Sister Song

 

I recently mentioned going to see a production of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte last month, but it wasn’t the only time I saw the opera that week.  In fact, I saw about thirteen hours worth of Cosi spread over three different performances (!). Two of them took place at Opera in the Heights and one was put on by Rice University—starring my friend, Kelley (she of the best fall day evar), who was an undergrad at the University of Michigan when I was there but is now getting her masters from Rice.

Post-game pic!! Fioridi-GETIT!!

 

One of my favorite parts about the opera—and especially how Kelley’s Fioridiligi and the student playing her on-stage sister, Dorabella, play them—is the relationship between the two sisters.  They get some of the best music as well, so for those of you interested in a bit of Mozart then enjoy!!

 

Renee Fleming and Joyce di Donato (of this epic blog post) singing “Ah guarda sorella,” in which two sisters jokingly gloat about their lovers, constantly trying to one-up each her.

 

 

In fact, the way that Kelley and her counterpart played it, the duet kind of reminded me of a scene in Luc Besson’s (the director of The Fifth Element and the opera scene from this blog post) most recent movie, The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec.  The movie is basically a French, female [have I already alienated some of my readers?] version of Indiana Jones [did I win you back?].  Basically all you need to know is that Adele’s sister is wounded and Adele spends the whole first part of the movie going to Egypt to steal a mummy who she thinks is a pharaoh's doctor and, with the help of a mystic professor, attempt to bring him back to life so that he may heal her.  You know, or as we say here in America: Tuesday. At any rate, this scene explains how Agathe became wounded in a tennis match that began as a bit of sibling rivalry and ended in a grunty, sweaty, pointy, tragic hot mess.  It’s a really fantastic movie (which I never saw in theaters because it never came out here… I had to watch it on a tiny tiny screen on an AirFrance flight two years ago and was grateful for it!) and I highly recommend it. If you can find it, that is :(

 

 

Aaaaaand now that you’ve indulged me in that bit of mental circuitousness… here’s the second, and last, of the Cosi clips for the day. Ana Maria Martinez, Sophie Koch and Sir Thomas Allen singing "Soave sia il vento,” in which the sisters bid their men farewell as they go off to war (though in reality they haven’t left at all and later pretend to be Albanians in order to test their girlfriend’s fidelity… it’s your basic Mozart plot).  At any rate, this is just STUNNINGLY beautiful music and singing:

 

BRAVA, STARZELLEY!!

Artist: Idina Menzel / Album: Live from the Zipper Theater