placido domingo Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Howard Shore has composed the music for about a dozen of David Cronenberg's films, including Scanners, Dead Ringers and A History of Violence. But my favorite collaboration between these guys came in 1986's drop-dead heart-stoppingly brilliant The Fly. So successful was this partnership that the old friends recently announced that, along with Placido Domingo, they'll be turning their version of George Langelaan's The Fly into an opera. Not just a musical, mind you, but a full-bore (three character) opera piece! What a strange and intriguing idea.

According to The CBC, the trio will have their Fly opera open in Paris on July 1, 2008 before moving over to Los Angeles some time in September. The production will consist of a chorus, a 75-piece orchestra and three characters: a baritone, a tenor and a mezzo-soprano. As a diehard fan of the flick, I'm guessing the ill-fated Seth Brundle is the baritone, his lady love the soprano and the horribly awful Stathis Barnes as the tenor. Too bad I won't be anywhere near Paris next July or Los Angeles next September.

So, check out this lineup for The Metropolitan Opera's upcoming production of The First Emperor: Score? Tan Dun. Director? Zhang Yimou. Costume design? Emi Wada, who's designed for the films of Zhang and Akira Kurosawa. Star? Some dude named Plácido Domingo. I mean, holy crap. I'm not even an opera fan, and even I am desperate for a ticket.

Zhang, who will become the first-ever Chinese director at the Met with this production, last directed opera in 1998 at the Forbidden City. Though their director confesses to liking but "not really understand[ing]" western opera, Met officials (who are taking Chinese lessons - Zhang apparently does not and will not speak English), noting Zhang's guidance of a Raise the Red Lantern ballet and the operatic qualities of his films, aren't worried. "Like his films, this opera is not going to be static. It's a real story with real characters. And it will look gorgeous."

The production will premiere in New York this December, after which it will tour the US.