipedia

[clas-theatre-d-ombres]

En petits groupes, le Mardi 17 Avril et le Vendredi 20 Avril.

Le début de cette troisième séance de CLAS s’ouvre sur un résumé plus détaillé des quatre contes sélectionnés par les enfants.

S’en suit un petit exercice afin de s’assurer que les personnages principaux ont été correctement identifiés. Les enfants doivent ainsi les séparer en trois groupes bien précis : héros/héroïnes, gentils et méchants. Certains personnages, dont le développement au cours de l’histoire les fait passer par ces trois catégories, nous donne du fil à retordre ! Le Prince transformé en Bête est-il méchant, gentil... ou le héros de son conte éponyme ?

Vient ensuite le moment tant attendu de choisir son rôle ! Les personnages de notre future histoire ont été répartis de la sorte :

- Mathis : les Domestiques métamorphosés en objets (La Belle et la Bête) - Clara : la Fée (La Belle et la Bête) - Lilou : Belle (La Belle et la Bête) - Louise : l’épouse de Barbe Bleue (Barbe Bleue) - Naomie : l’Aigle (L’Enfant et l’Eclair) - Gabriel : le Cyclope (L’Enfant et l’Eclair) - Candys : Gretel (Hansel et Gretel) - Fabien : la Sorcière (Hansel et Gretel)

- Maxime G. : Gaston (La Belle et la Bête) - Maxime D. : la Bête (La Belle et la Bête) - Alana : les Sœurs de Belle (La Belle et la Bête) - Alicia V. : Barbe Bleue (Barbe Bleue) - Alicia D. : les Princesses emprisonnées (Barbe Bleue) - Lucas : Bernard (L’Enfant et l’Eclair) - Nolan : Zeus (L’Enfant et l’Eclair) - Sarah : Ariane (L’Enfant et l’Eclair)