**OC is watching live on ZDF the concert as broadcast via satellite. Scroll down for the half-time teaser pictures.
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Liveblogging the outdoor concert gala that is going on right now in Vienna's Schloss Schönbrunn with Vienna's Radio Symphony Orchestra and appearances by Rolando Villazón, Plácido Domingo, and Anna Netrebko. Program here!
Plácido Domingo sang first Jules Massenet's Le Cid - "O souverain, ô juge, ô père". Then Rolando Villazón sang Amilcare Ponchielli's Il figliuol prodigo - "Il padre!...Tenda natal". He's crazy sweaty.
omg omg it's Trebs. She's in a headband with gold and red accents, bright red lipstick, crazy preg. Wearing a floaty gigantic silk chiffon dress, bright red. She's singing Emmerich Kálmán's Die Csárdásfürstin - "Heia in den Bergen". Voice is deep and rich. She's dancing all over the stage and twirling in like a whole whirling dance. The dress hides her whole belly. She's not breaking a sweat. Her voice is so dark and creamy. She's done. Huge long black extensions for hair.
Back to Viallzon. His hair is big and fluffy. He's wearing a black shirt, black pants, and a black jacket with a Neru collar, and a gold braid on the collar. He's singing Francesco Paolo Tosti's "Ideale". Good control.
The concert is outdoors in the grand courtyard of Schloss Schönbrunn. It's closed to the public, with chairs set up for all the VIPS that snagged tickets to this hyped event. This is Netrebko's last performance before she takes a temporary hiatus for TEH BEBBE. The weather is clear and gorgeous, and the sun is just setting.
The Dominger is back. He's in a black tuxedo suit jacket with black satin accents. He just sang Richard Wagner's Die Walküre - "Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond". Fine.
La Trebs is back. She's in gigantic stiletto heels with that red dress. She's playing with her super-long extensions. She's singing Luigi Arditi's "Il bacio". Hanging dangling gold earrings. The cut of her dress makes her hips look srsly wide. The dress is an empire-waist with a srsly low cut decollete top. She's having a lot of fun. Someone just threw her a huge bouquet of long-stem red&white roses from the audience, and she caught it!
Plácido Domingo & Rolando Villazón are together on stage singing Giuseppe Verdi's Don Carlo - "E lui! Desso!...Dio, che nell'alma infondere". It's a little, um, chaotic. It must be said that Rolando is wearing a crap load of foundation on his face. Maybe that's why he was sweating. They're all miked-up, obvs, but they sound good. THey're really getting into it, and Rolando's feelin' it. The Domigus is reading from music off a stand. They hugged at the end of the duet.
Now it's a pause. I can't wait for John Denver in the second half!! c u l8r! Ok make sure you scroll down for the first batch of teaser pictures...
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Back from the first break, and Domnigio hasn't changed his outfit. Boo. We were hoping for something sparkly. He's singing Franz Lehár's "Gern hab ich die Frau'n geküsst". He's holding his belly. The sun has completely set, so there are some electric blue light effects all over the structure he's singing under. Bertrand De Billy is conducting.
"VIVA WIEN!" Shouted Villazon to the audience when he came back out for the second break. He's acknowledging a few stray cat calls in the audience. Cute. He's clearly pleased. He's changed his jacket into a bright white one with a satin white-on-white floral pattern. He's singing Franz Lehár's Das Land des Lächelns - "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz". Someone threw him a boquet of orange flowers, which he barely caught, and some random old lady tried to slip him an envelope, but he couldn't get it.
LA ANNA! She's changed her dress into a black, full-length, tiered, ruffled number. It's black glittery layers, strapless. She's singing Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov "The Rose and the Nightingale". Still the same Xtina Aguilera red lipstick. She's wearing a large, intricate necklace of blingy cristals or something. It's all diamonds with some really cheesy pink balls. She's taken the headband out of her hair, but it's still that half up-half down style.
Now it's a duet between Anna and Domingus. Franz Lehár's Die lustige Witwe - "Lippen schweigen". It's um, sweet. No podium for Domingo this time. That necklace just isn't working. It's all stiff and tight around her neck. She's rubbing on Domingo's arm. She got a nice ring from Schrott. omg they're waltzing together and the audience is applauding. Huge applause at the end for that gratuitous waltz.
Now it's time for Radio Symphonieorchester Wien's solo of Johann Strauß jr.'s Unter Donner und Blitz op. 324 - Polka schnell. omg so corny. where's the dancing bear?
Next is Domingo & Villazón singing John Denver's "Perhaps Love". Somewhere in Muppet heaven Kermit the frog is wetting himself. Karaoke. "Some say dey don't know" heh. Who's idea was that? ok, that was actually really sweet.
Netrebko is back out singing Léo Delibes's "Les filles de Cadix". Those extensions are too long, getting caught under her armpits. But she's singing lovely. This one she's having lots of fun. I swear she has some red lipstick on her teeth, but I could be wrong. Let's wait for the final shots. Okay, now a duet between Anna and Rolando? omg everyone's twitching.It's ¡Sí, torero quiero ser!.
ok, show stopper trio, Rudolf Sieczynski's "Wien, du Stadt meiner Träume" Anna Netrebko, Plácido Domingo & Rolando Villazón on stage all together. Anna is reading off a stand, and she needs it...because she almost came in full force a dozen measures before she was supposed to. She's lost on this one. OM G THEY'RE FORGETTING THE WORDS!! The camera pulled away for a long shot, and then when it came back, Rolando had pulled the music off the stand. This is a trainwreck. They didn't practice this one. This is a mess.
Big applause. Long stemmed roses for Anna. The Dominger is taking a bis: Federico Torroba's "Amor, Vida De Mi Vida". We <3 u Domingus! I'd still throw my Eres at his feet!
Now it's Rolando's turn! His bis is a zarzuela, Alberto Arrabal La del soto del parral "Ya mis horas felices". He screamed VIVA at the crowd again. omg. Huge applause at the end.
Now it's Anna's turn: Strauss's Cacilie. It sounds weird. Ew. Let's pray she doesn't forget the words. Nope. Short and sweet.
Now all three are on stage, and they've been handed beautiful bouquets each. Villazon is fondling his flowers. They walk off the stage. Is it over? Nope, they're back out.
Another encore for the three! Libiamo from La Traviata. Predictable crowd pleasure, and the audience is peeing themselves. That sounded horrible. It was a parody of Verdi. That was embarrassing. It was like Medieval Times or something. The crowd sang along at one point. It's pretty much over.
ITS OVER!!! We've got a Youtube upload coming of that John Denver song, and loads more screen shots.
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