# If I were an opera house manager....



## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Imagine you are appointed as the manager of an opera theater, and need to prepare a season. You must select ten titles, plus the principal roles, the musical director and the stage director. Also, four recitals to complete the season. No budget restrictions. Of course, we need to keep the season realistic, that means you could love Wagner a lot, but can't really plan for the ten Bayreuth operas... 

What will be your choice?. You only need the ten titles to participate, if so much detail is a little bit boring.

That's mine:

*Die Gezeichneten* - *Franz Schreker*

Alviano Salvago - Klaus Florian Vogt
Carlotta Nardi - Anne Schwanewilms
Andrea Vitolozzo - Lucas Meachem
MD: Sebastian Weigle / SD: Willy Decker

*La Traviata* - *Verdi*
Violetta - Anna Netrebko
Alfredo - Jonas Kaufmann
Germont - Leo Nucci
MD: Riccardo Muti / SD: Giancarlo del Monaco

*Norma* - *Bellini*
Norma - Dimitra Theodossiu
Adalgisa - Elina Garanca
Pollione - Gregory Kunde
MD: Fabio Biondi / SD: Liliana Cavani

*Thaïs* - *Massenet*
Thaïs - Renée Fleming
Athanaël - Vincent Le Texier
Nicias - Roberto Alagna
MD: Yves Abel / SD: Marthe Keller

*Orfeo* - *Luigi Rossi*
Orfeo - Philippe Jaroussky
Euridice - Danielle de Niese
Aristeo - Iestyn Davies
MD: John Elliot Gardiner / SD: David McVicar

*L'amour de loin* - *Kaija Saariaho*
Jaufré - Gerald Finley
Clémence - Diana Damrau
Le Pélerin - Sophie Koch
MD: Kent Nagano / SD: Peter Sellars

*Dialogues de Carmelites* - *Poulenc*
Blanche - Natalie Dessay
Constance - Patricia Petibon
Mme.de Croissy - Nathalie Stutzmann
Mme. Lidoine - Inva Mula
Mére Marie - Béatrice Uría-Monzón
MD: Jan Latham-Koenig / SD: Michael Haneke

*Der Vampyr* - *Marschner*
Ruthven - Detlef Roth
Malwina - Carmela Remigio
Aubry - John Osborn
MD: Karel Mark Chichon / SD: Robert Carsen

*Zazà* - *Leoncavallo*
Zazà - Fiorenza Cedolins
Milio - Marco Berti
Cascart - Zeljko Lucic
MD: Daniele Callegari / SD: Mario Martone

*Orleanskaja deva* - *Tchaikovsky*
Joan - Karita Mattila
King Charles - Andrei Dunaev
Agnes Sorel - Olga Guryakova
MD: Valeri Gergiev / SD: Dmitri Tcherniakov

RECITALS

Plácido Domingo - Baritone arias, with orchestra
Susan Graham - French mélodies, with piano
Sonia Turchetta - Le voci sottovetro, with orchestra
Brian Asawa - Ned Rorem's Songs, with piano


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Nice idea. I'm not sure if I'd be as proficient to pick stage directors, casting, etc, but I could think about a good season.
Of course, your La Traviata with Anna and Jonas would be one for the ages. But strictly thinking about operas, let's see what I think would be an intriguing season with some some zebras but not entirely esoteric.

Mozart – Il Re Pastore
R. Strauss – Die Frau ohne Schatten
Handel – Hercules
Meyerbeer – Dinorah
Donizetti – Roberto Devereux
Verdi – Otello
Gomes – Il Guarany
Boito – Mefistofele
Shostakovich – Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District
Bizet – Les Pêcheurs de Perles


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

I don't know if I could come up with 10, but one I'd like to see is

*Il Barbiere de Seville - Rosini*
Rosina - Natalie Dessay 
Doctor Bartolo - Bryn Terfel
Count Almaviva - JDF
Figaro - Mariusz Kwiecien
SD: Laurent Pelly


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

I'm not well aware of contemporary, still active singers so the only opera I could give a cast would be "Geezers and Crones" and I'm not even sure if anybody has writen such opera. 

But if I would be given a chance to prepare such season I would stage and conduct myself and, hopefully, record:

Władysław Żeleński: Goplana
Władysław Żeleński: Konrad Wallenrod
Stanisław Moniuszko: Hrabina
Stanisław Moniuszko: Paria
Ignacy Paderewski: Manru
Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński: Monbar
Konstanty Gorski: Margier
Feliks Nowowiejski: Legenda Bałtyku
Feliks Nowowiejski: Quo Vadis 
Karol Szymanowski: Król Roger

I would split recitals into two categoriers: two with orchestra, first as opening and second as closing the season. Then the other two with piano, one with male and second with female singer.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

schigolch said:


> ... Of course, we need to keep the season realistic, that means you could love Wagner a lot, but can't really plan for the ten Bayreuth operas...
> 
> What will be your choice?. You only need the ten titles to participate, if so much detail is a little bit boring.


I am the CEO of Opera Australia.  Budgets are tight as usual. Donations, grants, subsidies and ticket prices cannot keep going up without scaring away patrons. We must be profitable; with target return on capital provided this season of at least 15% and benchmarking our performances with world class opera companies. This season will make or break ... and the rescue programme to draw in _maximum audience numbers _ would be:-

Handel, _Rinaldo_
Mozart, _Don Giovanni_
Beethoven, _Fidelio_
Rossini, _Il barbiere di Siviglia_
Donizetti, _Lucia di Lammermoor_
Bizet, _Carmen_
Tchaikovsky, _Eugene Ornegin_
Verdi, _Aida_
Wagner, _Parsifal_
and finally one for the modern folks who like to be special and speak of rarely performed operas (relatively speaking), Benjamin Britten, _Owen Wingrave_

Sell out season of grand operas, heroic operas, romantic operas, tragic operas, comic operas and modern.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Almaviva said:


> Nice idea. I'm not sure if I'd be as proficient to pick stage directors, casting, etc, but I could think about a good season.
> Of course, your La Traviata with Anna and Jonas would be one for the ages. But strictly thinking about operas, let's see what I think would be an intriguing season with some some zebras but not entirely esoteric.
> 
> Mozart - Il Re Pastore
> ...


Nice and balanced. Perhaps a little bit unadventurous. 

Would also like to watch the Barbiere, and listen to this Quo Vadis, from Feliks Nowowiejski that has awaken my curiosity.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

schigolch said:


> this Quo Vadis, from Feliks Nowowiejski that has awaken my curiosity.


He, actually I crossed the line a little bit by placing it on the list as it's work similiar to Berlioz's Damnation of Faust - a "concert" opera, half oratorio. But it could be staged, it has operatic qualities just like the mentioned work of Berlioz which was succesfully staged and even released on DVD in such form.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

HarpsichordConcerto said:


> I am the CEO of Opera Australia.  Budgets are tight as usual....
> 
> Handel, _Rinaldo_
> Mozart, _Don Giovanni_
> ...


I see economy is running pretty much the same in Australia, like in Europe. It's clear this season should be a success in terms of attendance.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

schigolch said:


> Nice and balanced. *Perhaps a little bit unadventurous*.


 You know, I was thinking about selling those tickets and getting people's behinds on those seats - things a manager would need to consider, so, I couldn't be too adventurous. But my take was, I'd present great composers but with works that are not as performed, are not their most popular ones (except for arguably my Verdi and Shostakovich selections - but Otello is not Verdi's most popular, and while Lady Macbeth is Shostakovich's best, it's not that popular among the regular public), plus one composer who isn't usually included among the major ones (Boito) and one who is poorly known even by most aficionados but very interesting (Gomez). My season is not purely representative of what *I'd* like to see on stage, but rather, a season that would be relatively easy to sell but still less conventional than most, with the usual A-B-C (Aida, Bohème, Carmen) that we see around the world's opera companies.

If I could really get a season that I'd love to see staged, I'd go for a lot more contemporary opera and more obscure older works, since I'd love to increase my knowledge rather than just seeing again some of my favorites. But economic reality is such that a season like this would be doomed to financial failure.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

So true.

This is the real season 2011-2012 for Teatro Real, in Madrid:

Elektra - Strauss
Pelléas et Mélisande - Debussy
Lady Macbeth - Shostakovich
Iolanta/Persephone - Stravinsky
La Clemenza di Tito - Mozart
C(h)oeurs - Alain Platel
I due Figaro - Mercadante
The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic - Antony / William Basinski
Cyrano de Bergerac - Alfano
Poppea e Nerone - Boesmans
Ainadamar - Golijov

In a city where most opera goers are italianate and traditional singing fans. It will be a ruin... Don't get me wrong, this is interesting for me, but a financial disaster for the opera house.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

Thinking about this thread made me realize just how difficult the job of a GMD/Intendent is. The person must have sufficient knowledge of a very wide range of the repertoire just to select an appropriate mix of the most popular works, some of the less familiar operas, and contemporary pieces. He/she must also have sufficient knowledge of singers who are performing today and whose voice would be appropriate for which role. Same story with finding suitable stage directors. And, of course, as other posters have mentioned, there are those ever-present economic considerations against which artistic choices must be balanced.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

schigolch said:


> So true.
> 
> This is the real season 2011-2012 for Teatro Real, in Madrid:
> 
> ...


Oh wow, what a season! I'd certainly buy full season tickets to see it. Too bad I don't live in Madrid. I hope they are successful, because if they are - against all odds - it would be a strong message for other opera houses that being adventurous is still viable. But like you, I'm afraid for them.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

rgz said:


> I don't know if I could come up with 10, but one I'd like to see is


*Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Wagner*
Hans Sachs - Bryn Terfel
Walther von Stolzing - Jonas Kaufmann
Eva Pogner - Anja Hertaros
Sixtus Beckmesser - Franz Hawlata
Magdalene - Joyce DiDonato
David - Michael Schade
Veit Pogner - Rene Pape
MD: Christian Thielemann / SD: Robert Carsen


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

MAuer said:


> Thinking about this thread made me realize just how difficult the job of a GMD/Intendent is. The person must have sufficient knowledge of a very wide range of the repertoire just to select an appropriate mix of the most popular works, some of the less familiar operas, and contemporary pieces. He/she must also have sufficient knowledge of singers who are performing today and whose voice would be appropriate for which role. Same story with finding suitable stage directors. And, of course, as other posters have mentioned, there are those ever-present economic considerations against which artistic choices must be balanced.


Oh yes. I recommend the fascinating book by the former Met general manager Volpe as a window into what these folks face (the title says it all):


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

This is the book by the "adventurer" Gérard Mortier, the manager of Madrid's opera house. I don't think there is an english translation, but there is at least a spanish one.

The front picture is of the dome used to represent _Saint François d'Assise_. I saw this staging at the beggining of July, and it was really a magical evening... not at the opera house, but at a sports center in the outskirts of Madrid, due to the big size of the dome.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

schigolch said:


> This is the book by the "adventurer" Gérard Mortier, the manager of Madrid's opera house. I don't think there is an english translation, but there is at least a spanish one.
> 
> The front picture is of the dome used to represent _Saint François d'Assise_. I saw this staging at the beggining of July, and it was really a magical evening... not at the opera house, but at a sports center in the outskirts of Madrid, due to the big size of the dome.


Darn. $54 on Amazon. I think I'll wait for someone to sell it used.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Almaviva said:


> Darn. $54 on Amazon. I think I'll wait for someone to sell it used.


15 Euros on Amazon France


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> 15 Euros on Amazon France


The cheaper options don't ship to the United States. The cheapest I could get from Amazon France was $48 (20 euros for the book and 10 for shipping). Still too expensive, I think. I guess I'll wait.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

schigolch said:


> So true.
> 
> This is the real season 2011-2012 for Teatro Real, in Madrid:
> 
> ...


Fascinating season. I guess that's what you get when you hire Gerard Mortier to be the new artistic director.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Wagner - Tannhäuser
Wagner - Lohengrin
Wagner - Tristan und Isolde
Wagner - Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Wagner - Das Rheingold 
Wagner - Die Walküre 
Wagner - Siegfried 
Wagner - Götterdämmerung
Peter Reynolds - Sands of Time
Wagner - Parsifal

Instead of concert performances, my season will have four 3-hour lectures titled: The Two Kinds of Music: Wagner, and Everything Else.

Casting for Der Ring des Nibelungen*
Wotan - Paul Potts
Fricka - Nancy Grace
Freia - Jessye Norman
Donner & Froh - Probably just leave them out
Erda - Oprah
Loge - Anna Netrebko 
The Norns - cast of _The View_
Siegmund - Waltraud Meier in breeches
Sieglinde - Jonas Kaufmann in drag
Siegfried - Justin Bieber, replace with Danny Devito after an 'accident' during the premiere performance of Act III of Gotterdammerung
Hunding - 'Chocolate Rain' guy 
Gunther - President Obama
Gutrune - Faye Dunaway
Hagen - Matti Salminen with a tuba on his head
Brünnhilde - Beyonce
Valkyries - pull random people from the audience
Rhinemaidens - Kim, Kourtney and Khloé Kardashian 
Fasolt & Fafner - Will be abstractly represented by a large cylinder and pyramid, respectively
Alberich - Kim Jong-il
Mime - Miley Cyrus

*All four operas performed continuously from 8 am to midnight without intermission.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Couchie said:


> Wagner - Tannhäuser
> Wagner - Lohengrin
> Wagner - Tristan und Isolde
> Wagner - Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
> ...


Pffft... what a lousy Wagner fan. He doesn't even have Der Fliegende Höllander and Rienzi on schedule.
And Anna Netrebko doesn't do trouser roles. She's a girl. As proven by her two "assets."
On the other hand, Beyonce might be a good Brünnhilde. She's got good "assets" too.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> Pffft... what a lousy Wagner fan. He doesn't even have Der Fliegende Höllander and Rienzi on schedule.
> And Anna Netrebko doesn't do trouser roles. She's a girl. As proven by her two "assets."
> On the other hand, Beyonce might be a good Brünnhilde. She's got good "assets" too.


Hehehe, I had to leave out Der Fliegende Höllander, the OP said very clearly that all ten Wagner operas in a single season would just be _unrealistic_, you know? 

And Loge doesn't have to necessarily be a trouser role...


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Couchie said:


> Casting for Der Ring des Nibelungen*
> Wotan - Paul Potts
> Fricka - Nancy Grace
> Freia - Jessye Norman
> ...


Now with a cast like that I might even become a convert. If you amend the casting to include Katherine Jenkins, I'd definitely want to see it.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

amfortas said:


> *Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Wagner*
> Hans Sachs - Bryn Terfel
> Walther von Stolzing - Jonas Kaufmann
> Eva Pogner - Anja Hertaros
> ...


I'd want a ticket to this performance!


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

Couchie said:


> Loge doesn't have to necessarily be a trouser role...


Loge! Loge! Hieher! :devil:


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Bellini - La Sonnambula
Flotow - Martha
Beethoven - Fidelio
Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin
Mascagni - L'amico Fritz
Balfe - Bohemian Girl
Braunfels - Jeanne d'Arc
Paislello - Nina o sia La pazza per amore
Donizetti - La Fille Du Regiment
Marschner - Der Vampyr


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## Sieglinde (Oct 25, 2009)

No comedies and no Puccini (sorry, Giacomo. Love you but we need a break.)

*1. Billy Budd*

Whoever stages it, I want it to be historically accurate to the last button, I'm a huge Age of Sail nerd. Alternatively, IN SPACE! Also, onstage hanging.

I'd cast David Pershall as Billy. I recently asked him on FB and he says he'd love to debut the role. I'd also add John Relyea (just saw him, fantastic) and Michael Shade.

*2. Simon Boccanegra *

Ludovic Tézier, Anja Harteros, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Yonghoon Lee. (He managed to make Manrico likeable, maybe he can succeed with Gabriele too!)

*3. King Roger *

Can't get better than Mariusz. Loved the whole ROH cast. I'd go for abstract set and vaguly medieval-ish costumes, but overall mostly simple and elegant.

*4. Don Carlo*

5-act Italian but the fuller version they did in Salzburg last time. I love having the Lacrimosa.

René Pape, Jonas Kaufmann, Mariusz Kwiecien, Anja Harteros, Elina Garanca, Sir John Tomlinson.

Full-on traditional but extremely gay. Not just on the Carlo/Rodrigo front but the Filippo/Rodrigo.

*5. I masnadieri *

I'm in love with this opera so  Jonas again because no one does angsty brooding like him, Artur Ruciński because Francesco is something of a signature role for him (he's amazing), Lisette Oropesa and Kwanchul Youn. I'd probably keep it traditional.

*6. Khovanshchina*

Ildar Abdrazakov (Ivan Khovansky), Misha Didyk (Andrei Khovansky), Anita Rachvelishvili (Marfa), Mikhail Petrenko (Dosifey), Alexey Markov (Shaklovity)

Keeping it period. It's tied to specific historical events.

*7. I puritani*

Doesn't have to stay period. I'd go for haute-couture costumes but an overall futuristic feeling. Think Dune aesthetics. I'd also make sure it has a downer ending.

Lisette Oropesa, Javier Camarena, Artur Ruciński (winning team reunion from that excellent Lucia last year) and Kwanchul Youn again.

*8. Werther*

Jonas, Elina, Lisette. I'm not too picky about Albert as long as he can sing. Definitely period and Werther needs his iconic colours.

*9. Antony and Cleopatra*

This opera really needs more love! No idea who could tackle Cleo, though. Ideas?

I'd have Ildebrando d'Arcangelo for Antony, Stefan Kocán for Enobarbus and maybe John Daszak for Octavian.

I'd also probably go for Elizabethan era costumes with a few Roman elements thrown in, as the Globe did, it looks really nice.

*10. Il trovatore*

And finally, my dream Trovatore: Tézier, Harteros, Kaufmann, Rachvelishvili, Kocán. I'd go for a dark fantasy/gothic horror vibe and make the ending especially bloody and messed up.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

I was hitting likes until I realised this thread was eight years old! Doh! 

Never mind, I liked the posts anyway.


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## sharkeysnight (Oct 19, 2017)

Oh, what a fun thread, I love this kind of thing.

*1: Gershwin - Porgy & Bess*

I always think of this as a sweltering late-summer score. And what a great score! And a fun way to get newcomers in, too.

*2: Britten - Turn of the Screw*

Ok, yes, primarily for Halloween, but also as a brittle (heh), smaller-scale companion to the grander, lusher Porgy

*3: Verdi - Falstaff*

A comedy to ward off the death and tragedy of the first two operas, and, of course, there's no better way to hail in the holiday season than the jolly exploits of a big fat guy

*4: Humperdinck - Hansel & Gretel*

I am a disgusting traditionalist.

*5: Janáček - The Makropulos Affair*

An odd, jagged way to start the new year and a nice break from the sounds that have presided over the season so far.

*6: Rossini - Le comte Ory*

We're moving into the least appealing part of winter, so what could be better than a sexy nun comedy?

*7: Mazzoli - Breaking The Waves*

Something very new and slightly bitter. I've only heard this, not seen it, but I thought it was breathtaking and I think it would make a nice companion with both the previous and the next operas:

*8: Poulenc - Dialogues of the Carmelites*

Well, it's probably about Easter or so. We've had the sexy nuns, and now we have to have the sad nuns.

*9: Smetana - The Bartered Bride*

As spring turns nice, we get back, for the third time in the season, to folk melodies. It's tempting to switch this with Screw, and replace Screw with Albert Herring, but I'll stick with my initial instinct.

*10: Glass - Satyagraha*

Grand, beautiful, and at the same time new and untraditional, and a nice way to close the season on a note of blissful, enigmatic hope.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Not necessarily all my favorites but some with hopes of putting bums in the seats.

1. La Boheme
2. Andrea Chenier
3. Tosca
4. Don Carlo
5. Poliuto
6. L'amor dei tre re
7. Mefistofele
8. Parsifal
9. Eugene Onegin
10. Don Giovanni


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

nina foresti said:


> Not necessarily all my favorites but some with hopes of putting bums in the seats.
> 
> 1. La Boheme
> 2. Andrea Chenier
> ...


You would need a ferocious budget to fill these with the necessary star names!:lol:


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

How about this for a great season?

Der fliegende Holländer
Tannhäuser
Lohengrin
Das Rheingold
Die Walküre
Siegfried
Götterdämmerung
Tristan und Isolde
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Parsifal


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Barbebleu said:


> You would need a ferocious budget to fill these with the necessary star names!:lol:


Maybe_ Don Carlo_ and _Mefistofele_ but the others are money worthy.


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