(A scene from The Fashion, coming to an opera house [not] near you in January, '08)
Contemporary Italian composer Giorgio Battistelli -- who throughout the years has given us memorable hits such as Linzer Stahloper, Keplers Traum, Frau Frankenstein, and Die Entdeckung der Langsamkeit -- is bracing for a world premiere of his latest operatic dabbling titled The Fashion. Raise your hand if you feel like there’s something amiss from the title. Like "The fashion...WHAT WHAT"? The Fashion Addict, The Fashion Files, The Fashion Zone. o gawrd give me sumthing n e thing here...
Opening January 26, 2008 at the Düsseldorf opera house, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, The Fashion is being billed as "a black comedy, in a very British style, about the fashion industry", and promises a full submersion into the world of fashion, with teasers of dueling catwalk stars, feuding stylists, and gender benders. And then there’s this plot summary:
"[The Fashion is] shot through with eroticism and sexual ambiguities: the protagonist is a catwalk star, a model named Tarquin, who’s the toyboy of the stylist from Milan, Maria Maria (Jeanne Piland) and the attractive Mel’s rival, and who turns out to be a woman (Kristen Leich)!"
Awesome. The story has been penned British librettists Bob Goody and Dan Jemmett, and is directed by Michael Simon. Tenor hottie Steven Harrison will be singing one of the leads [as it is written on his website], already having collaborated with the crew in a prior Faust @ Düsseldorf earlier this year.
Conductor John Fiore will hopefully lead the Dusseldorf Symphony Orchestra to a wickedly fashionable victory! And as someone who owns 14 cheetah-print scarves from Roberto Cavalli's colletion for H&M, I think I know what "fashion" is. \(º_o)/
Now here is a good excuse to insert some pictures of shirtless tenor Steven Harrison as seen in director Michael Simon's take on Faust. Sorry guy, but you'll definitely have to shave ur chest for The Fashion. Enjoy the warmth now while u can, u silly little cub!
