#notyouraveragejulie

[supercantaloupe]

tagged by @notyouraveragejulie, ty!

1. are you named after anyone? - a great grandfather, i think. middle name after my father. russian name scheme innit. my hebrew name unsurprisingly comes from the tanakh

2. when was the last time you cried? - last week when my cat passed

3. do you have kids? - ...no?

4. do you use sarcasm a lot? - yeah

5. what sports do you play/have you played? - i was a field hockey goalie for six years. i hate basically every other team sport lol

6. what’s the first thing you notice about other people? - clothes, i guess

7. what’s your eye color? - blue (i know. sorry.)

8. scary movies or happy endings? - happy endings i guess? i don't watch scary movies but i also don't watch many movies period. i prefer a satisfying ending over anything else, whether that means happy or not

9. any special talents? - finding four leaf clovers

10. where were you born? - i'm from the mid atlantic and that's as specific as i'm going to get on a tumblr post.

11. what are your hobbies? - music (listening and creating), writing, drawing, cooking, being weird about theater

12. do you have any pets? - i consider the two cats at home mine still. the dog is my parents, i don't claim her lol. but i also don't live at home full time anymore. my roommate just got a kitten at our apartment tho i'm excited to meet him

13. how tall are you? - 5’5/165 cm

14. favorite subject? - music history

15. dream job? - music preparation/librarian or artistic operations with a professional orchestra or opera company. it would be very cool to be able to perform full time for a job but that's never going to happen

tagging @tragedyposting @yardofblondegirls @grasslandgirl @kingfisherkink @tempestclerics @theresa-of-liechtenstein @malcolm-f-tucker and @nablah if you'd like

[beckmessering]

take something that hasn’t been adapted into an opera, and tell us how you’d cast it if it was an opera

okkk so i'm reading madeline miller's the song of achilles atm (and i'm like. one evening away from finishing it but i'm literally too scared to because i feel like it'll rip me apart emotionally. oops)

and i feel like this would make a great opera because 1) ancient greek setting, epic, tragic, also very intimate and emotional, 2) gay (tumblr goes wild over the book. image an OPERA in which no one has to read into the subtext) 3) this needs really beautiful romantic orchestration, that's why

onto the casting! i don't rlly have specific ideas for which exact singers should sing the roles. if anyone else has read this book, please give ur opinions on who should sing this!! instead, i'll define the voices for each role.

achilles - that is a TENOR, ok. a nice one actually. but still a TENOR. he can literally not be anything else, sorry.

patroclus - anddd i'm not sure. he could be a very light/lyrical baritone. that would probably be so nice for duets with achilles. if his voice constantly stays just a little bit under achilles', vocal-range-wise, then that would support how the rest of ancient greece in the book perceives him. OR (bear with me here): he's a countertenor. tenor/alto duets are really hard to find, so i'm not sure if it's actually a good idea. it's just - i like the idea of patroclus, who is so often made to feel lesser and like a shadow in his youth and who's seen as part of achille's 'entourage' later by the rest of the world, and who's told that he's ugly and not good at anything, to have this elfin, soaring voice that's always audible, even over his lover's voice or a whole men's chorus. i feel like that would better signify what patroclus acutally means to achilles, rather than to the rest of ancient greece.

young achilles - you genuinely can't write this opera without their young versions and i do love that. a boy mezzo would be cool, i think.

young patroclus - a tiny boy soprano pls.

(how good that i don't have to actually write this opera and deal with casting and these vocal combinations)

chiron - fatherly bass fatherly bass fatherly bass

briseis - mezzo-soprano. idk she just has a mezzo feel to her. also, patroclus is the first one to make her feel more at ease, so it would be kinda fitting for them to 'speak the same language' ( = have a similar vocal range).

deidameia - we need someone for coloratura soprano antics here & it's you, girl

agamemnon - overdramatic baritone. if i'm being very specific, a heldenbariton please. he needs real vocal heft.

odysseus - also struggling a bit here but...he's just not a tenor. ok fine. baritone. he's got that wonderful baritonal quality of being *very* morally grey and you'll never know what you get when you interact with him. honestly, he reminds me a lot of a young wotan.

thetis - another difficult one. she's cold af and her voice has to be a little extreme. we already have (potentially) two adult altos, so a third would be a little much. (although it could fit.) i imagine the music radically changes whenever she appears (kinda like erda in das rheingold. except...far less enchanting). maybe she could be a very high soprano and the music becomes quiet and super dissonant and trance-like every time she appears. but tbh i think the tone of her voice would be much more important. it has to be very, very metallic and steely.

i think i've covered most relevant characters! again, if anyone read this book, feel free to add on your thoughts about the actual singers!

[solraneth-archive]

I mean just…everything Filippo/Rodrigo. must I elaborate

Yeah they're A Lot aren't they? anyway thank you darling❣️❣️❣️❣️

[revedebeatrice]

describe operas you’ve never seen based on what you’ve seen about them on Tumblr

Oooh interesting ask thank you!! <3 I'm gonna try to remember some of the operas I haven't seen!

Der Rosenkavalier (Strauss): Some people love this one, some people hate it, I started it but didn't finish act 1 and so I still don't know how I feel about it! Anyway so it's 18th century with pretty costumes, Renée Fleming holding a rose to her face, the mezzo in trousers frolicking with the soprano, and just everyone getting overwhelmed by the soft romantic german music

Parsifal (Wagner): I've also been influenced by my sister on this cause she loves Parsifal, but basically somewhat dark staging, Jonas Kaufmann, I know there's a chalice... idk maybe the ending to Indiana Jones 3 but in a forest and more german? Also there's a bit of music that's identical to the Lord of the Rings music

Die Walküre (Wagner): Idk anything about this on except sopranos (or mezzos?) dressed in armour with spears and helmets with wings on them (and also that one Birgit Nilsson photo)

I vespri siciliani (Verdi): I swear I don't know anything except that the plot is probably way too complicated and there's probably some mass murder in Sicily

Les Huguenots (Meyerbeer): This one is only because of you Sav, but I swear I have no idea what this is about... I'm getting vaguely late 16th century vibes (idk like Charles IX or Henri III... this feels like a french religious war thing) but honestly just a french grand opera with overly complicated politics

... There are probably a lot of other operas I haven't seen and that are popular among operablr but none of them are coming to my mind right now!

[muchadoabout]

VERDI: Un Ballo in Maschera | Act 3: E tu ricevi il mio!  Metropolitan Opera, 2012

Sondra RADVANOVSKY as Amelia  Marcelo ÁLVAREZ as Gustavo III of Sweden Dmitri HVOROSTOVSKY as Count Anckarström

“The kitchen knife of doom” —@notyouraveragejulie

[simone-boccanegra]

Your favorite chocolate is dark chocolate, and when this pandemic is over you want to go to Japan and also on a tour of Europe.

Yes to all :D I’ve been to quite a few places here in Europe but still a lot to go.

[monotonous-minutia]

Il Trovatore, Act 2, 50 lines

For @notyouraveragejulie :) Let’s go!

A camp

Workers: Good morning let’s wake up the whole village by singing really loudly and banging on some anvils.

Azucena: This fire reminds me of the day my mother died.

Manrico: You’ve never told me that story.

Azucena: I’m sure I have.

Manrico: I think I would remember.

Azucena: Okay fine. This no-good count guy said my mother was a witch so they had her burned at the stake. Her last words to me were “Avenge me!” So I decided to avenge her by burning one of the count’s sons.

Manrico: OMG MOM THAT’S TERRIBLE

Azucena: It gets worse. I accidentally burned my own son.

Manrico: What does that make me?????

Azucena: Oh shit the cat’s out of the bag. No, Manrico, you are my son. Haven’t I raised you like a mother? And the other day when you were bleeding and dying who put bandaids on your wounds?

Manrico: …You did?

Azucena: Exactly. Anyway enough about me, let’s talk about you. I heard you got into a duel with the Count di Luna guy the other day. Why didn’t you kill him?

Manrico: I don’t know. I was going to, but a voice told me not to.

Azucena: Well get it right next time. My mom needs avenging.

Messenger comes in

Messenger: I have a note for someone named Manrico.

Manrico: That’s me! OMG Leonora thinks I’m dead and she’s going to become a nun!!!

Azucena: Drama.

Manrico: I have to stop her!

Azucena: But you’re still recovering! And you can’t leave me!

Manrico: Fine I’ll just die of grief at your feet then.

Azucena: Kids these days! Yeesh! Fine, go save what’s-her-name. Just make sure you’re back in time for dinner.

Manrico: YAYY HERE I COME LEONORA I LOVE YOU

Outside the convent

Di Luna: Are you ready, gentlemen?

Ferrando and the gang: Yes sir

Di Luna: Awesome. Let’s go save Leonora from the horrible fate of being a nun. I love her so much and I don’t understand why she doesn’t love me but I also don’t care because she’s so beautiful and sweet and I love her and yeah. I’ll be damned if she chooses God over me.

Ferrando and the gang: Aww.

Di Luna: Shut up. Let’s go.

Inside the convent

Leonora: Ines, why are you crying?

Ines: You up and decided to go be a nun because this one guy isn’t in your life anymore and now I’ll never see you again.

Leonora: Don’t cry. If I can’t be his, I will die, or be a nun, and being a nun is a bit more accessible right now tbh.

Ines: Is that supposed to make me feel better?

Count di Luna bursts in with Ferrando and the gang

Di Luna: COME ON LEONORA LET’S GO

Leonora: What are you doing here???

Di Luna: I’ve broken in to save you!

Everyone: OMG you’re crazy what a terrible thing to do

Manrico bursts in with Ruiz and the gang

Manrico: COME ON LEONORA LET’S GO

Leonora: Omg what are YOU doing here?

Manrico: I’ve broken in to save you!

Everyone: OMG how wonderful you’re so brave

Di Luna: Wait what

Leonora: I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD THIS IS AWESOME YOU’RE ALIVE

Manrico: IDK WHY YOU THOUGHT I WAS DEAD BUT HERE I AM I LOVE YOU

Leonora: I LOVE YOU MORE

Manrico: NO I LOVE YOU MORE

Di Luna: This is so not fair

Everyone: SHUT UP COUNT AND GET OUT OF HERE.

Ferrando: Boss we should probably go.

Di Luna: FINE BUT YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE LAST OF ME

Manrico and Leonora: WHAT’S THAT WE CAN’T HEAR ANYTHING OVER HOW IN LOVE WE ARE

Ruiz and the gang: GET THE COUNT AND HIS SWORD

The take di Luna’s sword and chase him off while Leonora and Manrico make out

[devilishlyoperatic]

I was tagged by @notyouraveragejulie!

Name: Weston

Gender: Male

Star Sign: Gemini

Height: 6′7″ (2 meters)

Sexuality: 99.9% straight

Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw

Favourite Animal: Raven

Average Time Sleeping: During the quarantine? So many. When I’m employed? So few.

Current Time: 1:28 AM

Dogs Or Cats:  Dogs, but cats are also lovely

Blankets You Sleep With: At prime sleeping temperature, two or three, depending on thickness.  

When I made My Blog: I think 2011 or 2010 which is an extremely concerning thing to realize right now

Why I made My Tumblr: A suggestion from @nosuchthingasstars!

Reason for my URL: Everything about me I tag anyone who’s interested!