Tu crois le tenir, il t’evite

Yup. Back to work time again...

Aaaargh! The bloody alarm has gone off, for the first time in seventeen days, and Mama's not a happy bunny.

I'd much prefer to be in Regent's Park, having fun with "the gang" at our Grand Picnic:

To ease my confused head and semi-concious state, let's celebrate a centenary, shall we? Alongside a raft of fellow celebrants that includes the late, dearly missed influential DJ and music expert John Peel, as well as Cameron Diaz, Capability Brown, Raymond Massey, Denis Healey, Antony Gormley, Muriel Gray, Timothy Bottoms, brewer Samuel Whitbread, Fred MacMurray, Joan Blondell, Mary Shelley, Ernest Rutherford, Radio 4's Sue MacGregor and out-gay politician Ben Bradshaw, one hundred years ago today the fantabulosa opera diva Regina Resnik was born!

[click any pic to embiggen]

Resident diva at New York's Metropolitan Opera for almost forty years, she started out in dramatic soprano roles in the likes of Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Die Walküre, and eventually re-trained (as her voice matured) as a mezzo-soprano, with leading roles such as Carmen, "Mistress Quickly" in Falstaff and "Klytemnestra" in Elektra - as well as a notable turn as "Madame Armfeldt" in Sondheim's A Little Night Music [see here].

She even attempted to bring a touch of class to the USA's favourite variety showcase The Ed Sullivan Show in 1968:

Regina Resnik - Habanera [from Carmen by Bizet]

Now, that woke me up!

Well, almost...

Have a good week, dear reader. I won't.