#johann besse

[bessejohann]

Texture 2023

Johann Besse

[es-oh-bfo-em]

[akkar2]

Johann Besse, Swiss-born photographer, living and working in Berlin.

Johann Besse

[wildandmoody]

GROUP: Classical music

Highlights from the Ballet - Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker - Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra (1966)

^this was a record i randomly found in my closet when we were moving out, and I had no idea where it came from. I play it every Christmas.

Franz Berwald Symphony in E flat - London Symphony Orchestra (1968)

Middle row: Bach Brandenburg Concerti No. 1-6 - Württemburg Chamber Orchestra (1968)

The Halle Orchestra - Tchaikowsky's Symphony No. 6 in B Minor & Symphony No. 5 in E Minor (unknown years, probably sometime between 1964-67)

GROUP: Vintage OSTs

The Salsoul Orchestra - Christmas Jollies (1976)

Technically not an OST i guess but it was definitely a soundtrack of my childhood, as this orchestra was very popular in Guyana and my family plays this album everyyy holiday season without fail.

Richard Rodgers - The Sound of Music OST (1967)

Scenes From Gershwin's Porgy And Bess (1963)

This is another record my mom gifted me and I'm not sure why bc I can only tolerate opera when I'm listening to it live. Still a cool thing to have I guess and it's the oldest record in my collection currently.

[loputon-moottoritie]

[annamariemir4ge]

KUUMAA and BESS at Qstock Festival (28.07) ❤️‍🔥

📸 laura.iikkanen

[unsubconscious]

Johann Besse, Water reflection from the "Echoes" photography series, 2019

[in-the-depths-of-solitude]

Johann Besse

[rozieramati]

Poppies 2021

Johann Besse

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

Any opera recs for a musical theater nerd who keeps wanting to check opera out and hasn’t gotten around to it yet?

ooh!!! as a lover of both opera and musical theater, YES!!!

so here are some basics:

-any operetta or light opera basically ever. some of the best: gilbert and sullivan. johann strauss’ die fledermaus (the bat). franz lehar’s die lustige witwe (the merry widow). any jacques offenbach operetta, ESPECIALLY orphée aux enfers (orpheus in the underworld, aka the one with the famous can-can) or la vie parisienne (the parisian life). leonard bernstein’s genre-defying candide.

-speaking of which, there are a LOT of good, reasonably short american operas out there. george gershwin’s porgy and bess (the source of MANY standards, most notably “summertime”) premiered on broadway, actually. so did gian carlo menotti’s the saint of bleecker street. others i’d recommend: menotti’s the medium, carlisle floyd’s susannah, kurt weill’s street scene. all of these are pretty intense/tragic though. my fave in a lighter vein is bernstein’s trouble in tahiti, which i saw live once and it was DELISH.

-giacomo puccini and his contemporaries are a GOLD mine for musical-loving opera newbies. they’re reasonably short operas, they’re INTENSE, they’ve got amazing scores. so:

puccini’s la bohème: yeah, rent is based on it. however: VERY MUCH NOT THE SAME. (bohème is better imo.)

puccini’s tosca: you want an intense night at the opera? this one has EVERYTHING. it’s a straight up thriller. basically everyone dies. the music is glorious.

i’m not a huge fan of puccini’s madama butterfly but miss saigon is based on it, so there’s that i guess.

puccini’s il trittico: three short (1 hour) operas with three wildly different moods: il tabarro (the cloak) is a thriller, suor angelica is about a nun Going Through Some Shit and is DEVASTATING, gianni schicchi is a side-busting comedy and also has that iconic aria “o mio babbino caro”.

pietro mascagni’s cavalleria rusticana (rustic chivalry) and ruggero leoncavallo’s pagliacci (clowns) are a frequent double bill. they’re both INTENSE short operas about infidelity and passion and revenge and murder. and they both have tunes you will recognize.

-other recommendations:

-wolfgang amadeus mozart’s die zauberflöte (the magic flute), which has lots of spoken dialogue and hit tunes. MAJOR caveat however: you’re better off picking a production that plays much more fast and loose with the dialogue and lyrics because the original is uh…HUGELY racist and sexist! look up the pacific opera project’s nintendo-themed production on youtube.

-gioachino rossini’s il barbiere di siviglia (the barber of seville). hilarious as shit. so many shenanigans. can be a little long for a newbie but yeah. plus: TUNES.

-gaetano donizetti’s l’elisir d’amore (the elixir of love), don pasquale, la fille du régiment (the daughter of the regiment), and lucia di lammermoor. the first three are hilarious comedies, the last one is a tragedy of bloody murder with an ICONIC mad scene for the soprano.

-giuseppe verdi’s rigoletto and la traviata. both pretty short (~2 hours or so). both have iconic tunes and great stories. the latter is more or less the basis of both pretty woman and moulin rouge.

-georges bizet’s carmen. SO MANY HIT TUNES YOU WILL RECOGNIZE. also the basis of carmen jones.

-maurice ravel’s l’heure espagnole (the spanish hour). it’s a short opera about a woman who juggles three lovers by hiding two of them inside clocks in her husband’s clock shop. it’s risqué and funny and fun and does not get done enough.

-if you like WEIRD german stuff: richard strauss’ salome (which i love, but it’s disturbing as fuck) and elektra (which i don’t love but respect people who do) and alban berg’s wozzeck (SUPER weird and disturbing) are all in the 1.5-2 hour range and have been known to make unexpected fans of newbies. but do not attempt these unless you’re willing to experience a total mindfuck.

i hope that helps some! fellow operablr members pls feel free to add anything i may have overlooked 💗

[timunville]

Interesting images

Tulipes 2019

Johann Besse

[theleoisallinthemind]

Pleurniche 2020

Johann Besse

[arsenic-green]

Johann Besse

2020

[ahesitantpurist]

⌢

johann besse

⌣

[monmignon]

Echos 2019 Marble

Hahnemuhle Photo Silk Baryta 110 x 85 cm

bessejohann.com