Pessimisissimo

A librarian who posts on books, opera, Bollywood, and other indefensible obsessions.

[Pessimisissimo @pessimisissimo]

To my followers: Many thanks for your interest. I will not be logging in or posting for the foreseeable future. The last thing I want is for my time and attention to be making money for Twitter's current owner. Perhaps we'll meet again on another platform.

[Pessimisissimo @pessimisissimo]

Leonardo Vinci's #Astianatte was @Celine_Ricci's most ambitious staging yet, and was cast with superlative singers: Jasmine Johnson, Deborah Martinez Rosengaus, @NikaPrintz, & Aura Veruni. @ArsMinerva surpasses itself with every production: https://t.co/e8559gbsoS

[Pessimisissimo @pessimisissimo]

Samanth Subramian writes in the @NewYorker about the pressure Hindu nationalists brought to bear on the series "Tandav." But manufactured political outrage over films is not new: ask @IamDeepaMehta about the attacks on her groundbreaking "Fire" (1996): https://t.co/PV5YpTK7SX

[Pessimisissimo @pessimisissimo]

"Excruciatingly tedious...and of no historical interest whatever." Dr. Phyllis Ramsden's assessment of the coded portions of #AnneLister's diaries has been contradicted by fearless scholars including @HelenaWhitbread, @JillLiddington, and @AnneChoma: https://t.co/dym7wCASnL

[Pessimisissimo @pessimisissimo]

The first secret ballot in Britain wasn't held until 1872. Earlier, poll books recorded names & votes of electors. #AnneLister pressured her tenants, like John Bottomley, to vote for Tory candidate James Wortley (W. in the table heading). He won by 1 vote: https://t.co/MMevUd5ZXs

[Pessimisissimo @pessimisissimo]

After a hotly contested election in Halifax, #AnneLister is attacked through a satirical wedding announcement for "Captain Tom Lister." #GentlemanJack #SaveGentlemanJack: https://t.co/MMevUd5ZXs

[Pessimisissimo @pessimisissimo]

@Saniotty Many thanks, Sara! I'm drawing on the work of the historians @HelenaWhitbread, @JillLiddington, @AnneChoma, and others--pioneering women who first wrote about #AnneLister's diaries and her historical context.

[Pessimisissimo @pessimisissimo]

Anne Lister part 4: Anne's plans for a "strategic marriage" are thwarted until she renews her acquaintance with local heiress Ann Walker. Only both of them wonder, "Who taught you to kiss?" #AnneLister #GentlemanJack #SaveGentlemanJack https://t.co/jBwmpspqGF

[Pessimisissimo @pessimisissimo]

"I was now sure of the estate": In 1826 #AnneLister inherits #ShibdenHall, freeing her to travel with her married lover Mariana Lawton. Ultimately Anne will seek a younger, wealthier, more socially-connected (and unmarried) woman as a life companion: https://t.co/GeNgbwhphF

[Pessimisissimo @pessimisissimo]

"It was all nature": #AnneLister broadens her horizons as she attends the first Yorkshire Music Festival and travels on her own to Paris, recalling her first affair as she searches for lifelong love and companionship #GentlemanJack #SaveGentlemanJack: https://t.co/IaKOmqS5Eq

[Pessimisissimo @pessimisissimo]

"I love, & only love, the fairer sex & thus beloved by them in turn, my heart revolts from any love but theirs." Before @GentIemanJackTV: the discovery of the coded diaries of #AnneLister, a 19th-century landowner in Halifax: https://t.co/7xXOKsLZK1

[Pessimisissimo @pessimisissimo]

Brilliant #Belshazzar by @jthomasabs & @AmericanBach with superb soloists @SarahCoit, @MayaKherani, Eric Jurenas, Matthew Hill, & @mischabouvier, and excellent contributions by chorus & orchestra. It was a privilege to see this rare #Handel work performed with such commitment!

[Pessimisissimo @pessimisissimo]

#AngelaCarter, Dido & Aeneas, The Lady Eve: among 10 favorite posts from the past 5 years in celebration of E&I's 15th anniversary: https://t.co/JHmoejmzoe

[Pessimisissimo @pessimisissimo]

Carl Friedrich Abel was a composer and virtuoso viola da gamba player in the generation between #Bach and #Mozart. A unique manuscript of his exquisite short solo pieces has survived. Forgotten for 200 years, they can now be heard on excellent recordings: https://t.co/y0d0nnhDNT

[Pessimisissimo @pessimisissimo]

@LisaIronTongue Thank you for this post. We saw this production twice, the second time bringing uncomprehending friends with us. Seeing Lorraine Hunt live was a life-altering experience. Her "Addio Roma" was simply astounding. She also gave the greatest recital it's been my privilege to attend.

[Pessimisissimo @pessimisissimo]

Why is the remarkable Vittoria Tesi, the first Black or biracial prima donna, not better known? Two possible explanations: politics and economics. But with Vinci's #Astianatte, once again @Celine_Ricci & @ArsMinerva will be redressing historical neglect: https://t.co/RQWzgWM7fK

[Pessimisissimo @pessimisissimo]

Vittoria Tesi, the first Black or biracial prima donna, held the stage on terms of full equality with the most renowned singers of her time, such as the castrati Farinelli, Senesino, Carestini, Caffarelli, and more: https://t.co/PAzr1htUAw

[Pessimisissimo @pessimisissimo]

Vittoria Tesi, the first Black or biracial prima donna, sang during a "water-hunt" in Dresden in 1719. Tesi and other singers (as Diana's huntresses) performed from a boat just before the newlywed royal couple & guests slaughtered 400 deer in the river: https://t.co/FlajmsEtX8

[Pessimisissimo @pessimisissimo]

At 22 Vittoria Tesi sang for the Empress Elisabeth, mother of 5-year-old Maria Theresa. 32 years later Tesi gave her final performance before Maria Theresa, herself now Empress. In her last decades Tesi became a renowned teacher of singing and acting: https://t.co/wgDo7rAxYu

[Pessimisissimo @pessimisissimo]

Vittoria Tesi was the first Black or biracial prima donna. One of the greatest singers of the 18th century, she sang with Farinelli, performed for Handel, created roles for Gluck, and was visited by the 6-year-old Mozart. Why is she not better known? https://t.co/wgDo7rAxYu

[Pessimisissimo @pessimisissimo]

Vittoria Tesi performed title roles in 35 productions over her career, including operas by Hasse, Vinci, Leo, Jommelli, Gluck and others. Dittersdorf wrote of her contralto voice, "I believed that nothing more beautiful could be heard on this earth": https://t.co/wgDo7rAxYu