"Lucia di Lammermoor" Sextet Makes a Cameo in 1949 Film

A LETTER TO THREE WIVES
"Lora May Hollingsway, who grew up next to the wrong side of the tracks, married her boss who thinks she is just a gold digger. Rita Phipps makes as much money writing radio scripts at night as her school teacher husband does. Deborah Bishop looked great in a Navy uniform in WWII but fears she'll never be dressed just right for the Country Club set. These three wives are boarding a boat filled with children going on a picnic when a messenger on a bicycle hands them a letter addressed to all three from Addie who has just left town with one of their husbands. They won't know which one until that night." [Source]

CAST:
Jeanne Crain as Deborah Bishop
Linda Darnell as Lora Mae Hollingsway
Ann Sothern as Rita Phipps
Kirk Douglas as George Phipps
Paul Douglas as Porter Hollingsway
Classical music used in the film includes Concerto No. 2 in B Flat Major, Op. 83 by Brahms and Wein, weib und Gesang, Op. 333 by Johann Strauß. Watch how a piano reduction of "Chi mi frena in tal momento?", which begins the sextet from Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, creeps into the 1949 film from director Joseph L. Mankiewicz:

Enjoy a couple classic clips of the vocal version of the Lucia sextet after the jump.

Cher and Opera Seem Linked When It Comes to the Cinema

The valkyrie circa 1979.

It seems pop star Cher may have a penchant for more than dressing operatically. Many of the actress's films have featured opera scenes or have a connection to opera. There is an interesting affinity toward Puccini as well. Take a look back at a few of those moments that are available online. Clips are after the jump.








Faithful (1996)

"Vissi D'Arte" from Tosca (Puccini), performed by Eva Marton.

Moonstruck (1987)

Act I: "Questo 'Mar Rosso' mi ammollisce e assidera"/Act I: "O soave fanciulla"/Act II: "Quando men' vo"/Act III: "Addio...Donde lieta usci al tuo grido d'amore" from La Bohème (Puccini), performed by Renata Tebaldi and Carlo Bergonzi with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under the direction of Tullio Serafin.


Stuck on You (2003)

"Summertime"from Porgy and Bess (Gershwin).

Tea with Mussolini (1999)
Although this movie does not feature any opera in the soundtrack, the plot is a semi-autobiographical tale from the early life of director Franco Zeffirelli.

The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
"Nessun Dorma"from Turandot (Puccini), performed by Luciano Pavarotti and London Philharmonic Orchestra with conductor Zubin Mehta.

Going Retro: Julianne Moore's Wagnerian Sequence in "Lebowski"

Hot starlet Julianne Moore has a new film out, Crazy, Stupid, Love and it's worth looking back at one of her most memorable scenes in movie making. In 1998, she appeared as Maude in The Big Lebowski. It may particularly stand out for opera fans, because the dream sequence features the actress in full valkyrie armor mode....for the bowling alley. Check out the music video:

More pictures are after the jump.

Classical Music Used in the 1988 Film "Beetlejuice"

Tim Burton's cult classic 1988 film Beetlejuice, featuring Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O'Hara, has quite a number of classical music selections included (even if they didn't appear on the official soundtrack for the film).




"Marche Funèbre" Sonata Piano No. 2 (Chopin)


"Overture" Leichte Kavallerie (von Suppé)


"Bridal Chorus" Lohengrin (Wagner)


"Regnava nel silenzio" Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti)

"No Reservations" Features Plenty of Opera in the Kitchen

Looking back to the 2007 film, No Reservations featuring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart and Abigail Breslin, there is enough opera interspersed throughout that it could be a fourth character. Original scoring for the film was done by Philip Glass. The film itself is no Academy Award-winning film, but it is a charming romantic story from director Scott Hicks (Snow Falling on Cedars, Shine and Hearts in Atlantis).

Some of the clips included in the film:

"Celeste Aida" Aida (Luciano Pavarotti)

"O mio babbino caro" Gianni Schicchi (Renata Tebaldi)

"Libiamo, libiamo" La Traviata (Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Sutherland)

"La donna é mobile" Rigoletto (Joseph Calleja)

"Un bel dì vedremo" Madama Butterfly (Renata Tebaldi)

"Cielo e mar" La Gioconda (Luciano Pavarotti)

"Nessun dorma" Turandot (Luciano Pavarotti)

A full synopsis of No Reservations is after the jump.

"Kate (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is the master chef at the trendy 22 Bleecker Street Restaurant in Manhattan. She runs her kitchen at a rapid pace as she coordinates the making and preparing of all the fantastic meals and personally displays the food to perfection on every dish. She intimidates everyone around her, so her boss sends her to therapy. Kate hates to leave the kitchen when a customer wants to compliment her on one of her special dishes, but she is ready to leave the kitchen in a second when a customer insults her cooking. Kate's sister is killed in a car accident and her nine-year old daughter Zoe (Abigail Breslin) moves in with Kate. With all of Kate's problems, the boss hires a new chef to join the staff. Nick (Aaron Eckhart) is a rising star in his own right and could be the head chef of another restaurant, but he wants to work under Kate. Kate begins to feel threatened by Nick, because he has a different style of running the kitchen. Nick loves to listen to opera when he cooks and to make the staff laugh. With all that is going on in Kate's life, falling for a man is the last thing she was looking for. There is some kind of chemistry between Kate and Nick that can only go one way. Yet life will hit her in the head when Kate's boss offers Nick the head chef job." [Source]

Tom Cruise Discovers Opera Runs in His Genes

Belting it like a rock (opera) star.

"Tom Cruise may be 48-year-old, but judging from the recent photo he tweeted of himself, he does not look his age. In the film Rock of Ages, which was adapted from the Broadway play of the same name, Cruise will portray a hard rocker Stacee Jaxx from the 1980s era. In the photo tweeted to his followers directing them to his website, we see a far-away shot of Cruise with a clearly toned and fit body....Adam Shankman, the director of the film, recent told Entertainment Weekly that Cruise is fit for the role. 'Here’s the thing about Tom Cruise,' Shankman said. 'I knew in my heart he would never put himself in harm’s way about taking on a part if he didn’t think he could deliver.' He also talked about the celebration at Cruise’s first singing lesson when the star proved he had great voice. His grandfather or his great-grandfather was an opera singer,' Shankman said. 'So he’s genetically predisposed for this sort of thing.' The film is expected to be released in 2012." [Source]

Wagner Soundtrack for the End of the World in "Melancholia"

"Let us get it over with right away. The end of Lars von Trier's film Melancholia. Everybody dies. Not just the guests at the grand wedding held in the first part of the film at an ever-so-romantic castle surrounded by a golf course. And not just all life on Earth. For in the world evoked by the Danish film maker this time, we are absolutely alone in the universe. So what ends in our planet's cosmic embrace with the ten times bigger planet, Melancholia, is life as such and our recollection of it. No ending could be more final." [Source] Watch the trailer for the film, which is underscored by Wagner's Tristan und Isolde overture:

Elizabeth Taylor Dies at 79

Source: www.GutterUncensored.com

1932 – 2011

Academy Award winning actress Elizabeth Taylor passed away today at Los Angeles, Calif.'s Cedars-Sinai Hospital at the age of 79. At around 1:30 a.m. this morning, she died of symptoms caused by congestive heart failure. "She was surrounded by her children- Michael Wilding, Christopher Wilding, Liza Todd, and Maria Burton," Taylor's publicist, Sally Morrison, said in a statement. In addition to her children, Taylor is survived by 10 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.

One of the most beautiful screen legends in her era, Elizabeth Taylor won double Oscars for starring in Butterfield 8 in 1960, opposite Eddie Fisher and for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf in 1966, alongside Richard Burton. In 1963, she memorably starred in "Cleopatra." Taylor later in life became notorious for her seven marriages and sometimes eccentric behavior. Most people only have a memory of Elizabeth as a frail old woman being pushed around in a wheelchair but in her day she was one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood history. CNN report:

Taylor died "peacefully today in Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles," said a statement from her publicist. She was hospitalized six weeks ago with congestive heart failure, "a condition with which she had struggled for many years. Though she had recently suffered a number of complications, her condition had stabilized and it was hoped that she would be able to return home. Sadly, this was not to be."

Though a two-time Oscar winner -- for "Butterfield 8" (1960) and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" (1966) -- Taylor was more celebrated for simply being Elizabeth Taylor: sexy, glamorous, tempestuous, fragile, always trailing courtiers, media and fans. She wasn't above playing to that image -- she had a fragrance called "White Diamonds" -- or mocking it.

"I am a very committed wife," she once said. "And I should be committed too -- for being married so many times."

Elizabeth Taylor, of course, starred in Cleopatra which made her the first Hollywood star to earn a $1 million salary. Beyond acting, Taylor is credited with bringing the world's attention to AIDS with her fund-raising and activism. In 1985, when Taylor's lifelong friend Rock Hudson died of AIDS, she brought national attention to the growing disease. It satisfying to her to use her celebrity for good - she raised and donated millions to the cause, founding the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) and The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.

Taylor reported in October 2009 that she was having a heart procedure done. Via Twitter, she said it was "very new and involves repairing my leaky valve using a clip device, without open heart surgery so that my heart will function better." Taylor was again hospitalized six weeks ago with congestive heart failure. Though she had recently suffered a number of complications, her condition had stabilized and it was hoped that she would be able to return home.

"I never planned to acquire a lot of jewels or a lot of husbands," Taylor said. "I have been supremely lucky in my life in that I have known great love, and of course, I am the temporary custodian of some incredible and beautiful things."

Source: http://www.GutterUncensored.com

Wiki Bio

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English-born American actress.

Beginning as a child star, as an adult she came to be known for her acting talent and beauty, and had a much publicised private life, including eight marriages and several near-death experiences. Taylor was considered one of the great actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age. The American Film Institute named Taylor seventh on its Female Legends list.