Kids, don't try this at home!
I am sure that most people are familiar with Rossini's opera William
Tell. Its overture has become a cross-cultural icon.
But William Tell is not the only opera to use Switzerland as a back-
drop. Here are a few lesser-known ones.
Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious by Klaus Mannheim.
This opera is set at the Zurich Institute. Carl Jung, a psychiatrist,
handles the case of Ludwina, a poor repressed girl with a severe
neurosis stemming from a childhood bicycle accident. Jung helps
her to tune in on her undiscovered Self and to escape her horrible
fear of tires and sex.
Gothic by Robert Goldman.
This opera is based on the movie by Ken Russell and follows the
dark wanderings of Lord Bryon, Percy Shelley, and Mary Shelley
during a debauched weekend at a Swiss villa. Will they fall prey
to their Satanic desires? Only the score knows for sure.
MDRTB by Sherman Berg.
This avant garde atonal opera is based on Thomas Mann's The Magic
Mountain. It follows the stay of various patients at a Swiss hospital
as they recuperate from Multiple Drug Resistant Tuberculosis. Comic
moments ensue as the patients fall repeatedly in love and out of love
with each other and struggle to keep down the incredibly bad food.
Girl's Dormitory by Charles Kelso.
This opera tells the story of Lucy, a nubile teenager attending an
all-girls private school in Bern. Lucy falls in love with her professor,
Dr. Marceau. But when he does not return her affections she writes love
letters to him supposedly revealing their affair. When the Dean of the
school finds the letters Dr. Marceau is chastised and Lucy is taken into
the Dean's office, where she is required to bend over the desk for a
good caning on her bare bottom. Afterwards, imagining the caning, Dr.
Marceau confesses his new desires to Lucy, who quickly takes advantage
of the situation and lets Dr. Marceau cane her bottom after classes. But
when the Dean finds out of their affair Lucy is taken in for another
good caning. Girl's Dormitory was banned in the United States from
1942 to 1959, primarily for excessive caning.
thanks for sharing Eddie,Have an amazing weekend! :up:
Happy weekend! 😀
Excessive caning! What a 3-way. A little kinkier than most. Thanks for sharing. You know, I was sitting here thinking, don't know why it hit my brain, maybe because I'm eating hot buttered biscuits as I sit here, with apricot preserves. Does Switzerland have any special cuising? Occurred to me I never heard of a popular Swiss food or dessert. Norwegian, yes. Danish rolls, yes, French (a bunch), Most countries have a food associated with it. Never heard of a Swiss anything that I can remember. Have you? Unless it's one of those Christmas pastries or something.
That might explain why the opera is not more frequently performed. :pI don't really know, Linda. Except that they are known for their excellent cheeses — swiss cheese is only one of them. Otherwise I think the country food is a lot like German and the city food is more French. Or so I gather from a couple of travel shows.
And chocolate, too. Swiss population consists of French, Italian and German, mostly so their cuisine probably has the influence of all three cuisines.But they don`t eat apples. They just use them to show off with their aiming skills 😛
:lol:So they'll shoot the apples. But they won't eat them? That seems kind of a waste of good apples. :pCheese, apples, chocolate — those Swiss must pick up a lotta chics. 😆
She brought me a large glass of apple juice.
Of course, Swiss chocolate and Swiss cheese. How could I have forgotten that? I like both. My first and I went with Gaby, a German girl and her GI boyfriend to Germany one long weekend. I asked for a glass of water and Mrs. Klein had a hissy fit, "Nein, nein" she cried. No water. I'll bring you some juice." All said in German and translated to me. Seems in most of Europe there was no such thing as water treatment plants and the water was polluted, so they didn't drink water unless it was bottled or boiled. France was the same way. The Army post had it's own water treatment plant so we didn't have to worry about that. I'm wondering if it is still that way in much of Europe still?
As for water, I know you can drink tap water in most Balkan countries, also in Austria and Denmark I think. Probably in some mountain areas in Germany but not in big cities :left:
Of course I guess you could always drink Pellegrino and Perrier. :p
😆 Very good, Ed. Seems to me that the cane, as used as a musical instrument, could be well integrated into the undoubtedly splendid music for "Girls' Dormitory".
@ RichardLMAO. I think you are right!A little percussion to spice things up! :up:
"Hit me! Hit me! Hit me vit your rhithm stick!"
Oh, jeez. I knew I shouldn't have done this post!ROTF.
😆 😆