#verdi opera

[esteemed-excellency]

I saved some pictures for the latest moodboard and I need you all to see how pretty these libretti covers are

[one-time-i-dreamt]

David Tennant is an opera singer, and is portraying Iago in Verdi’s Otello.

[zippocreed501]

The set/stage for Rigoletto at the Bregenz Festival, 2021

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

had to remind you all of this absolute masterpiece of camerawork

[giaffa]

Sharing this Giuseppe Verdi meme i made for my friends. Use it responsibly.

[sadkoesque]

Luisa Miller, Giuseppe Verdi (1849). prod. Walter Pagliaro (2011)

[vera-dauriac]

Benefit of an uncertain birthday is you get to spend two days celebrating.

[esteemed-excellency]

Costume sketches for La Traviata, Milan, 1880

[chessamade]

Major Arcana: Justice

This piece is back from late April 2019 and features one of the most explosive baritone arias from my favorite opera Rigoletto by Verdi. In this scene, "Cortigiani, vil razza," Rigoletto is certain his daughter is being held hostage by his employer the Duke and his courtiers who encourage the Duke's lecherous behavior, and he demands her release. The courtiers do not take Rigoletto's demands seriously and the aria changes from explosive fire, anger, and threats of physical violence to Rigoletto on his knees begging for even a scrap of empathy. It is one of the most heartbreaking scenes I have ever experienced, how in one moment this character is filled with righteous anger, and in the next is begging to be seen as a human being.

The most influential recording on me has been the one with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in the role of Rigoletto, with Rennata Scotto as Gilda and Carlo Bergonzi as the Duke. At the moment of posting, that whole recording is available to listen to here.

I also really love Sherrill Milnes as Rigoletto; he always brings a majesty and heartbreaking quality to his work. Here he is singing the aria that this card depicts.

[orthoceras]

going insane bc of finals and this appeared

(screenshot used under cut)

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

because this is a real thing that happened, and the result was the rediscovery of the original uncensored version of my favorite non-standard-rep verdi opera.

anyway, happy 174th birthday to verdi’s stiffelio—so glad we all get a second chance to get to know you and your story that’s STILL so incredibly relevant and so incredibly moving.

(and it’s fitting given that the entire point of the opera is about second chances and forgiveness!)

[bobdobalina]

Michael Mayer explaining that his new production of Aida will open with archaeologists discovering an ancient Egyptian tomb before transitioning to the story of the opera, as if this isn’t almost exactly the premise of Elton John & Tim Rice’s musical Aida

(Okay that’s in the ancient Egyptian wing of a museum but still)

[beckmessering]

so. here’s my @operablr-secret-santa gift for @supercantaloupe 💛

it’s an ✨𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓉𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓅𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔✨ of rigoletto’s 2nd act. (details are below the cut)

i have been on a roll with anatomical hearts this year & i’ve made a whole series lol so here we go. personally, i think “piangi, fanciulla” is one of the most touching parts of the whole opera. it really encapsulates what it means to be a parent: you might be doing shittily, and be sick with worry, but if your kid is doing badly and needs your stability, you do anything you can to offer it to them. so i drew this heart, cut it out w/ an empty space, and stapled it back to the original drawing paper on black background.

stapling is a method of wound closure, which metaphorically stands for both rigoletto’s and gilda’s fraught, emotionally injured state. they’re both mentally banged up quite a bit, in different ways. at the same time, stapling as a method doesn’t seem as neat as stitching. it always ends up kind of rough. when we staple paper, we slam our hand on the stapler, quickly, and when we staple wounds, we do it because it’s faster than stitching. stapling is for mass casualty situations. it’s for when your kid needs to cry and so do you, but you’re the parent and you have to have your shit together and be the stable one, so you slam your hand on the stapler and tell your daughter it’s okay, she can cry.

[operaqueen]

Maria Callas

[ravelqueen]

HEYOOOOO HE'S HEREEEEE

i mean that is an effective way to get the real lance lol

BUT the scene with the lance throw was REALLY GOOD very evocative, well done

[automaticdreamlandkid]

Ludovic Tezier & Jonas Kaufmann in La forza del destino.