Opera Chic

On the list: From the extensive library at the Opera Chic Headquarters

A recent bout of sickness enabled Opera Chic to peruse her ginormous library, and rediscover some of the old treasures that were optimistically bought, and unfortunately shelved before reading, when hectic social calendars ensued. Nevertheless, they brought me necessary diversion from the bronchial cough that settled in my Mimi-esque lungs. oh sweet lovely books of myne u nevar let me down ;__;

First was "Pietro Mascagni and His Operas," by Alan Mallach; Northeastern University Press, 2002. It is a combination of epistolary exchanges weaved into a biography. Mallach implemented a generous plucking of the 4,200 letters between Mascagni and Anna Lolli, his mistress for more than thirty years, which provided a portrait of a "flamboyant, combative, and emotional man". Well, duh. He's writing to his frikking mistress! Here's an excerpt: “Mia Annuccia: Returned to Milan. Hung out with The Duce today, but instead of discussing The Beast of Berlin's invasion of Poland, all he wanted to talk about was a new recipe he found for filetto ai mirtilli. Super lame. We dined on manzo in salsa verde, and some of the parsley got stuck in his front teeth halfway through the meal...but I didn't tell him. heh heh heh." Looks like someone needs a brush-up on their translations skills, eh? O__O

Next to tackle is, "Henri Duparc: Complete Songs for Voice and Piano"; Dover Publications, 1995. The sheetmusic consists of sixteen songs and one duet (La fuite) set to works by Goethe, Gautier, and Baudelaire. Included are "songs of love and regret, of soulful reflection and protest, of hope and flight and resignation." Whoa, hay...slow down there buddy. This is all a little to emo for my blood. It will be a challenge to suffuse it with a little OC-flava, but I think I'm up to task. 

Lastly, my biggest challenge (in Italian) is another epistolary exchange, "Gino Marinuzzi: Tema con Variazioni; Epistolario Artistico di un Grande Direttore D'Orchestra," from Mondadori, 1995. This book divulges the letters between conductor Gino Marinuzzi and his friends, family, and various theaters. Wish me luck with this monster. ::rawr::

If anyone has read a note-worthy lol, music-minded novel/essay/flava of the month/etc, please bring it to my attention!! "Reading is FUNdamental"! [tia]...no stupid jokes like omg u need to sit down and memorize the New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians stat becuz ur musicology is teh suck plz no thnx bi...[tia]

Merci, Henri

The dear Jessica Duchen and I and, we hope, many other music lovers, are still hungover after the big Chausson birthday parties we threw last night. And the music of chance is sometimes so funny that today, just one day later, we celebrate the birthday of the great, half-forgotten giant to whom Maestro Chausson dedicated his Poème de l'amour et de la mer: Joyeux Anniversaire to Monsieur Henri Duparc.

No funny hat, for once, because Opera Chic thinks that the late maestro's life has been too unhappy already and he doesn't really need the indignity. He just needs our thanks, once again.