opera
Exclusive: David Cronenberg Knows What Defamer Is And Still Lets Us Interview Him
7:25AM Defamer Hollywood | When you think of opera, be honest, you start to nod off a little bit. Well, David Cronenberg is about to change all that. The director who made the more watchable of the two Crash movies has turned his 1987 cult classic, The Fly, into a full-blown opera. It’s getting its US premiere this weekend at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and, for some reason, Cronenberg agreed to tell Defamer all about it. Join us after the jump as the notoriously oddball auteur opines on everything from the Oscar race to who’s freakier, him or David Lynch. More »
Your Hilarious (And Yet, Cultured) Headline Of The Day
3:18PM Clem Bastow | You know, here in Australia, the whole opera business is pretty subdued. Sure, we had Operatunity! – which was compelling in a particularly no-frills, ABC manner – but our opera “stars” keep a reasonably low profile and in general it’s just something you occasionally frock up to go and see, or something that teenage boys whinge about when it appears in the opening ceremonies of their favourite sporting events.
We wish it were more like it appears to be in the UK, if the following story is anything to go by:
Evidently Juan Pablo di Pace agreed to a gig posing nude in a lavish photoshoot to promote the Royal Opera’s production of Rigoletto (no, not the spaghetti sauce, you philistines), figuring he was at the time performing in the opera and it was good exposure – er, not in that way, but we see what you did there – only to find that the art department had, well, reduced his package considerably:
He claims a crucial part of his anatomy has been air-brushed unflatteringly, making it appear much smaller than it is in real life.
In fact, the opera house has been accused of “shrinking” his manhood so much in a 2005 version of the poster that it “made it look like he barely had one at all”.
As a result of the complaints made by 28-year-old di Pace’s lawyers, who also claimed he had not been paid for use of the image, the Royal Opera House has agreed to stop using the poster.
Poor love, we can see where he’s coming from – you can inspect his tackle here in the original artwork, and we almost feel an NSFW warning is unnecessary because, well, there’s not much that’s NS about poor Juan Pablo’s airbrushed bits.
If it’s any consolation, Juan Pablo, based on the other photo supplied (i.e. of your face), and knowing that it’s not what you got, it’s how you use it, we’d still hit it! More » Pavarotti Gravely Ill; Damien Leith’s Offer Of ‘Nessun Dorma’ Stand-In Ignored By Tenor’s Peeps
10:30AM Clem Bastow | Famed opera star (and one third of The Three Tenors) Luciano Pavarotti is “gravely ill”, following last year’s surgery to treat the pancreatic cancer he has been suffering from, five rounds of chemotherapy and a recent hospitalisation.
He may have been more well known in recent years for his diva tendencies and fiery temperament, and the whole Three Tenors franchise possibly even dented his reputation somewhat (not to mention spawning, in some way, the heinous ‘opera pop’ trend of the last few years); it’s easier to remember him as a rent-a-voice for a touch of “culture” rather than as a performer of rare emotion and power.
So, just in case you thought only Damien Leith and Paul Potts were responsible for “definitive” versions of Turandot’s Nessun Dorma, here is a shot of ‘Otti in full flight, giving Nessun Dorma what for in a real definitive performance at 1982’s Royal Gala Concert:
Now that is a touchdown. Get well soon, Big Pun! More » 
