Hardly on the ball here, but The Opera Tattler puzzled to see mezzo-soprano Catherine Cook in the role of Tosca in the movie Milk. One supposes it would be even weirder if she had been actually singing.
The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
12 responses to “Tosca and Milk”
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I doubt many moviegoers will know who she is. I certainly don’t.
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don’t forget friend-of-m.c- joe meyers as spoletta!
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i don’t know why the link didn’t work.
http://www.classicalsinger.com/sites/index.php?user_id=89299LikeLike
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I’m sure it’s all fine & just part of what they call “the magic of cinema”.
When I saw the movie, I assumed that this was just some over-the-top way to make Milk’s death even more dramatic, but it turns out that it would have been historically possible for him to have seen a performance of Tosca at the War Memorial Opera House the weekend before he was assassinated.LikeLike
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Yes, I doubt it is something anyone would notice outside of the Bay Area. Cook is on the SF Opera stage nearly every year though.
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Indeed! Though he’s a tenor, cast as a tenor. 😉
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It is just that we usually see Cathy singing in the smaller roles. I don’t think I’ve heard her as the lead!
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Harvey Milk actually did attend tne a performance of “Tosca” with the legendary, already-ancient Magda Olivero in the title role in her San Fracisco Opera debut when she was in her late 60s or early 70s.
I thought Catherine Cook’s cameo in the movie was sorta cute, though of course you’re right, she’d be a ridiculous “Tosca” dramatically even if she wasn’t the wrong voice type. The detail that bothered me was the banner of “Tosca” they had hanging in front of the Opera House. The movie was so scrupulous in its details, down to the fact that the supervisors’ offices used to be adjoining rabbit warrens, but they didn’t face the opera house and they never had that kind of signage up on the second floor of the opera house. It was pure poetic invention.LikeLike
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It was cute!
The banners were a bit over the top.LikeLike
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Cathy was, of course, lip-synching. The voice was Maria Callas’s, actually. If you really listen to it, it’s unmistakable.
Cathy is on the faculty of SFCM, which I attend, and she told me they wanted someone who would actually psychically look like she was singing opera. If I recall correctly, Sean Penn actually directed the scene.LikeLike
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Neat! I don’t really listen to opera except in person, so of course, I had no clue about Callas.
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Gotta love them boobs of hers though!
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