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1985

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thanks @bmoharrisbankofficial but unfortunately i can’t focus on the very important message here because i’m too busy being confused by the fact that apparently if you send an ask with only one letter tumblr will bold that letter in the “asked you” notification text?? why the fuck would that be the case

#why is this site like this

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The fact no one reblogs or even comments on art anymore is super depressing.

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there are way too many silver laptops where the hell are the pink ones and purple ones and green ones. come on

#I WANT A GREEN LAPTOP

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Walpurgis Night, Brocken, Germany, April 30, 1932 

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@caelidra

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Grumpy bird

Bodleian Library MS. Bodl. 264, f. 112r

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Are women who read bara fujoshis or is that another thing

#*sigh* puts on my professor of manga cap

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Someone stop me from buying another keyboard

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ANYWAY this is what I was actually looking for: the full Walpurgisnacht sequence from Mefistofele. This one comes from the 2016 Baden-Baden production starring Erwin Schrott in the title role and Charles Castronovo as Faust. Loses some points for not giving Schrott anything to smash during "Ecco il mondo" but it does some good things with both Faust and the chorus, and the way Faust's vision of Margherita is carried off is incredibly cool (also some v good acting from both Schrott and Castronovo in the aftermath of it).

This production often goes quirky with the choral scenes but I appreciate that they don't do that here--I actually like when productions have the attendees at Walpurgisnacht as basically normal people, just out of their heads with the ecstasy of the demonic presence (and I guess whatever booze they serve at Walpurgisnacht but I think it's important to not make it just a flat-out drug trip). Gounod's version can and should be otherworldly but I want the chorus stuff in Boito to be sort of--groundedly creepy?

This one also has the most disturbing way (out of the productions I've seen, it's not that scary visually but is creepy conceptually) of showing Faust that he was a dad for like five minutes that he wasn't aware of, so there's that. 🫣

#mefistofele #so good #SO DANG GOOD #Faust #Erwin Schrott

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Based on his appearance in the Royal Opera House’s Gonoud Faust, here’s an especially devilish Erwin Schrott as Mephistopheles.

#faust #mephistopheles #gonoud faust #fyo can actually draw

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Faust and Mephistopheles and their mismatched fashion senses

@shredsandpatches

#faust #mephistopheles #faustopheles #otp: as many souls as there be stars #fyo can actually draw

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So the main reason I didn't post a link when I posted about this sequence the other day is that I remembered that actual Walpurgisnacht was just a few days away and I thought I'd save it for if you want to add a touch of French Romantic elegance to your unholy revelry tonight. Get out your most flamboyant ballgowns and burn some shit!

(Every time I listen to this I'm picturing Samuel Ramey in That Dress and it's a great mental image, I completely recommend it.)

This isn't as raucous as the Walpurgisnacht scene in Mefistofele (a high bar to clear, tbf) but it's a lot more so than the standard version--idk if it gets performed this way much anymore although if your company doesn't have a corps de ballet handy I think it would add a lot (plus the chorus would love you forever) and I would definitely use this version if I were staging it. (I also don't know what I would do with the ballet that isn't just ripping off the McVicar production!) I think this version is drawn from the 1859 version, which was heavily altered later but I have the impression a lot of the alterations happened kind of gradually. It's a complicated textual history that I'm only sort of up on. There's actually a complete recording of the 1859 Faust, but I haven't heard it.

#this is so cool guys #Faust #gounod faust

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Study from that ROH Gounod Faust recording.

#this is so sexy #otp: as many souls as there be stars #Faust

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A year ago I decided that the last part of Goethe's Faust is structurally similar to a certain meme template.

Sketch below the cut.

Not sure which I like better, the jolly witch or the Cheshire-cat devil.

#AMAZING #Faust