# Franco Zeffirelli Tribute



## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Franco Zeffirelli passed away today. May his soul rest in peace. This thread is a tribute to the great master.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Me he rest in peace .


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Sad news indeed. He was associated a great deal with Callas and it's almost impossible to talk of Zeffirelli without invoking her name. He made his own documentary about her just after she died, and appears in virtually every Callas documentary ever since. He first worked with her at La Scala in 1955 in *Il Turco in Italia*.










Subsequently he directed her final *Traviata*s in Dallas.










Most famously though he directed her last ever stage performances in *Tosca* and *Norma* at Covent Garden and in Paris.



















He was also the stage director for the Covent Garden *Lucia di Lammermoor* which launched Sutherland's international career. The production subsequently travelled to Dallas, but with Callas as Lucia.

He later made a fictionalised biopic based on an abortive attempt to film her Carmen, using her 1964 recording as the soundtrack. Starring Fanny Ardant and Jeremy Irons, it was his tribute to the singer her revered above all others. It's an old-fashioned movie, and the critics panned it, but I have a certain affection for it.


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Sad news indeed. He was associated a great deal with Callas and it's almost impossible to talk of Zeffirelli without invoking her name. He made his own documentary about her just after she died, and appears in virtually every Callas documentary ever since. He first worked with her at La Scala in 1955 in *Il Turco in Italia*.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


By the way, I've been looking for that Callas documentary all day, in which he mentions the BC= "Before Callas" joke. If anyone has it, please share the link here.

I love the Sutherland documentary, especially when he talks about how he filled up her costumes with stuff to make her chest look bigger :lol:

I love Callas Forever so much. Mainly for Fanny Ardent's performance. For months after seeing the film (multiple times in a row) I saw her face whenever I thought about Maria.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Another fine production.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tuoksu said:


> I love the Sutherland documentary, especially when he talks about how he filled up her costumes with stuff to make her chest look bigger :lol:


When did any part of Sutherland need enlarging (except for her chest voice, of course)?


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## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

Sad news, but he achieved a lot in his life and left us a lot of stuff to enjoy. I really liked Callas Forever too. I think many of us have a special place in our hearts for his production of Tosca with Callas.


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> When did any part of Sutherland need enlarging (except for her chest voice, of course)?


Apparently her literal chest too :lol:


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

There is no scene more plaintive, beautiful and full of pathos than Boheme's act 3 with the ethereal snow falling peppered by the coughing and sadness of Mimi's illness.
Some say he went over the top. I say I'll take that any day to the modern minimalistic, depressing, lack of creative designs of greys and blacks that overwhelm the stage today.
RIP Franco.


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## Minor Sixthist (Apr 21, 2017)

Wow, only now realizing the extent of Zeffirelli's accomplishments, within that the literal length of his career, which is very impressive. I just got finished watching his movie rendition of _Hamlet,_ which he directed when pushing 70. I see there's a whole big world of him to enjoy, especially as opera goes. Rest in peace.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Great popular entertainer. And what is wrong with that?


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I saw the news yesterday as I was on my way to the ROH for a performance of Tosca (in a new production that replaced the classic Zeffirelli one). Perhaps it was the sad news that meant I was very much aware of the lack of character in the directing and it's easy to forget how progressive Zeffirelli's productions were in their day with his eye for detail and little touches here and there (e.g. the Sacristian was more than a mere comic caricature in his Tosca).

I sang in the chorus in a production of La Traviata in Italy and the costume directors had worked with Zeffirelli and had his eye for detail. Everyone in the chorus had to be checked before going on stage to make sure that we were turned out in keeping with the period (which was the traditional 1840s). Both Visconti and Zeffirelli were known for religiously sticking to historical accuracy.

Zeffirelli will be remembered for his large scale, lavish productions, however it was that very eye for detail and the way that he directed the singers so that new psychological insights into the characters were explored. True personenregie as opposed to konzeptregie. A production is so much more than how beautiful or not the sets are!

N.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> There is no scene more plaintive, beautiful and full of pathos than Boheme's act 3 with the ethereal snow falling peppered by the coughing and sadness of Mimi's illness.
> Some say he went over the top. I say I'll take that any day to the modern minimalistic, depressing, lack of creative designs of greys and blacks that overwhelm the stage today.
> RIP Franco.


Isn´t the whole point of opera to go over the top?


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Great in all aspects.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Let us not forget this one .


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## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

Rogerx said:


> Let us not forget this one .


I really liked this. Domingo and Ricciarelli made a great pair. I liked Diaz too.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Diminuendo said:


> I really liked this. Domingo and Ricciarelli made a great pair. I liked Diaz too.


I really like it too. If only he hadn't cut it.


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