Bulgari "Never Too Much" With the Help of Verdi Force

Presenting MAI TROPPO: a celebration of the joyful exuberance of Bulgari and Rome. The new MAI TROPPO (Never Too Much) Bulgari advertising campaign, is an ode to life, joy and happiness. Deeply rooted in a Roman flamboyant exuberance, Bulgari invites to enthusiastically enjoy every single moment, here and now. Starring super model Lily Aldridge, British actress & singer Naomi Scott, American actress Zendaya. Directed by Johan Renck. The ad uses music from the Overture of Verdi's La Forza del Destino. Watch the full ad, as well as excerpts from the opera, after the jump.

Amazon Prime's "Utopia" Lifts From Bizet's "Carmen" For New Ad

A new television ad for Amazon Prime's new show Utopia features a deconstructed version of Bizet's famous Habanera "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle" from Carmen. "Utopia is an upcoming American drama web television series adapted by Gillian Flynn from the 2013 British original. It is scheduled to premiere on September 25, 2020, on Prime Video." The plot is as follows: "Utopia is a conspiracy thriller that follows a group of young fans who come together when they discover that the conspiracy in an elusive comic, Utopia, is real. The comic foretells the demise of humanity and the world as we know it, thrusting this group of underdogs to embark on a high-stakes twisted adventure to use what they uncover to save themselves, each other and ultimately humanity." 

"The score of the aria was adapted from the habanera 'El Arreglito ou la Promesse de mariage,' by the Spanish musician Sebastián Iradier, first published in 1863, which Bizet thought to be a folk song. When others told him he had used something written by a composer who had died 10 years earlier, he added a note of its derivation in the first edition of the vocal score which he himself prepared. Although the French libretto of the complete opéra comique was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, the words of the habanera originated from Bizet. The Habanera was first performed by Galli-Marié at the Opéra-Comique on 3 March 1875. Bizet, having removed during rehearsals his first version of Carmen's entrance song, in 3/4 with a refrain in 6/8, rewrote the Habanera several times before he (and Galli-Marié) were satisfied with it. Although Bizet kept the basic layout of the Iradier song, which has each verse in D minor and each refrain in the tonic major, he let go of the long ritornelli and second half material, and by adding chromaticism, variations in the refrain and harmonic interest in the accompaniment, made it a memorable number. The reharmonization, addition of triplets in the vocal line and the flute in its low register add to the effect."

Watch the Amazon commercial and a full clean version of Bizet's famous aria after the jump.

 [Source, Source, Source]

Alexa Goes For Hell's Revenge In New Commercial From Amazon

Alexa, Amazon's virtual assistant that uses artificial intelligence technology, is activated by voice interaction to control music playback, making to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts, playing audiobooks, and providing weather, traffic, sports, and other real-time information, such as news. In their latest television commercial, they tap one of Mozart's most famous arias from Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) sung by the Königin der Nacht (Queen of the Night): "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen." Known as the "Vengeance Aria," it is wickedly high and hard to sing. The promo is pushing customers to create playlists with Summer Vibes. The client trying to relax interrupts the performance to request "something more fun" which quickly transforms the scene to Donna Summer singing "I Feel Love." Watch the full Amazon commercial, a performance of Edda Moser singing the complete aria, a video of Donna Summer, and check out the lyrics with translations for the aria after the jump. [Source, Source]

Renée Fleming Uses Longtime Photographer For Broadway Ads

Bubbly Broadway Diva: Renée Fleming as
 Raquel de Angelis (Photo: Andrew Eccles)

On April 1, 2015, soprano Renée Fleming will take up residency at the Longacre Theatre in Manhattan to perform in Joe DiPrieto's new comedic play Living on Love. The official website features a hilarious photo of the entire cast from the play. The photographer? Andrew Eccles. Fans of Ms. Fleming will recognize his name from her CD covers and liner notes for the Decca Classics label. The British-born photographer worked with Annie Leibovitz, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Steven Meisel before going solo in his career. He now shoots celebrities, models, athletes, politicians, musicians, and dancers. Get tickets to the performances of Living on Love by clicking here and visit the official website to learn more about the production here. A biography of photographer Andrew Eccles and memorable photos he has taken of Renée Fleming, as well as the full-page New York Times ad for the play, after the jump.

Photographer Andrew Eccles captures the play's plot marvelously in this full-cast image.

Stage Partners: Fleming and Sills

"The world's most famous opera singer Renée Fleming plays the world's most famous opera singer in the hilarious new screwball comedy Living On Love. Direct from a smash-hit run at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, this glamorous romp through the world of music, marriage and celebrity is written by two-time Tony Award® winner Joe DiPietro (Nice Work If You Can Get It), adapted from a work by Garson Kanin (Born Yesterday) and directed by three-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall (Anything Goes). Fleming stars alongside Tony nominee Douglas SIlls (The Scarlet Pimpernel) and Emmy® nominee Anna Chlumsky (Veep). When a demanding diva (Fleming) discovers that her larger-than-life maestro husband (Sills) has become enamored with the lovely young lady (Chlumsky) hired to ghostwrite his largely fictional autobiography, she retaliates by hiring her own handsome, young scribe to chronicle her life as an opera star. Sparks fly, silverware is thrown and romance blossoms in the most unexpected ways." [Source] 

Rossini Has As Much "Go Power" As Cheerios Oats From GM

"Many television commercials for Cheerios have targeted children featuring animated characters (such as an animated Honeybee). Bullwinkle was featured in early 1960s commercials; being his usual likably klutzy self; the tag line at the end of the ad being 'Go with Cheerios!' followed by Bullwinkle, usually worse for wear due to his Cheerios-inspired bravery somewhat backfiring, saying '...but watch where you're going!' Also, Hoppity Hooper was featured in ads in the mid-1960s, as General Mills was the primary sponsor of his animated program. Beginning in the mid-1950s and continuing through the early 1960s, 'The Cheerios Kid' was a mainstay in Cheerios commercials. The Kid, after eating Cheerios, quickly dealt with whatever problem presented in the commercial, using oat-produced 'Big-G, little-o' 'Go-power.' The character was revived briefly in the late 1980s in similar commercials. In 2012, The Cheerios Kid and sidekick Sue were revived in an online internet video that showed how Cheerios 'can lower cholesterol.' [Source] The new commercial from General Mills features the Guglielmo Tell (or William Tell) overture as the soundtrack, probably because the music was used for the American television show The Lone Ranger (note the correlation of the cowboy at the beginning of the ad). Watch Riccardo Muti conduct the full Guglielmo Tell overture after the jump.

Tax Slayer Uses Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" In Commercial

Music underlying the advertisement is the "Walkürenritt" from the beginning of Act III in Richard Wagner's Die Walküre. No guarantee if it will help you put Ikea furniture together though.

Top Performers: Carmen, Jenson Button, And Mobil Synthetic Motor Oil

As unsuspecting drivers pull in for a car wash, they are soon met with a pit crew cleaning their cars and a surprise visit from British Formula One race car champion Jenson Button. The overture from Bizet's opera Carmen plays under the action during the commercial.

"To prove the outstanding, all-around performance of Mobil 1™ synthetic motor oil, we authenticate our lab results in some of the toughest, most extreme, real-life conditions anywhere in the world. That’s why:
- More than half of all NASCAR teams choose it
- Many automakers choose it for factory fill
- It has received more automaker and industry approvals
And that’s why Mobil 1 is the world’s leading synthetic motor oil brand. Time after time Mobil 1 delivers. [Source]

Watch the video and read more about Jenson Button after the jump.

David Bowie Goes Baroque For Louis Vuitton's "L'Invitation Au Voyage"

Pack your steamer trunks, Louis Vuitton takes you on a fantastical adventure in their latest advertising campaign, "L'Invitation au Voyage." Picture it, the Piazza San Marco in Venice during Carnival where David Bowie suddenly appears as the Duca Bianco in a crowd of 700 extras full of pomp and Baroque circumstance. He begins to play the harpsichord while operatically warbling his latest single "I'd Rather Be High." Watch model Arizona Muse traipsing through the palace with her Vivienne handbag in filmmaker Romain Garvas's episodic journey. Watch the campaign video and find more images of the campaign, photographed by David Sims, after the jump. And if Duparc is the way you like to travel, click here.

Cecilia Bartoli Becomes A Fan Of Mandarin Oriental Hotels

Cecilia Bartoli joins a long list of celebrities to become a "fan" of Mandarin Oriental Hotels. She was photographed in Barcelona by Mary McCartney wearing an Eliza J dress. Click here for more information (and one bonus video) about what the mezzo-soprano loves about staying at the hotels while she travels around the world. More photos after the jump.

British Beer Takes Aim At Young Demographic With Opera

"SABMiller has launched an opera for its Peroni Nastro Azzurro brand in the UK to help take advantage of increasing demand for world beers. The company's Miller Brands unit in the country said Opera Di Peroni, which opened in London's Regent's Park on Thursday, aims to attract interest in the brand for the summer. The open-air opera will tour London, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester over the next two months. 'The performances will appeal to Peroni Nastro Azzurro’s key demographic and reach a new generation of opera fans,' said director of customer marketing at Miller Brands Lucy Jordan. 'The world beer category is growing three times faster than the total lager category, showing that beers like Peroni Nastro Azzurro provide the opportunity to maximise profits.' Peroni is the top-seller in the world beer market in the UK, Jordan said. The opera tour will be supported by a partnership with the Guardian newspaper, which will run advertising for the event."[Source]

Design Firm aka Hopes to Attract Young Audience with Campaign

"Marketing agency aka has designed a campaign for the Royal Opera House’s 2012 Autumn programme, One Extraordinary World. The designs used on the season brochures will also be seen across all other printed collateral, advertising, hoardings and online platforms, which also use video content to further develop the concept. aka was appointed to the project following a creative pitch last October. The consultancy worked with photographer Kevin Macintosh and production designer Daryl McGregor on the project. aka also created the One Extraordinary World strapline.Matt Dixon, creative director of aka, says, ‘We wanted to bring a new audience to opera, drive ticket sales and open it up to people who wouldn’t normally consider opera and ballet, who perhaps see it as prohibitive or they can’t identify with those artforms. We wanted to open it up through storytelling.’ The imagery is influenced by ‘contemporary fashion and production values’, according to aka; and the visual concept aims to represent ‘the moment between heaven and hell, love and loss, and darkness and light." See more images and read more here.