# Use of opera music in movies



## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Have you come across opera being used in a movie? Was it successfully done, or meaningless? Perhaps it was even something that piqued your interest in opera?

Please post examples including the name of the film, the part of the opera and what's happening at the time. A video clip would be ideal if it exists.

Let's not just cut and paste a list from elsewhere. That would ruin the fun for others.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Here's one to kick off. The movie is from a psychological thriller starring Nicole Kidman called *Birth*. She's a young widow who has since remarried. A boy begins pestering her and claims to be her dead husband reincarnated. The *prelude to Die Walkure* is very well chosen to illustrate her turmoil. This clip is a modern favourite of many film buffs.


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

Haha..

The Shawshank redemption






Phyladelphia






Farinelli full movie


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Opera is a big part of *Fitzcarraldo*. The lead character wants to bring opera to the jungle. I can't find a clip of the opera scene, which portrays Caruso and Sarah Bernhardt (lip-synching and played by a man).

Kinski is perhaps not the best representative of a normal, adjusted opera fan.


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

And of course the classic scene from Pretty Woman:


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

The opening scene from Michael Haneke's Funny Games includes some lovely operatic selections before the cut into John Zorn's music.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

GreenMamba said:


> Opera is a big part of *Fitzcarraldo*. The lead character wants to bring opera to the jungle. I can't find a clip of the opera scene, which portrays Caruso and Sarah Bernhardt (lip-synching and played by a man).
> 
> Kinski is perhaps not the best representative of a normal, adjusted opera fan.


A film about opera set in the Brasilian jungle with no music from Il Guarany or any other opera by Carlos Gomes at all.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

*A Room With A View* is one of my favourites. A light Edwardian romance set partly in Florence. *O Mio Babbino Caro* is the signature music for the film and features extensively as background music in the opening and later too. Not just as soundtrack is it a perfect fit, it has the location in common with Gianni Schicchi, and the film and aria are both about a young woman in love. If I recall, the *aria from La Rondine* is used in another scene.

The clip is a collage of scenes but works in the same way as in the movie.


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## Loge (Oct 30, 2014)

Before anyone else can get to it,Cavalleria Rusticana in Raging Bull.






Oh, and who could forget the mad scene from Lucia di Lammermoor in the Fifth Element.






And Excalibur with Siegfried's funeral march.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Surprised to see _Moonstruck_ has not yet been mentioned. It is _La Boheme_ at its most romantic with Cher getting her first taste of the Met with opera fanatic date Nicholas Cage. A total charmer of a film.
Also _Godfather 2
_ (or 3 -- can't keep up) where most of the last scene of _Cavalleria Rusticana _is presented.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

I was going to post Moonstruck if nobody else volunteered it. It's a lovely film with an excellent scene including the opera and the Met in general. It feels like a regular night at the Met. But Nicolas Cage's voice is so irritating!






The Godfather clip is right at the beginning of 3 if I recall. I'm not a fan of the Godfather films so I don't know them well. Surely there must be other opera clips in them?


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Loge said:


> Oh, and who could forget the mad scene from Lucia di Lammermoor in the Fifth Element.


Lord knows, I've tried!


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## Cesare Impalatore (Apr 16, 2015)

The Godfather - Part III, Cavalleria Rusticana:






I actually hate this movie because it was incredibly unnecessary and unworthy of the first two (maybe the greatest films in history of cinema) in my opinion. The scene with _Cavalleria_ was really good, though, very fitting for the whole tragic sicilian revenge motif of The Godfather.


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## perempe (Feb 27, 2014)

it's off, but I love Home Alone because of the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. however, I just recently realized that the score is from a Tchaikovsky ballet.


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## Loge (Oct 30, 2014)

Also like the use of Pagliacci in the Untouchables. I believe it is Mario Del Monaco singing (on soundtrack)


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## Il_Penseroso (Nov 20, 2010)

Sextet from Lucia di Lammermoor! (Watch from 3:00)


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## Il_Penseroso (Nov 20, 2010)

Again Sextet from Lucia... (11.25)


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

In Herzog´s "_Lessons of Darkness_" documentary, there´s a certain ambivalence in the descriptions of the disasters of the Kuwait Gulf War, and the aesthetic effects due to the grandiose Wagner excerpts accompanying the pictures.





 (short trailer only)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lessons_of_Darkness

An attempt at an explanation: 
https://books.google.dk/books?id=VN...page&q=herzog wagner lessons darkness&f=false


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Casta Diva in "Atlantic City" Susan Sarandon washes her breasts with lemon 
Il Trovatore in "Luna" (can't remember which excerpt), and I think, Casta Diva as well
Ebben, be andro lontano in "Diva" An opera singer is taped singng it during a concert 
O mio babbino caro in "Grace of Monaco" - is sung by "Callas" during a charity ball
Carmen in "Callas Forever" various excerpts from the opera are staged and lip scynched by "Callas"
Did anyone mention the Ride of the Valkiries in "Apocalypse Now?"
The overture to La forza del destino in "Jean de Florette," and "Manon of the Spring" is used variously 
Excerpts from Tosca in "Quantum of Solace"
The Marx Brothers used opera frequently in their comedies
Mario Lanza films ("The Great Caruso," for instance)

Sorry, don't know how to post videos!


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Only a few days ago someone suggested that Film was the realisation of Wagners vision of a total work. Perhaps that's why I've always enjoyed the edge that a well chosen Operatic excerpt can add to the drama.

The Cavalleria rusticana intermezzo in a small group recording was also used effectively in Raging Bull.






A couple of films had Opera Singers as their character which gives them the excuse to …sing!

1
La Luna a forgotten Bertolucci with the lovely Jill Clayburgh, who was just mad about HER Boy. Her big onstage moment was to Casta Diva. Sadly can't find the clip.

2
Diva has a plot about a Talk Classical Member based in Paris who takes a bootleg tape a concert and the moderators sent out the goon squad to get it back - well it's been a while since I saw it. Hookum but very stylish.






Another one I'd like to see again was a charming comedy by the British Director Peter Yates called Breaking Away. It's about a kid in the Midwest who becomes obsessed by all things Italian and enters a big cycle race. The final 30sec of this trailer suggests how Opear was used to provide the atmosphere. Fun.






Finally Bertolucci's EPIC masterpiece, "1900". In the original 5 hr cut, the film opens with a character running to the workers in the fields to tell them

"Giuseppe Verdi is dead"

and the overture to Rigoletto starts. Verdi's death (27/01/1901) is the truly the end of an era. 
The versions on Youtube sadly do not have this.


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## Cesare Impalatore (Apr 16, 2015)

Loge said:


> Also like the use of Pagliacci in the Untouchables. I believe it is Mario Del Monaco singing (on soundtrack)


Yes, it's him. I could sense his voice from miles away :lol:


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

In truth, there are probably thousands of these.

E.g., Al Pacino as Serpico sings from Gianni Schicchi while driving


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## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

In Serpico the main character listened Di Stefano singing E lucevan le stelle. And his neighbor asked if it was Björling and he said it's Di Stefano.


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

Moonstruck, as mentioned, is the first and best to come to mind.

Another favorite is the from The Talented Mr. Ripley set a performance of Eugene Onegin at the Rome (?) Opera. On the one hand, its a little confusing to excerpt a Russian opera in a film set in Italy. On the other hand, it's a nod to opera aficionados since the story of Onegin is relevant to the plot of the movie on several levels.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

sabrina said:


> Haha..
> 
> The Shawshank redemption


I love that this was not chosen just because it is beautiful or well known. Red says "I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about" though we do, and it works well with the spousal infidelity that leads to Andy (who chose the record) being in prison in the first place.


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## Loge (Oct 30, 2014)

Still can't believe they made this...


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Loge said:


> Still can't believe they made this...




I've never even heard of that before! I must get it... Well maybe not.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

It is not a movie but the television show _Hannibal_ has some intelligent, integrated use of opera (and other classical music).

We hear "Piangerò la sorte mia" diagetically as Hannibal attends the Concert for Hunger Relief

[Warning: this show often goes for gore/body horror. This clip starts in the throat of the singer, which some may not wish to see. There also may be some mild spoilers in my discussion but nothing clear].






The first words we hear her sing is "il tiranno," referring to her brother. Cleopatra thinks Caesar is dead and she has been sent to prison by her brother for conspiring against him. Which all has parallels to the show: Hannibal the tyrant will get someone sent to prison and this will haunt him. The episode also has a discussion of someone presumed dead... who eventually we realize is alive.

At that Hunger Relief concert Hannibal is goaded into throwing a fancy dinner party (pause for laugh) for the rabble. While we see him cooking (very much a performance in itself) we hear "Le veau d'or" from Faust, which is of course Mèphistophélès (diagetically) performing for the rabble, singing about blasphemy, greed, and how Satan controls everything. [In this video Hannibal is preparing organ meats for the dinner]






In the recently aired premiere of the third season Hannibal diagetically listens to a record of "Sogno soave e casto" from Don Pasquale, which expresses to us that he too has lost his status and is missing somebody (Will Graham), with whom he had developed his only real friendship.

I can't find a clip on YouTube but for now some should be able to watch the episode via NBC (the record goes on at about 5:20).

Again, I will note that while I love this show some may not be into the body horror or may want more of their murders off-stage!


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## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

The weirdly interesting film Melancholia (2011) by Lars von Tier uses Tristan and Isolde's music.

Watch this fragment, opening scene to the film.






The images combined with the music is mesmerizing.


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## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

The Godfather: Part III (1990) Michael Corleone at the opera, they are performing Cavalleria rusticana.


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## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

sabrina said:


> Haha..
> 
> The Shawshank redemption


Wonderful movie. This is a beautiful scene, when I saw it the first time I had no idea it was from Figaro, but I remember the scene vividly.


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

sospiro said:


> I've never even heard of that before! I must get it... Well maybe not.


I've never seen the whole movie, but it does have the reputation of being a bit of a dog. The redeeming factor though, is the love theme from the film, which is both legendary and beloved in the circles I used to travel in in my pre-opera days:


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Visconti's "Senso" opens with a duet from Trovatore:


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Here's the scene from "Atlantic City"






Don't know who the horrible soprano is.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Bertolucci's "La Luna"

Il Trovatore excerpt (Tacea la notte placida) at 23:30


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

The trailer for "Jean de Florette" with music from Forza


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

Another favorite, Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters: There's a scene set at the Met featuring _Sola, perduta, abbandonata_ from _Manon Lescaut_. I couldn't find that one online, but here's a spectacular architectural montage featuring music of Puccini:


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Carmen excerpts from "Callas Forever"


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

"Grace of Monaco" trailer with O mio babbino caro:


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## ma7730 (Jun 8, 2015)

Not a movie, by any means, but is so classic and great that it needs to be up here:


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

Yes another favorite movie. Not quite opera, but an effecting use of Strauss's Four Last Songs in The Year of Living Dangerously:


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## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

Cesare Impalatore said:


> Yes, it's him. I could sense his voice from miles away :lol:


I haven't seen this movie for a few years and I forgot the scene all together.


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## perempe (Feb 27, 2014)

there's a scene in the movie "The Captive" from the Magic Flute, Roberta Peters sings.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

ma7730 said:


> Not a movie, by any means, but is so classic and great that it needs to be up here:


Kill the Wabbit???!!!

N.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Another one, an immaculately made film *The Age of Innocence* by Scorsese from the Edith Wharton novel. Marguerite's beautiful aria from *Faust*. If I recall this is pretty much the film's opening scene. Can anyone spot anything distinctive about the performance here, particularly given the era?


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Don Fatale said:


> Another one, an immaculately made film *The Age of Innocence* by Scorsese from the Edith Wharton novel. Marguerite's beautiful aria from *Faust*. If I recall this is pretty much the film's opening scene. Can anyone spot anything distinctive about the performance here, particularly given the era?


It bothers me when films set in the 19th century use very modern sounding opera singers, though I don't know what the solution would be. It's the act 3 duet in Marguerite's garden. I think Faust had not yet premiered in America, and when it did it was at the brand new Metropolitan Opera- if this scene is in NYC, it's presumably at the Academy of Music. I don't know why it's in Italian, though if the singers were Italian it might well have been. I don't know in which language(s) Christine Nilsson sang Marguerite. I wish she had recorded, that would have been interesting!

What distinctive things did you spot?


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

First episode (Antipasto) of NBC's Hannibal, season 3. Can anyone tell me what piece that is, that is playing when Hannibal is cooking and eating the art professor Roman Fell in his own home?


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## Metairie Road (Apr 30, 2014)

Dvorák - 'Song to the Moon' from Driving Miss Daisy





Mozart - The Magic Flute 'Wie stark ist nicht dein Zauberton!' from the film 'The Night Porter'.





Best wishes
Metairie Road


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Figleaf said:


> It bothers me when films set in the 19th century use very modern sounding opera singers, though I don't know what the solution would be. It's the act 3 duet in Marguerite's garden. I think Faust had not yet premiered in America, and when it did it was at the brand new Metropolitan Opera- if this scene is in NYC, it's presumably at the Academy of Music. I don't know why it's in Italian, though if the singers were Italian it might well have been. I don't know in which language(s) Christine Nilsson sang Marguerite. I wish she had recorded, that would have been interesting!
> What distinctive things did you spot?


*Faust* was the opera that opened the new Metropolitan Opera in 1883. Everything then was sung in Italian, according to Wiki. While I doubt Christine Nilsson sounded like that excerpt you provided, it's impossible to know as she left no recordings. But she was considered a rival of Patti, who did record, so she can't have been that bad!


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

MAS said:


> *Faust* was the opera that opened the new Metropolitan Opera in 1883. Everything then was sung in Italian, according to Wiki. While I doubt Christine Nilsson sounded like that excerpt you provided, it's impossible to know as she left no recordings. But she was considered a rival of Patti, who did record, so she can't have been that bad!


Yep, that's it.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Lukecash12 said:


> First episode (Antipasto) of NBC's Hannibal, season 3. Can anyone tell me what piece that is, that is playing when Hannibal is cooking and eating the art professor Roman Fell in his own home?


It's "Sogno soave e casto" by Donizetti.



mountmccabe said:


> In the recently aired premiere of the third season Hannibal diagetically listens to a record of "Sogno soave e casto" from Don Pasquale, which expresses to us that he too has lost his status and is missing somebody (Will Graham), with whom he had developed his only real friendship.
> 
> I can't find a clip on YouTube but for now some should be able to watch the episode via NBC (the record goes on at about 5:20).


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

Cartoons love Rossini!
Bugs Bunny 
Overture from Il barbiere






Tom and Jerry

Largo fac totum






This is not opera but a nice tribute to Franz Liszt 2nd Hungarian rhapsody.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

In *Princess Diaries 2* (2004), *Anna Netrebko* has a cameo appearance at a garden party singing from La Traviata. She has a line of dialogue too!


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

In the recent *Avengers: Age of Ultron* movie, the Mark Ruffalo character (Bruce Banner/Hulk) is listening to opera in one scene - _Casta diva_. It's Callas singing of course.


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## anmhe (Feb 10, 2015)




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## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

Just hilarious


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

I once saw a documentary about maps over London were they used the humming chorus from Madama Butterfly. I would say that was really strange.


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

In Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, one of this summer's blockbusters, there is a scene where Hunt goes to the opera in Vienna to [SPOILER ALERT] protect the Austrian Prime Minister from assassination.

There is a back stage fight during a production of Puccini's Turnadot.


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

Excalibur is one long excuse to cram in as much Wagner into a movie as possible.

Siegfried's funeral music is Arthur's theme song, played when he draws Excalibur from the stone, when he first gets acknowledged as king, and in the most extended sequence, appropriately, at his death.






Guinevere and Lancelot's affair is scored to the overture from Tristan und Isolde.






And Percival's search for the Holy Grail uses the overture from Parsifal, appropriately enough. Starts around a minute and a half in.






Not opera, but right after Percival renews Arthur with the Grail is the very famous use of O Fortuna from Carmina Burana, showing the land's rebirth mirroring Arthur's. This was the first time I remember seeing Carmina Burana used for epic/stirring scenes, so I think we can all blame John Boorman for its overuse now. Starts around a minute and a half in, again.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Cosmos said:


> In Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, one of this summer's blockbusters, there is a scene where Hunt goes to the opera in Vienna to [SPOILER ALERT] protect the Austrian Prime Minister from assassination.
> 
> There is a back stage fight during a production of Puccini's Turnadot.


I saw it at the cinema tonight, primarily because of nothing better to do and to see the Vienna/Turandot content. It was pretty well done.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Interesting use of operatic music in "Heavenly Creatures" (Peter Jackson, 1994):


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## Guest (Aug 18, 2015)

The obvious _A Night at the Opera_...


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## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

Some movies I recenty watched:
Match Point (2005): we hear and see a lot of opera, some scenes at the ROH, strangely enough without orchestra but with piano accompaniment, did they run out of budget ? We hear a lof Una furtiva lagrima as well.
The Theory of Everything (2014): Dramatized biography of Stephen Hawking also has a scene at a theatre that is most likely the ROH, but according the story it is supposed to be Bayreuth. We hear Wagner and there is more Wagner in the movie.

And an interesting new release:
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) has a scene in the Vienna State Opera, not seen it yet. According to critics this scene works fine and it is not as rediculous as opera is often sterotyped in these kind of Hollywood blockbusters. The opera is Turandot.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

"Tosca isn't for everyone" from 007 Quantum of Solace:


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Don Fatale said:


> Another one, an immaculately made film *The Age of Innocence* by Scorsese from the Edith Wharton novel. Marguerite's beautiful aria from *Faust*. If I recall this is pretty much the film's opening scene. Can anyone spot anything distinctive about the performance here, particularly given the era?





Figleaf said:


> I think Faust had not yet premiered in America, and when it did it was at the brand new Metropolitan Opera- if this scene is in NYC, it's presumably at the Academy of Music. I don't know why it's in Italian, though if the singers were Italian it might well have been.


The scene was filmed at the Philadelphia Academy of Music, the place of the US premiere of _Faust_ by Anschütz German Opera on November 18, 1863. (See this performance chronology of opera in Philadelphia from 1850 to 1874).

Though of course in the film the Philadelphia Academy stood in for the demolished New York Academy, but a performance in NY is not out of place either; the New York premiere was just a week later at the NY Academy of Music by Maretzek Italian Opera (and sung in Italian).

From the NY Times:


> To-night GOUNOD's "Faust" will be produced for the first time in New-York. It is a grand romantic opera, involving in its interpretation all the resources of the Academy. Mr. MARETZEK has spared no expense, and has been prodigal of labor in the bringing out of this very important work. GOUNOD is a French composer, who, in "Faust" at least, has won a success which Europe has not been slow to indorse. Since the days of MEYERSEER's "Robert le Diable," there has been no opera that combines inspiration and learning in so remarkable a manner. "Faust" has created a popular and artistic sensation in all the cities where it has been played. If it fails to do so here it will not be the fault of Mr. MARETZEK, who has been liberal in all that can contribute to the success of the mise en scene and music. There is, however, no ground for apprehension. The composition is beautiful, and to-night will witness one of the memorable successes of the age. The following artists are in the cast: Miss Clara Louise Kellogg, Mlle. Sulzer, Miss Stockton, Signer Mazzoleni, Signor Biachi, Signer Yppolito, and Signor Colletti. Mr. Max Maretzek presides in the orchestra.


A few months later the German-language version from Philadelphia was presented in NY by Anschütz German Opera. They had quite a fun season:



> Apart from this opera, the second cycle includes German compositions seldom or never performed here: Richard Wagner's 'Tannhäuser,' Spohr's 'Jessonda' and Weber's least-known opera, 'Euryanthe.'


The following season Grover German Opera opened with another German-language Faust, though it appears the title role (only) was sung in Italian because the originally planned singer was indisposed.

The Metropolitan Opera opened their first season with _Faust_ because it was already hugely popular.


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## aimee (Nov 7, 2013)

Verdi's opera Rigoletto - Duke of Mantua's aria 'La donna è mobile' from The Family Man movie.


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## Braddan (Aug 23, 2015)

Mozart's operas are used to great effect throughout *Amadeus*. The Emperor's "too many notes" comment is great and Salieri's line "and then a miracle occurred.." with reference to the Emperor's yawn at the end of _Figaro _is a great moment.


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## Steatopygous (Jul 5, 2015)

Couchie said:


> "Tosca isn't for everyone" from 007 Quantum of Solace:


But it looked to me like a crap production. Was it a real one, does anyone know?


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

It was a real production by Philip Himmelmann. It premiered at the 2007 festival and played again in 2008. The film scenes were shot in April and May 2008, several months before the 2008 festival opened.

There is a DVD of the opera available, recorded live in 2007 with Nadja Michael, as well as clips on YouTube.


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## Guest (Sep 1, 2015)

Cavaradossi said:


> Another favorite, Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters: There's a scene set at the Met featuring _Sola, perduta, abbandonata_ from _Manon Lescaut_. I couldn't find that one online, but here's a spectacular architectural montage featuring music of Puccini:


Continuing the Woody Allen trend - the loveable shower-tenor in Pagliacci from To Rome with Love. Not my favourite Woody film, but an enjoyable and fun one nonetheless


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## Jorge Hereth (Aug 16, 2015)

Former Soviet Union produced entire Opera movies.

For a sample, here's the 1969 movie of the 1890 opera _Князь Игорь (Prince Igor)_ as composed by Александр Бородин (Aleksandr Borodin, 1833-1887) and concluded by Николай Римский-Корсаков (Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, 1844-1908) and Александр Глазунов (Aleksandr Glazunov, 1865-1936):


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## Loge (Oct 30, 2014)

The Mikado in Foul Play. According to Hollywood, the audience should only wear black tie when watching Gilbert & Sullivan. It's so posh you see. So posh that the Pope himself will travel to San Fransico to watch a performance.






But now we know where Coppola got his idea for the finale of Godfather III.


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## Zoya (Nov 23, 2015)

Following that wonderful thread, I'd like to add not an opera exactly, but something really unique - musical movie (a kind of operetta, but with opera voices) with all music written by Shostakovich - "Cheremushki":


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

*Ride of the Valkyries*

Well, wondering why the end of the Blues Brothers hasn't been mentioned yet. I think this how Wagner is being remembered by the masses....


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

_Der gleiche Himmel_ is a German TV series (six episodes) set in Berlin in 1974. I've been watching on Netflix with English subtitles as _The Same Sky_.

It is an espionage/family story, a spy from East Berlin goes to West Berlin to try and romance a woman to get the information she knows. The woman in West Berlin likes opera, so our spy is seen listening to opera whilst working out. He gets tickets for them to see _Tosca_ - 10 DM for seats in the orchestra - and the episode ends inside the opera house, though we only get the opening chords of the opera. I don't think the scene was actually shot at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, but it looks similar.

Deutsche Oper Berlin did do _Tosca_ in 1974 (with Tamara Milashkina), though I can't tell if it played in early June like in the TV show.

This trailer for the series has a brief glimpse of the portion at the opera house; I've queued it up (starting ~1:38).






I will note that the trailer gives away quite a bit.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Dongiovanni said:


> The Godfather: Part III (1990) Michael Corleone at the opera, they are performing Cavalleria rusticana.


We were there a couple of weeks ago! Definitely filmed in Palermo, I recall the bloody lamp fixtures slightly obscuring the view from our box.

Good to see this thread come up again. Some great content.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

The Life of David Gale 
Tu Che Di Gel Sei Cinta from Turandot - Puccini


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## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

Don Fatale said:


> We were there a couple of weeks ago! Definitely filmed in Palermo, I recall the bloody lamp fixtures slightly obscuring the view from our box.
> 
> Good to see this thread come up again. Some great content.


*Spoiler alert*

Thanks to your post I just realized that on the very steps of the Massimo theater Micheal Corleno's daughter was shot ! Been quite a while since I saw the movie.


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## ma7730 (Jun 8, 2015)

"Lascia chi'o piango" from Lars von Trier's _Antichrist_


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## Templeton (Dec 20, 2014)

From the film, 'Philadelphia' with Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, Maria Callas and 'La Mamma Morta'. Great film.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Templeton said:


> From the film, 'Philadelphia' with Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, Maria Callas and 'La Mamma Morta'. Great film.


Giordano, Callas, Hanks... Amazing synergy.


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## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> Giordano, Callas, Hanks... Amazing synergy.


What an iconic scene. How was the general reaction of the lay public who didn't listen to opera at that time?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

silentio said:


> What an iconic scene. How was the general reaction of the lay public who didn't listen to opera at that time?


I believe there were lots of requests for "that opera recording on 'Philadelphia,'" and that some folks discovered opera.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Martha, Act II: Last Rose of Summer
Renée Fleming, Jeffrey Tate & English Chamber Orchestra
Opening scene where Mildred sees the battered billboards;


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> I believe there were lots of requests for "that opera recording on 'Philadelphia,'" and that some folks discovered opera.


I know one avid fan who got into opera that way. Their first disc was a callas compilation and to this day their favourite recital album is Callas: coloratura and lyric arias. There are worse ways to get into opera.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> I believe there were lots of requests for "that opera recording on 'Philadelphia,'" and that some folks discovered opera.


It was actually issued as a CD single and I believe it made the charts.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

In a clip from the 2010 documentary 'What Makes A Great Soprano?', Dame Kiri Te Kanawa tells us about the Australian soprano Dame Nellie Melba, whom she later played in an episode of Downton Abbey.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

In *The Bridges of Madison County*, set in 1965, the Meryl Streep character likes listening to opera on the radio. At one point Callas's recording of _Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix_ comes on. The recital disc it comes from was released in 1961. However Callas never approved the aria for release, so it wasn't issued until after her death. There is no way she could have been listening to it on the radio in 1965.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette is interesting. All of the non-diagetic music is anachronistic, but all of the diagetic music is period, including several opera scenes. In one of them Marie performs.

In one of the most famous, Marie sees Rameau's Platée and gets everyone to clap even though it was a court performance. (I'm not sure there were any performances of this opera in the time period, though).






There is also a deleted scene with Susan Graham singing a bit of Gluck, who was her tutor.






The last one includes a bit of Rameau's Castor et Pollux, with Agnés Mellon singing for William Christie and Les Arts Florissants.


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## The Wolf (Apr 28, 2017)

_Le Roi Danse_ by Gérard Corbiau. Fragments of "Isis", "Armide" and "Amadis", conducted by the same Lully.


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## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)

watched this flick last nite "The Boondock Saints" now at 9:37 mins mark, W Dafoe listens to opera. mayb one can identity.
WARNING some strong language.


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## ma7730 (Jun 8, 2015)

ldiat said:


> watched this flick last nite "The Boondock Saints" now at 9:37 mins mark, W Dafoe listens to opera. mayb one can identity.
> WARNING some strong language.


"Si, mi chiamano mimi"
from Puccini's _La Boheme_


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## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)

ma7730 said:


> "Si, mi chiamano mimi"
> from Puccini's _La Boheme_


thats what i thought the opera was but was not sure....thanks!


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

Diminuendo said:


> In Serpico the main character listened Di Stefano singing E lucevan le stelle. And his neighbor asked if it was Björling and he said it's Di Stefano.


It was diane keaton who asked - is that di stefano - serpico said no its bjoerling. Oh, I thought it was distafano, she replied.

i think it's that way round - maybe I am wrong.

could make sense as di stefano was probably better known than bjoerling.


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