Jennifer Hudson Surprise Birthday Party at Opera Ultra Lounge

Diva of Song: Jennifer Hudson
(Photo: Jeff Martin)

"Jennifer Hudson celebrating her 30th birthday at Opera Ultra Lounge Monday night. The newly-svelte singer, in town for the Kennedy Center concert honoring Aretha Franklin, thought she was going to a late birthday dinner with friends; instead her sisters and about 300 fans surprised Hudson with a party at the new downtown club. The festivities — with a three-tiered cake, 'Happy Birthday' sung by Raheem DeVaughn and Lil’Mo, and Hudson’s hits performed by drag queens — lasted until 2 a.m." [Source] Watch a performance by Jennifer Hudson after the jump.

Perry Street Was Flourishing Romantic Mecca For Love & Art

Far and Away: Harold Eliot Leeds and
Wheaton Galentine NOT on Perry Street.
(Photo: Harold Leeds Estate)

"The house where Carrie Bradshaw lived, supposedly on the Upper East Side but actually at 66 Perry Street in the West Village, still draws a steady stream of Sex and the City fans. They snap photos of the row house, which was built in 1866, as if to partake in the fictional life of a New York writer and the foibles of her quest for lasting romance. But a real New York romance played out at the house next door, No. 64, whose plainer facade served as Carrie’s building for the first three seasons of the show, said Tim Gunn, the fashion executive who lived in an apartment there for 16 years. It lasted almost six decades, linking two men from their first meeting at the Rockefeller Center skating rink during World War II until one of them, Harold Eliot Leeds, an architect and professor of interior design at

Sirens of Perry Street: Carrie Bradshaw on left (played by
Sarah Jessica Parker) and Tim Gunn on right.

Pratt, died in 2002. Inasmuch as Sex and the City opened a window on a certain kind of life in New York, so too does that town house, now on the market for $8.5 million, with its connection to a Village that persists only in memory and imagination, a place that was a magnet and haven for people living outside the mainstream at a time when the idea of two men, or women, marrying was inconceivable....Mr. Leeds, who designed the Paris Theater, the Caribe Hilton in San Juan and Martha Graham’s dance studio, and Mr. Galentine, who made documentary films, many focused on architecture, turned their visual sensibilities toward the house, restoring its architectural features but adding distinctive modernist furnishings. Over the years, Mr. Leeds, who is remembered as a big man with a big,

The most famous exterior on
Perry Street today: Number 66 .

broad personality, taught interior design at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where he helped establish the graduate school of interior design. Mr. Galentine was quieter, but possessed what the couple's longtime neighbor described as a puckish sense of humor. Endlessly hospitable, the two liked to entertain, playing host to neighbors stopping by for tea or a cocktail, and having dinner parties with the artists, writers and poets who populated their neighborhood, talking about opera or ballet or the theater. They also liked to travel, Mr. Skovgaard said, to Martha’s Vineyard, all over Europe and eventually Southeast Asia." [Source]

Elizabeth Taylor Jewelry Sale Includes Opera Necklace

"Gold and ivory necklace featuring ivory opera passes, circa 18th and 19th centuries, a gift from the estate of Edith Head, is shown in this photograph at Christie's, in New York, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2011. It is estimated at $1,500 - $2,000." (Photo: Richard Drew/AP)

"Elizabeth Taylor dazzled the world with her luminous beauty, lavish lifestyle _ and an unquenchable passion for diamonds and jewels that was fueled by the great loves of her life. The late Hollywood star amassed one of the foremost jewelry collections in the world, including a 33.19-carat diamond ring and a 16th century pear-shaped pearl from one of her seven husbands, Richard Burton. The Associated Press recently viewed about two dozen of her most iconic pieces at Christie's auction house, which is selling her complete jewelry collection, valued at $30 million, in New York on Dec. 13-14." [Source]

Who is Vittorio Grigolo's Idol? Fonzie from "Happy Days"

The heir-apparent to Luciano Pavarotti's reign as Italy's top tenor seems to be Vittorio Grigolo. In an interview with Corriere della Sera for the September issue style section, he admits that his idol growing up was Fonzie from television's Happy Days. He admits that it was because he loved motorcycles and the television character was always getting the girls in an easy manner. Check out the full text below. You can also download the full article here.

Tenor in hog heaven: Vittorio Grigolo
atop a Harley Davidson

"Il tenore Vittorio Grigolo è protagonista del servizio di copertina del numero di Style di settembre in edicola da domani. Grigolo - che da bambino ricevette l' incoraggiamento di Luciano Pavarotti che lo aveva sentito cantare - è un artista atipico che fuori dal teatro preferisce non parlar di musica ma piuttosto delle sue passioni: specialmente la motocicletta (il suo idolo giovanile era Fonzie di Happy Days ). Spiega il tenore a Style : «Fonzie era uno che piaceva alle ragazze senza prendersi troppo sul serio: e io come lui mi son fatto una piccola officina amatoriale fin da ragazzo e trafficavo, anzi "accricchiavo" in garage. In quegli anni correvo sui kart, e infatti il mio primo manager nello spettacolo è stato un manager di automobilismo, Giampaolo Matteucci, lo stesso di Giancarlo Fisichella. Oggi ho la mia Yamaha R1 Superbike del 1991 che non è esattamente omologata per la strada ma ci ho fatto Roma-Zurigo, mi sembrava di essere Max Biaggi. È andato tutto bene finché non ha cominciato a piovere: le gomme non erano quelle giuste, e mi imbattei in una grandinata spettacolare. Arrivato a Zurigo, la schiena mi faceva male da morire, ma ho bisogno di questi momenti di solitudine. Sono i miei momenti Zen. Ricostruire una vecchia Porsche pezzo dopo pezzo, montare e rimontare elicotteri telecomandati: mi basta questo, e tutto il resto - i contratti, lo studio, le visite dal commercialista - non mi pesa». Sulla vita da tenore-globetrotter spiega:

"Aaaayyyyy!" Henry Winkler as Fonzie

«Siamo sempre in viaggio, non sempre trovi la palestra, mangiare le cose giuste diventa un problema. Ma devi essere in forma come in passato non succedeva. Gigli e Caruso, i più grandi di tutti i tempi, però viaggiavano in nave: la pressione era diversa. E per loro non c' era il video a alta definizione se prendevano un chilo di più...». Oltre a Grigolo, Style ha intervistato anche gli altri tenori che dominano il mondo dell' opera: il tedesco Jonas Kaufmann il beniamino di Claudio Abbado, Marco Berti, comasco giramondo, Juan Diego Flórez re peruviano del do di petto, e Sergei Semishkur, poliglotta transiberiano. Tra gli altri servizi del mensile in edicola da domani la Mountain bike estrema sui sentieri dolomitici: un servizio realizzato al Sellaronda Hero, la più massacrante fra le maratone. Scoprendo che tanti sindaci, manager, imprenditori si presentano ai nastri di partenza." [Source]

Callas, Bizet and The Museum of Sex?

WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS NUDITY AND IS NSFW (BUT THE SOUNDTRACK IS PERFECTLY FINE FOR WORK...):

obscene diary from onur karaoglu on Vimeo.

"Last year saw the rediscovery of a major figure whose remarkable story illustrated the secret history of gay life throughout the 20th Century. In Secret Historian: The Life and Times of Samuel Steward, Professor, Tattoo Artist, and Sexual Renegade, author Justin Spring tells the thrilling tale of Sam Steward, a man who documented every one of his many sexual exploits in obsessive detail, providing a wealth of understanding to future generations looking to understand the pre-Stonewall era. Now the artifacts of Steward’s life have been collected and displayed in a brilliant, inspiring show at the Museum of Sex in New York City. Keep the Lights On‘s documentarian Onur Karoaglu asked Justin Spring to show him around the exhibition one morning a few weeks ago. Secret Historian, along with An Obscene Diary: The Visual World of Sam Steward is in bookstores now." [Source]

Opera Sneaks Into Luchino Visconti's "Il Gattopardo"

Listen to Verdi's Waltz in F Major
scored by Nina Rota.

This evening, Turner Classic Movies aired the full-length refurbished version of Luchino Visconti's opulent 1963 film Il Gattopardo featuring Burt Lancaster (Don Fabrizio Corbera - Prince of Salina), Claudia Cardinale (Angelica Sedàra) and Alain Delon (Tancredi Falconeri). The film is based on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's novel of the same name about the decline of the Sicilian aristocracy at the time of the "Risorgimento"when the aristocracy lost its grip and the middle classes rose and formed a unified, democratic Italy. Il Gattopardo translates directly from Italian as "The Serval," but the film was released in France as Le Guépard ("The Cheetah") and as The Leopard in the UK and USA. The work was awarded the Palme d'Or at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival. Leave it to Visconti who famously directed 19 opera productions (five with Maria Callas alone), to include some music of Verdi into his film. The film's score was composed by Nina Rota who managed to unearth Verdi's Valzer in fa maggiore, originally written "per cembalo" when the composer was in his youth, and orchestrate it for key sequences in the hour-long

ball scene. "The Valzer was discovered by Rota in the possession of a Roman antiquarian, and was orchestrated for strings, flutes, and piano for the film soundtrack. "The Valser begins on a shot of farmers working on a hillside and follows the cross-fade into a large ballroom. The guests are greeted at a reception line, people gossip, ladies fan themselves (the Sicilian night is very hot), Colonel Pallipacini and his officers are introduced to the notables. The music flows from the balconies into a garden where the Colonel, surrounded by admiring women hanging on his every word, speaks of Garibaldi as looking like an archangel: 'I wept like a little baby.'

Verdi's waltz cadences at the end of the Colonel's exaggerated speech, and another waltz with lovely romantic harmonies in the style of the period by Nino Rota, begin as the scene shifts back into the ballroom. This piece is followed by a wonderful folk-style mazurka in a minor key. Angelica asks the Prince to dance with her and back in the ballroom the Verdi waltz is struck up once again."

Two excerpts from Verdi's La Traviata appear in the film as well. Click on the highlighted link in the description below each photo to launch a video clip of each particular scene:

When Don Fabrizio and his family return to Donnafugata they are greeted by a brass band playing the women's chorus "Noi siamo zingarelle."

The family immediately enters a church in a processional while a young organist plays the "Preludio" from Act 1 (the theme appears again later in the opera as "Amami, Alfredo" sung by Violetta).

Visconti even manages to get a little bel canto Bellini in when a soldier sings "Vi ravviso, o luoghi ameni," Rodolfo's aria from the first act of La Sonnambula.

[Source, Source, Source, Source]

Enjoy a detailed description of the film (possible spoilers), as well as commentary and photos after the jump.


"Based on Giuseppe di Lampedusa’s 1958 novel, Visconti’s The Leopard recounts the decline of the Sicilian aristocracy in 1860-1862 during the period of the Risorgimento. “The Resurgence” was the movement for Italian unification that culminated in the establishment of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. For its American release, the film’s US distributor, 20th Century Fox, shortened The Leopard’s

running time from 185 minutes to 161, and included a dubbed English-language soundtrack. In 1983, Fox rereleased the film with its far superior original Italian soundtrack and at its original length. In 2004, after a major overhaul of the original camera negative, Criterion issued a DVD edition and now a Blu-ray upgrade of its 2004 transfer. The current copy is beautiful. The Leopard is the tale of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the charismatic Prince of Salina (Burt Lancaster), who witnesses with philosophical resignation the passing of the feudal era as the Italian peninsula is united for the first time since the fall of the Roman Empire. In its opening shot, the camera pans the prince’s grand estate. Inside the palace, his family is in morning prayer. But the rebel Garibaldi disrupts the ritual. His Red Shirts are in the process of defeating the Bourbon troops and occupying the Sicilian capital of Palermo in the name of Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a united Italy. Fabrizio sees the writing

on the wall. The poor string up the town’s Bourbon mayor. The prince says to Father Pirrone (Romolo Valli), the family cleric: '[The] Holy Church has been granted an explicit promise of immortality; we, as a social class have not. Any palliative which may give us another hundred years of life is like an eternity to us.' The priest fears for the fate of the Church, and the possibility of the seizure of some of its vast lands by the new regime, pointing to its role in placating the poor. The prince soon learns that his beloved nephew Tancredi (Alain Delon) is fighting with Garibaldi’s forces. If the nobility refuses to accept the Kingdom of Italy, insists the young man, 'They will foist a republic on us.' He goes on, 'If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.' This is a central concern of the film, highlighting the aborted, ultimately anti-popular nature of Italian unification, with all sorts of implications for subsequent Italian history. Visconti leaned heavily on the

writings of Antonio Gramsci on this score. The prince realizes the truth and practicality of Tancredi’s words. This is a remarkable scene in which Visconti uses mirrors to highlight a historic (and generational) transformation. When Tancredi enters the room, his face fills the mirror Fabrizio is using to shave, as if he is pushing his uncle out of the way. Later, the prince stands before a full-length mirror. His presence is commanding. But close by, Tancredi’s face is shown as a dark profile in a third mirror, hints of the Angel of Death. In fact, life’s succulence seems absent in the arid terrain through which the prince and his entourage journey to their summer villa in Donnafugata. On arrival, they are greeted by a new social elite represented by the mayor, Don Calógero Sedàra (Paolo Stoppa), a wealthy businessman and landowner. A former Garibaldini, he is a member of the rising bourgeoisie that preys on the distressed aristocracy and now capitalizes on the chaos

sown by Garibaldi’s forces. While the prince exudes gravitas, Calógero is a shifty social climber. Inside the church, the nobles sit in their allocated pews. There is a riveting shot panning the faces of the members of the family. Worn-out and dusty, they are arrayed like marble or stone figures in a family mausoleum. Don Calógero’s beautiful daughter Angelica (Claudia Cardinale) sweeps Tancredi off his feet. The union of a member of a nouveau riche with a penniless noble is fortuitous, as the prince recognizes. This, despite the crudeness of the arrivistes—for example, when Angelica emits a bawdy, drawn-out laugh at dinner, echoing down the palace’s hallowed corridors. In the town hall, Fabrizio toasts the rigged plebiscite in favor of a united Italy under a portrait of Garibaldi. In this sequence, the new Italy’s tricolors are featured in the drinks and candles. Fireworks light the sky; in the foreground, the prince gazes pensively into the void. When Tancredi and Angelica, now engaged, explore the deserted parts of the palace, in another unforgettable scene, mirrors again come into play. This time to reflect decomposition: objects that

have been discarded and mothballed. ('[L]ittle powdered demons had been put to flight…as sleeping embryos, hibernating under piles of dust,' Lampedusa writes in his novel.) The vast, labyrinthine dimensions of the palace, the countless empty rooms (many of which have not been used for centuries), the enormous canvases scattered about, the layer of dust and neglect…everything speaks to a ruling class that is wasteful, careless, obsolete, if cultured and gracious. Shifting with the tides, Tancredi now supports King Emmanuel’s army, which will eventually rout Garibaldi as he marches on Rome in an attempt to force the Papal States into the Kingdom. This ends the revolutionary phase of the Risorgimento. Tancredi, the charming and wily opportunist, is parlaying the (declining) fortunes of his family into political power. Law and order is just what is needed for Sicily, he says, as some of Garibaldi’s men are executed off-screen. Approached to serve in the new

government, Fabrizio responds: 'But I cannot accept, I am a member of the old ruling class. Inevitably compromised with the Bourbon regime, and tied to it by chains of decency if not affection. I belong to an unfortunate generation, swung between the old world and the new, and I find myself ill at ease in both. And what is more, as you must realize by now, I am without illusions; what would the Senate do with me, an inexperienced legislator who lacks the faculty of self-deception, essential requisite to guide others.' The film is bracketed by two operatically staged events: the battle scenes in Palermo, ending in Garibaldi’s victory, and the grand ball towards the film’s end. Both are presented in blazing, artificial colors. The first, the explosive birth of a society; the second, a dimming universe. Lancaster is

particularly affecting at delivering the feel of one being drained of vital fluids. The decadence and decline of the feudal class is emphasized throughout the ball’s long sequence. Looking upon a group of young women acting foolishly, Fabrizio remarks that 'frequent marriages between cousins does not improve the stock.' The prince is something of a renaissance man. His last moments on screen speak to his interest in astronomy as he finds solace in the apparently static order of the firmament: 'Oh faithful star, when will you give me an appointment less ephemeral, far away from all this, in your own region of perennial certitude?' Along with a new order come sciences that already reveal there is as little certitude in the heavens as there is on earth. It should be noted The Leopard has its light touch: Fabrizio speaks of his religious wife and his need to cavort with prostitutes: 'I’ve had with her, seven [children]; and never once have I seen her navel.' To Father Pirrone’s embarrassment at seeing the prince lift himself out of a tub, the latter says: 'You’re used to naked souls, naked bodies are far more innocent.' The priest is one of the film’s semi-comic characters, and not portrayed simplistically. Visconti’s epic is a work of astonishing proportions. The breadth and depth of his treatment of the subject matter is on a scale almost unimaginable in recent cinema. History lives through every pore of the film. Visconti ambitiously tries to present a historical

panorama, complete with its political and cultural transformations, bringing to life real people, not fleshed-out social types. As the bridge between the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie, Tancredi’s political makeover is especially nuanced. It is difficult to fully grasp the film’s complexity, its array of landscapes and figures responding to a transitional epoch. The ambitiousness, at times, makes the work a bit stiff and unwieldy. It is trying to do so much. But one must acknowledge Visconti’s determination to address in a profound way the interplay between the political and the personal and the rarity of the endeavor. One feels at times that Visconti, like Lampedusa, lacks the necessary critical distance from this leading figure and even, at times, shares his sense of historical and personal resignation. With Visconti, this is less excusable. The film largely dwells inside the prince, bathing in his fascinating

qualities and observations. We see him, but there are other things we need to see as well. The Leopard’s shared intimacy with Fabrizio at times bleeds into its social outlook, and one cannot help but feel that Visconti’s own disappointment with developments in post-war Italy—the restoration of capitalism, the inability of the working class to take power—comes into play here. The population is largely passive, underscored in the scenes in which Fabrizio’s servant and hunting guide Don Ciccio sings the praises of his noble masters and the old order. This is only one figure, and no doubt based on a real social layer in Sicily, but as virtually the only 'popular' figure singled out, the choice is somehow revealing. With the exception of the sequence in which the poor side with Garibaldi in Palermo, the peasants are shown quietly tilling the land in the midst of continual tension. Some of this is included in Visconti’s choice of subject matter—a book that deals with a very stagnant locale and social mentality, described by Fabrizio as 'a terrifying insularity of mind.' Again, the film’s refrain is 'to stay as they are, things will have to change.'

Fabrizio notes that his aristocratic class will be replaced by 'jackals,' and there is an element of truth in that. He continues, 'And the whole lot of us, leopards, jackals and sheep”—the nobility, the bourgeoisie and the population—”we’ll go on thinking ourselves the salt of the earth.' Lampedusa, the novelist, who came from this aristocratic background, would naturally have his own view of things, but Visconti seems uncomfortably close at times to suggesting that we should share it too. In any event, this is an enormous film, in an excellent format. One can only recommend it highly." [Source]

BONUS TRIVIA: A piece of art that is prominently featured in the film with heavy symbolism is Jean Baptiste Greuze's 1778 portrait titled The Punished Son.

Romophone Founder Louise Barder Meets Roger Federer

Tennis brawn meets musical brains.

Yesterday, Louise Barder - Senior Publicist and Editorial Director at 21C Media Group - had a chance to meet Swiss tennis champion Roger Federer. She even managed to slip the topic of opera into their brief conversation. Who knows, he might enjoy the art form as much as fellow tennis professional Novak Djokovic:

"Louise Barder was born in England and grew up all over the world (including the Soviet Union, Australia, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Poland), living wherever her diplomat father's postings took her. Back in England, having graduated from the University of Exeter with a degree in Psychology, she worked as an editor on a variety of musical publications, including the Grove Concise Dictionary of Music and the Grove Dictionary of Opera, The Musical Times, Radio Times (the BBC's house magazine), The Strad magazine, and the music books at Oxford University Press (in both its Oxford and New York offices). Louise founded Romophone, the Gramophone Award-winning vocal reissues label that set a new benchmark for other labels and subsidiary labels specializing in historical vocal recordings. As well as being an executive producer for Romophone's CDs, Louise quickly established worldwide distribution and a high-profile international reputation for the label, which boasted a feature profile in The New York Times, broadcast features on the BBC, and superlative coverage in the press and broadcast media throughout the world. Louise continued to run the company and oversee its production, sales and promotion until it ceased trading in 2004. Before joining 21C Media Group, Louise worked with Albert Imperato and Glenn Petry in the marketing and press department of Universal Classics." [Source]

Find some of your favorite Romophone recordings by clicking here:

Baritone David Krohn Gets Caught in D.C. During Earthquake

"Earthquake rattles the East coast: The 5.8 magnitude quake was felt from Massachusetts to South Carolina" read the headline today. Opera baritone David Krohn was traveling through Union Station in Washington, D.C., when everyone was evacuated from the train landmark as the earth quake hit. He was stopped for a short interview by David Muir of ABC News. Watch the clip by clicking here (he appears at about 1:30).

David Daniels Sings For His Supper in San Francisco

Countertenor David Daniels has arrived in San Francisco, California, where he will be singing for a private dinner, prepared by Chef Scott Peacock, at the house of Alice Waters to honor the 40th Anniversary of Chez Panisse. [Source]

Chef Peacock

"Chez Panisse‘s 40th birthday extravaganza will take place on the weekend of August 26. With the goal of raising funds and awareness for the Edible Schoolyard program, now in its 15th year, Alice Waters and friends are holding a bunch of events throughout the weekend. Nearly all are open to the public. Some are free, some are not. The full schedule is online, and the Cliff’s Notes version was shared in the print edition, with two big highlights being the Smithsonian’s unveiling of Waters’ portrait for the National Portrait Gallery (a.k.a. recognition as a national treasure!) on Friday, August 26,

Alice Waters
(Photo: Russell Yip)

and OPENeducation at the Berkeley Art Museum on Saturday, August 27. Tickets for the portrait unveiling are $100; OPENrestaurant‘s edible installation is free but you can reserve a space here. Below, check out the preliminary list of Chez Panisse alumni dinners, which will take place in various private homes throughout the Bay Area on the evening of August 27. Tickets for the dinners vary in price ($500 – $2,000 per person), and are available by calling Krissa Nichols at (510) 843-3811. Funds go to the Edible Schoolyard, remember." [Source]

For more information about the event, visit the official website here. The full dinner list is after the jump.
-An Intimate Chinese Banquet at the home of Cecilia Chiang with Patricia Unterman, special guest Ruth Reichl and Bill He in the kitchen with Cecilia.
-Una Cena Sul Campo at the Berkeley hills home and garden of China specialist Orville Schell and wife Baifang Liu with chef Mona Talbott of the American Academy in Rome.
-Sicilian Wild Boar Roast at Angelo Garro’s Renaissance Forge with chef Melissa Fernandez, Boz and Dominique Scaggs and NPR Kitchen Sisters’ Davia Nelson.
-A Napa Garden Party with chef Kelsie Kerr, and Cowgirl Creamery’s Peggy Smith and Sue Conley. At the Napa home of Patty Curtan and Stephen Thomas, with special guest Margrit Mondavi.
-A Provençal Dinner prepared by Traci Des Jardins at the Berkeley home of Ross Levy and author Daphne Miller with special guest Raj Patel, wines from Scribe winery and flowers by Louesa Roebuck.
-Supper in the Pantry hosted by Sam Hamilton and Jennifer Chaiken, with chef Brian Espinoza in the carriage house at San Francisco interiors store, March.
-Pig Roast! A backyard pig roast at the Berkeley home of Michael Pollan and Judith Belzer with pitmasters Jack Hitt and Samin Nosrat.
-A Middle Eastern Lamb Roast at the Piedmont home of Frank and Maryellen Herringer with chefs Michael Emanuel, Chad Robertson, and June Taylor. Special guests: artists Hung Liu and Catherine Wagner.
-¡Flamenco y Paella! cooked over the flames at the Berkeley home of Anthony and Daniella Sueuga with Michael and Sylvie Sullivan of Beaune Imports.
-Nose-to-Tail with Chris Kronner and author Novella Carpenter in the Rose Street cottage of Jane White in North Berkeley.
-Supper in a Jewel Box at the San Francisco home of Peggy Knickerbocker and Robert Fisher with Christopher Hirsheimer and Niloufer Ichaporia King.
-Omedetai! in the Berkeley hills home and garden of artist Lauren McIntosh of Tail of the Yak and Steven Walrod with chef Sylvan Mishima Brackett of Peko Peko Catering.
-Carciofi alla Giudia. A Roman meal with chefs Christopher Lee and Joan Nathan and special guest Daniel Ellsberg at the home of Hilary and Daniel Goldstine, nestled in the Berkeley Hills.

Gethin Jones Helps Design Wedding Ring For Katherine Jenkins

"Gethin Jones helped design Katherine Jenkins' engagement ring. The 33-year-old presenter proposed to the stunning opera singer earlier this year and admits he put a lot of time and effort into what ring to give her. He told BANG Showbiz: 'I don't think people give me enough credit for the ring, I don't think men in general get enough credit for what they go through with the ring.' I helped design it with a really good friend of mine and I'm not creative at all but it was really important to get it right. I looked into Welsh gold, but ultimately it was all about the right stone and once we found that we made the band around it. I like to think that she appreciated that.' Although the couple - who have been dating for over three years - have yet to set a wedding date, they want it to take place in their native Wales. However, Gethin insists Katherine won't be singing at the ceremony. Speaking at the world premiere of 'The Inbetweeners' movie on Tuesday night (16.08.11), he said: 'The wedding is still next year - we haven't set a date, it still feels quite fresh getting engaged as it only happened at the start of the year. We knew we were going into a busy period with work so it's certainly one thing we don't want to rush. Hopefully the wedding will be in Wales - we're from half an hour away from each other back home so we're really keen to make it a big family affair. Do people honestly think that she'll sing at her own wedding. I will be!'" [Source]

You may remember Gethin Jones being featured previously on Opera Fresh in slightly less attire.

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.

Google Includes "Operetta" Episode in 100th Celebration

One piece of jewelry can turn
a funny lady into a serious diva.

"Lucille Ball may have been born 100 years ago today, but her jokes are timeless. Having grown up with the comedic genius of I Love Lucy, it’s hard to believe that Lucy, Desi, Fred, and Ethel wrapped up the initial series in 1957. Lucy’s creativity, absurdity, and ever-changing facial expressions (especially when she was scarfing down candy, stomping on grapes or touting a new energy drink) have brought joy and laughter to generations of viewers. We’re incredibly happy to celebrate her birthday with a doodle to highlight her brilliant career as an actress and businesswoman. Through the old-timey TV live on the google.com homepage all day on August 6th, you can flip the six channels for a special Lucy broadcast. Happy birthday, Lucy — we still love you!" [Source]

To celebrate, Google has created a doodle on their homepage that is actually a television set which the user can turn the knob to watch different clips of the funniest moments from the show's history. One of the clips featured is from episode #38 titled The Operetta that originally aired on October 13, 1952. What can only be described as Carmen meets Il Trovatore meets The Mikado (even Wagner's "Wedding March" from Lohengrin has a cameo...), a hilarious plot ensues and Ethel (Vivian Vance) gets to show off some of her singing chops.

Plot: The Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League wants to stage an operetta to celebrate the club's 25th anniversary. Unfortunately, club treasurer Lucy Ricardo has pilfered some of the club funds -- so she writes an original operetta for them to perform. Lucy and Ethel decide to write an operetta, and Lucy pays for the costumes and scenery with a post-dated check. Meanwhile, Ethel and Ricky convince the chorus to enter whenever Lucy, playing "Camille- Queen of the Gypsies", starts to sing. The performance includes such ditties as: "We're the Pleasant Peasant Girls;" "Lily of the Valley;" I Am the Good Prince Lancelot;" "Queen of the Gyosies" and "We Are the Troops of the King." [Source]

Watch the full episode by clicking here. Check out a complete biography of Lucille Ball here.

Caricaturist Sam Norkin Passes Away at Age 94

The artist once captured Franco Corelli,
Birgit Nisson and Leopold Stokowski in
the opera production of Turandot.

"Sam Norkin, a caricaturist and illustrator who created more than 4,000 published drawings that captured moments in theater, dance, opera, jazz, pop and classical music over seven decades, has died. He was 94. Publicist Lester Schecter says Norkin died Saturday in New York. From 1940 to 1956, Norkin's illustrations were featured in the New York Herald Tribune. During the next 26 years, he covered performing arts for the New York Daily News. His art appeared in newspapers in cities where shows made their debuts, including The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Toronto Star. He also was a member of the Drama Desk Board for more than 40 years and served as its president. An annual special award has been named in his memory." [Source]

Lauren Ambrose Hit High Notes Before Making it Big on TV

The actress, most well-known for her portrayal of Claire Fisher on HBO's Six Feet Under, is currently taking on the role of Jilly Kitzinger in Torchwood: Miracle Day on Starz. Turns out she has quite a musical background as well: "A former voice and opera student at Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Ambrose sings pop standards with Leisure Class, her seven-piece combo of musicians based in the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts, where she lives with her family: photographer Sam Handel, whom she wed in 2001, and their 4-year-old son, Orson." [Source]

Harolyn Blackwell Talks Finger Lakes Wine on PBS "Vine Talk"

(Click the above image to launch the full episode of "Vine Talk" featuring the opera soprano)

"From the opera stage to Broadway, concert and recital halls around the world, Harolyn Blackwell has established herself as one of the finest and most versatile singers of her generation. She has performed before enthusiastic audiences at The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, The Lyric Opera of Chicago and Teatro Colon de Buenos Aires amongst others. Her television credits include The Grammy Awards, The Kennedy Center Honors and The Annual Memorial Day and Fourth of July Concerts on PBS."

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.