Anna Netrebko And Yusif Eyvasov In Lebanon: The Full Concert

Diva Adorned: Kaftan and turban-clad (also covered in
Chopard jewels),  Anna Netrebko makes first appearance
in Lebanon. (Photo: Facebook)

On August 27, 2015, Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvasov took to the stage at the Beiteddine Art Festival in Lebanon to perform a concert full of arias and duets including works from Adriana Lecouvreur, Aida, Mefistofele, Otello, Madama Butterfly, La Traviata, Rusalka, La Bohème and more. Hear the full concert and see photos from the evening, after the jump. "The Beiteddine Festival is one of the leading festivals in the Middle East. It takes place in a large and magnificent 200-year old Palace in the Chouf Mountains, in Lebanon. The Palace is a jewel of Lebanese architecture with its many courtyards, monumental gates, elegant arcades and leveled galleries. Each year, in the months of July and August, the Festival presents outstanding performances by world famous stars and Lebanese artists. Concurrent with the performances, the Palace houses one or more international art exhibits. The Festival's first edition was launched in the summer of 1985 amidst the war. It came as an act of faith in Lebanon's cultural role and power of creativity, a call for normality amidst the chaos and madness of war. It was born and has grown in very difficult times and made it against all odds. As of 1987, when Nora Joumblat and an Executive Committee took over the organization of the Festival, it gradually gained regional and international recognition. Since 1997, a new step forward is recorded: the external courtyard of the Palace is fitted to host 5,000 persons. On the creative level, the Festival started producing its own performances, particularly Lebanese plays. The variety and the quality of the Festival's activities attract an ever-increasing audience (51,000 persons in 2003) in which the young generation is worthily represented The Festival is a non-profit organization." [Source]

Aprile Millo Photographed By Herb Ritts At Elizabeth Taylor Wedding

Ms. Millo can be seen on the left of the Herb Ritts
 photo behind hair-dresser José Eber.

In 1991, Aprile Millo sang for the wedding of Elizabeth Taylor and Larry Fortensky. The soprano had just made her debut in Boito's Mefistofele at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She sang "Ave Maria" at the Neverand Ranch as helicopters swirled overhead during the ceremony. "It was the eighth – and final – trip she would ever make down the aisle. And now, for the first time, the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation has released photos of Elizabeth Taylor and Larry Fortensky's lavish 1991 wedding at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch exclusively to People. This inside look commemorates People's Oct. 21, 1991, cover story on the biggest and most media-saturated wedding in Hollywood history. (Remember, this was in the days before weddings like George and Amal Clooney's and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's.) In the photos, the blushing, bronzed bride is dressed in a pale yellow $25,000 Valentino gown (a gift from the designer). She is seen with her groom – her seventh (she married Richard Burton twice) – and with her close friend, Jackson, who hosted the wedding for 160 high profile guests on his 2,700-acre Santa Ynez Valley, California, estate." [Source]

2005 "Batman Begins" Features "Mefistofele" in Opera Scene

The 2005 Christopher Nolan film Batman Begins features a scene with the young Bruce Wayne attending the opera with his parents (just before they are murdered...). The excerpt is "Folletto!...Folletto!" from Boito's Mefistofele and is performed by Norman Treigle, Ambrosian Opera Chorus and The London Symphony Orchestra under conductor Julius Rudel. You can buy the complete recording here. See a video clip of the scene by clicking on the above photo. [Source]