vilaine fille

Senza titolo IV

25. a weekend (plus nearly three decades!) with K
26. wicked neighborhood emporia and the temptations they proffer
27. KittyKind
28. la sor romana’s new blog!
29. lessons easy and hard
30. the blithe spirit and effervescent English prose of a grenouille (buy her book!)
    

Pensée du dimanche 28 janvier

Opera once was an important social instrument—especially in Italy. With Rossini and Verdi people were listening to opera together and having the same catharsis with the same story, the same moral dilemmas. They were holding hands in the darkness. That has gone. Now perhaps they are holding hands watching television.
—Luciano Berio

Right to life

January 21 was “National Sanctity of Human Life Day” according to the usurper-in-chief. Read all about it at Daily Kos.

Senza titolo III (edizione doppia)

13. K’s life, radiant soul, and peaceful passing
14. the love and support of too many friends to mention
15. malachim in their many guises
16. Fabio Grosso’s latest goal
17. icy winter weather—finalmente!
18. Murray’s (vastly superior to H&H, o wannabe suburbanites of the north!)
19. Pineider and all that is ideato e prodotto unicamente in Italia
20. that a woman and a Black man are heavyweight contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination (though I’m not sure I’ll support either)
21. that one long national disgrace will end in this many days
22. David Garland, for this divine and abiding gift
    
    
    vilaine fille’s patron saint with the divine Françoise.
    
    
23. Katha Pollitt’s 2007 resolutions, especially No. 6
24. decor8, happy and inspiring, and the great stuff I now own thanks to Holly

Pensée du dimanche 21 janvier

Cat. A symbol of liberty. The Roman goddess of Liberty was represented as holding a cup in one hand, a broken sceptre in the other, and with a cat lying at her feet. No animal is so great an enemy to all constraint as a cat.
—Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898)

Ave atque vale, K.

Deçà, delà

Brother @lm@viv@, purveyor of musical wonders, offers two selections (un and deux!) from Wagner’s Die Meistersinger featuring Klaus Florian Vogt.

You may recall that Vogt made a splash as Lohengrin at the Met last spring. Sister Sieglinde was entranced, and vilaine fille was struck dumb with rapture. (We note, however, that Dr. B was not convinced.)

Still… If Wagner casts more often featured Mr. Vogt (instead of meatballs-who-bellow-like-stuck-pigs), vilaine fille might venture forth more frequently. Well, that, and if someone firebombed all the Otto Schenk productions…

 
Vogt and Randy from the Village People.
Monsalvat, YMCA: It’s all the same.

Buon sangue non mente

My g-dchild Angela at 7.5 months, playing bocce.

Senza titolo II

7. Annick Goutal’s L’Heure exquise (could I be any more old-fashioned?)
8. W, a loving and patient friend, and an inspiring model of what it is to be a graceful, gallant, competent human being
9. V, nonostante tutto
10. that I can see, hear, smell, taste, and feel
11. that I’ve recently closed the door on two abusive professional relationships (more to come?)
12. Roberto Donadoni’s red-hot 43-year-old ass

See, even Gigi and il culo cosmico are impressed!

Festa nazionale chez vilaine fille (2007)

Yesterday (13 January) was the 34th birthday of Juan Diego Flórez. He was already moaning about being old back in 2005, but let’s be frank: Tenors do moan. Last vilaine fille heard from Don Juan Diego, he seemed in sparkling form.

According to the indispensable Voce di tenore, Don Juan Diego in coming months sings concerts in Paris and Málaga and Donizetti’s La fille du régiment in Milan before returning to New York for his rescheduled Carnegie Hall recital and more Barbieres at the Met.

Last summer, “Figaro” of Italy’s Gay.tv offered Don Juan Diego’s responses to a version of the Proust questionnaire. vilaine fille, in turn, offers an English translation for all her Anglophone friends. Buona lettura!

Your most marked characteristic?
Determination.

Your principal defect?
Extreme self-criticism.

The quality you most like in a man?
Honesty.

And in a woman?
Femininity.

The person you would turn to in times of difficulty?
My mother, without a doubt.

Your idea of earthly happiness?
To be as serene as possible.

Jealousy?
It’s a sign of insecurity, foreign to my nature.

A regret?
Not having devoted more time to people who are no longer with us.

The happiest day of your life?
Still to come, for sure.

And the saddest?
When my grandmother died.

What are you afraid of?
Not being sufficiently prepared.

Your favorite city?
Lima.

Your favorite color?
Ultramarine blue.

Your favorite flower?
Magnolias.

Your relationship with food?
More than excellent, I would say…

Your favorite dish?
Ají de gallina, a typical Peruvian dish, rather spicy. It might be called pollo al peperoncino (chicken with chili-peppers).

Your favorite drink?
A good glass of wine, without a doubt.

Your happiest memory?
My Pesaro début in 1996.

When do you lie?
When I don’t wish to hurt someone.

What can you not do without?
The good things of life.

The last book you read?
Voyage au bout de la nuit by Louis-Ferdinand Céline.

Your favorite pastime?
Computers.

Your favorite singer?
Alfredo Kraus and Luciano Pavarotti.

Your favorite scent?
The smell of the sea…

A trip you would like to take?
I’d like to know Australia, a fascinating country.

Which past or present historical figure would you like to have been?
None.

The art you love most besides music?
I love dance in all its forms.

Your relationship with television?
Good, but with no particular passion.

The last film you saw?
Mar adentro by Alejandro Aménabar, a really intense film.

Your favorite actor?
Too many, I couldn’t say.

The most extravagant thing you’ve done?
Sing at the Metropolitan in New York.

If you could change one thing in your appearance, what would it be?
Nothing.

If you won an enormous sum playing the lottery?
I would make large charitable gifts.

A dream you’ve set aside?
Surfing.

The thing you most detest?
Hypocrisy.

What natural gift would you most like to possess?
The ability to read quickly.

The most precious gift you’ve received?
Love.

How would you like to die?
Peacefully and as old as possible.

To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
Those we call minor.

What is your present state of mind?
Good, I’d say.

Your motto?
I don’t have one.

Birthday bonus: A “live” recording of Idreno’s cabaletta from Rossini’s Semiramide. (I believe it’s from Spain, late 2005, though I’m not entirely sure.) Please, if possible, download the file instead of streaming it from this site. vilaine fille is bandwidth-challenged!

Pensée du dimanche 14 janvier

My experience has been that work is almost the best way to pull oneself out of the depths.
—Eleanor Roosevelt