Marlene Dietrich and love
Marlene Dietrich and love
“It ain’t over, till the fat lady stops singing” (or Spain scores a goal in injury time…)
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This saying refers to the opera sopranos of earlier times, when the ladies were usually well-bodied. It is mainly about Wagner’s “Ring of the Nibelungs” and especially the last part, the “Twilight of the Gods.” We meet the Valkyrie Brunhilde, who is traditionally portrayed as a very busty lady (= rather well-bosomed) and whose farewell scene lasts almost twenty minutes and leads directly into the grand finale of the entire Ring cycle. Since Götterdämmerung is about the end of the world, “the world is over when the fat woman stops singing”….
Why am I doing all this? Well, the meaning of the phrase is: never think you know how something will turn out that hasn’t ended yet. It is often used in sport in English-speaking countries. And no, for once it’s not about soccer!
Nowadays, sopranos are usually young, slim and agile, and if you are lucky enough to experience a singer as talented as Diana Alexe, our Juliette in “Roméo et Juliette”, who not only has an incredible voice but plays her role so convincingly that you can feel the passion as well as the despair, then of course it has nothing to do with the Brünhilden of years gone by. And when a great Roméo, sung and lived by Leonardo Sánchez, experiences and suffers the whole stage together with her, then an exciting opera experience is pre-programmed. And yes, it remains exciting, even if the story is well known…
Photo – Leonardo Sanchez (Romeo) © Verena von Kerssenbrock
An emotional rollercoaster, falling in love, fear and hope, passion and blissful union. We never find out how Snow White is annoyed when she has to clean up after her husband, or how Cinderella sits sadly at home because her prince consort is always away on business in the kingdom. But most of us know that you can’t rely on permanent butterflies in your stomach in a relationship. And this is where opera, theater and film come into play: every love story, whether it has a happy ending or a tragic outcome, reminds us again of this time of butterflies, of hovering above the clouds, of fearing and seeing – and when the opera ends tragically, we lean back and relax: yes, we have our ups and downs, but it’s not that bad, it’s actually quite nice (see butterfly memory).
Photo – Diana Alexe (Juliette) © Verena von Kerssenbrock
And so, with this in mind, I wish you a wonderful opera experience, let yourself be reminded of the first butterflies, and if you are now wondering what all this has to do with Marlene Dietrich, then you need to watch “Roméo et Juliette” and ask our Maestra….
From the heart Your Christiane Berker
Photo – Leonardo Sanchez (Romeo) & Diana Alexe (Juliette) © Verena von Kerssenbrock