#puccini

Few operatic images are as instantly iconic as this portrait of Birgit Nilsson in Cecil Beaton's dazzling costume for Turandot. Beaton's extraordinary designs transformed Puccini's icy princess into a vision of imperial splendour, while Nilsson's blazing voice and commanding stage presence gave the character an unmatched sense of power, mystery, and grandeur. Together, they created one of the defining visual and musical partnerships in twentieth-century opera, a performance that continues to set the standard against which every Turandot is measured.

This was *such* a delightful message to see in my inbox upon logging back into Tumblr for the first time in ages, thank you! I actually gave Mario this handle in a crazy Tosca high school AU fic that my friend and I once wrote (told mostly through social media posts and text messages), and then when various Opera AO3 folks convinced me to create an account here, I figured I might as well recycle my own ridiculous joke. ;) So glad it brings you joy, silly as it is!

gianni schicchi. zero mostel. what more needs to be said

Happy 110* birthday Giuseppe Taddei

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