Name of the opera
What was the opera Mary sang in at the Tivoli in this movie?
shareMy husband was just asking the same question and set me to Google it. Some poking around revealed this post from http://www.amazon.com/San-Francisco-VHS-Clark-Gable/dp/6301976916
My absolute favourite film!!!, July 17, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: San Francisco [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Ok, all you grizzlers who criticize Jeanette's vocal contributions to this film - you watch a MacDonald film, and you know the lady's going to sing! And does she sing! I remember seeing this film years ago in an Adelaide cinema, and when she hit the high E-flat at the end of "Sempre libera" from "La Traviata", a lady behind me gasped, "Oh, my God!" Then as the audience onstage burst into applause, so too did the audience in the cinema. There was also applause from the audience at the very end of the film - and heaps of teary eyes! I can't criticize a thing about this film; I've watched it dozens of times, and never tire of it. When I'm about to die, I know I'll still rate it as my favourite film of all time. If I could give it more than 5 stars, I would. There - is that glowing enough???
bcoaggiemom09, based on the timing of your comment (I'm assuming you're watching it on TCM like we are), were you talking about the first song she performed, or the second one where she's much more elegantly dressed and holding the glass?
I'm not sophisticated enough to know if they are from the same opera or not. :-(
It's funny, I was thinking of 'Glinda' from the 'Wizard of Oz' when I saw Mary's (Jeanette) dress and on the IMDb trivia, sure enough, the dress was used for Glinda!
And, as to the topic of the thread, "Sempre libera" from "La Traviata" is just beautiful - One of my favourites!
'This isn't a smile. It's the lid on a scream.' - Bet Lynch, Coronation Street
[deleted]
Goodness, no!
First of all, The Master and Margarita is novel by Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov. Written over a ten year period (1930-1940) the novel is, among other things, a grim comedy of errors about life in Stalin's Russia, a historical novel about Pontius Pilate, as well as a supernatural love story between a mental patient and a witch. It also has nothing to do with this film or Ms MacDonald's performance in it.
That does not mean, however, that your guess is totally out of left field. Bulgakov's novel is in large part a retelling of the Faust legend and makes a number of references (in-jokes) to other works that are similarly based. The historical Faust (more accurately Doctor Johanne Faustus) was a scholar living in Germany at the end of the medieval period. After his death stories began to circulate that he had in fact been a powerful sorcerer who practiced forbidden arts: black magic and alchemy. The consensus among those who spread these stories was that Faust had made a deal with the devil; he had sold his soul in exchange for some dark and forbidden knowledge.
From these legends grew a literary and artistic tradition and Faust became the subject of plays (most notably Christopher MArlowe's DR FAUSTUS), novels, paintings (among them works by Rembrandt) and, most relevant in this case, operas.
In the 19th century there were numerous operatic works that took the legend of Faust for their subject. Among those, there were two works that stood out and remain well known to this day. The first, LA DAMNATION de FAUST (The Damnation of Faust), premiered in 1846 and was written by French Composer Hector Berlioz. Incidentally, Bulgakov included a character named Berlioz in his novel: the character gets hit by a train and dies in the first chapter.
The second, and certainly more famous Faustian opera, FAUST, premiered in 1859 and was written by Charles Gounod (another French composer). An over-night success, Gounod's FAUST became (and still is) one of the most frequently performed operas all over the world. For several decades, the Metropolitan Opera in New York opened every season with a production of FAUST. This opera spawned some of the biggest "hits" of the 19th century. Several of these--The Jewel song, Anges Pur, et al.--are featured in this film. These are some of the most iconic and instantly recognizable tunes in opera.
So, in answer to the original question, the Opera is most certainly FAUST by Charles Gounod.
Jeanette was a powerful singer, and could more than hold her own in musicals. But she was misguided enough to think that she was good enough to perform professionally in opera. Uncannily like her character in the movie, she was sadly mistaken.
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