January 7, 2020
You know what happens with pop or rock lyrics – sometimes you mishear them, often with hilarious results. Classic examples include Starship’s “We built this city on sausage rolls” (“We built this city on rock and roll”) and Jimi Hendrix’s lyric from Purple Haze “Excuse me while I kiss this guy” (“Excuse me while I kiss the sky”).
Conductor Rainer Hersch is a conductor and humourist, and he takes the misheard lyrics concept to classical proportions here, with some hilarious results. He conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Lore Lixenberg sings Mozart’s Come Scoglio from “Cosi fan Tutte”, an aria declaring “Like a rock, I stand immobile” and that her love for her boyfriend is strong and resolute. The text that appears on-screen is something else entirely. Have a look.