#arsace

problematic disaster bi bernie. she’s like grimoaldo, but girl and main character.

bernie and selene, tollie and sandro. history repeats itself. you know, i wonder what bernie’s mother and uncle are doing at this point in time.

speaking of guys named sandro, i think we need to make alessandro berenicereginadegitto into ragù

arsace. arsace.

the fact that all my thoughts about arsace could very well also apply to any ( both ) of the other arsaces ( arsaci? ) i’ve encountered on my journeys through the world of italian-language opera.

i have nothing to say about demetrio… i’m sorry baby boy, i’m sure you’re baby ;-;

This is a recit-aria-aria singing scene of the breeches role Arsace (aka the role is a dude but it normally would be sung by a woman) in Rossini's opera Semiramide. This is just so hard to do. The damn piece is just so complicated. And she did it in a very... technically androgynous touch (which is rare to come by and also you should account the fact the breeches role may or may not have been a substitute for castrato role history wise)

we don't see enough of selene, but her arias are all bangers- especially the ones in act 3.

"questa qual sia beltà," how it reveals that sel's basically playing arsace and reminded me of the duality of her character. we see her both as a sensitive, vulnerable person and as someone cunning, but the implicit malice within the latter didn't come off as too overt to me. really good.

also shoutout to aristobolo for having a conscience ( i love you, sympathetic bass man )

i found it funny when they had bernie just read the letter. took me out of the story a bit, but i think it works. to me, it's a reminder that berenice may be called an opera seria, but that doesn't mean it's all depressing and melodramatic.

i love the focus on interpersonal relationships here. i mean sure, there's the element of political drama too, but most of the time it's literally just "i want to marry them!" "you can't, because politics." and even then, the political aspect of the story is about diplomacy, relations. it's an opera about relationships.

"politica, ed amore," as berenice herself says.

BERENICE. OH MY GOODNESS, BERENICE. protagonist? antihero? once again, she reminds me of grimoaldo, only she occupies a different space in the narrative from him. she's complicated, she's a mess, she doesn't always do the right thing, and i love that.

i started out having Feelings ( negative ) about demetrio, but as the story went on, i began to have Feelings ( incredibly complex but boils down to "i love you" ) about him.

arsace.

why is selene gender? it's unfair.

i feel like aristobolo and arsace came into the story quite abruptly- it took me a while to process those guys... existing, i suppose.