Bromato de armonio
Bromato De Armonio was a show made by the Argentinian comedy-musical group Les Luthiers. The show itself was showcased all around Latin America between 1996 and 2001.
The Programme
(It may vary by countries, this was the programme showcased in Argentina on 27 June 1998)
1. Para Elizabeth - Sonata a La Carta (To Elizabeth - Letter Sonata)
- A musical composer receives a letter from his lover and decides to compose a piece inspired by its contents. The lover, however, after recalling some warm moments that they shared together, announces that she has in fact found someone rich and fabulous. The music underlines this revelation in a very funny way with the help of Daniel Rabinovich who makes additional sound effects.
2. La Princesa Caprichosa - Pequeña Serenata para Instrumentos Grandes (The Capricious Princess - Small Serenade for Big Instruments)
- A nobleman tries to win the heart of Princess Kunegunda of Rochester by playing serenades to her. She mocks him (singing), telling him repeatedly how his rival does everything better. The desperate nobleman comes with bigger and more fantastic musical instruments, but in the end he changes his mind in favor of someone less capricious, and very unexpected at that. Carlos López Puccio with his long silver hair makes a hilarious appearance as the Princess.
3. La Vida Es Hermosa - Disuacidio (Life Is Beautiful - Dissuicide)
- A musical parody of a phone-in center for the Assistance to Potential Suicides. The fictitious musical compositor Johann Sebastian Mastropiero composed the special soothing music that is being played to the potential suicides, explaining how beautiful the world actually is. Or isn't it?
4. La Hija de Escipión - Fragmento De Opera (The Daughter of Escipion - Operatic Fragment)
- The presentation starts with a hilarious Introduction by Marcos Mundstock. This is a fragment of a funny Opera depicting Daniel the Seducer trying to sing a ballad to a lady under her balcony. Daniel gets interrupted at different times with funny outcomes until the lady's father, the terrible Escipion, overhears him and comes down wanting to kill him. The situation almost ends in a disaster for Daniel the Seducer, not because of Escipion's sharp sword though. It is because Escipion somehow finds Daniel to be a likeable young man and insists on the couple getting married.
5. La Redención del Vampiro - Hematopeya (The Redemption of The Vampire)
- A group of activists from Vampires Anonymous comes to a castle in Transylvania to save the soul of a vampire who resides there. They play him an enticing song depicting the beauties of life among normal humans and abstaining from blood. In the end they assure the almost convinced vampire that he won't miss doing evil as a normal human - he can choose to be a minister or a president.
6. Educación Sexual Moderna - Cántico Enclaustrado (Modern Sexual Education)
- A musical parody of religious chants. It teaches some basics of sexual education to monks, but as the singers are too ashamed to sing aloud the explicit words, they choose some filler sounds instead so the chant ends up having meaning only for an experienced sinner.
7. Quién Mató a Tom McCoffee - Musica En Serie (Who Killed Tom McCoffee? - Serial Music)
- A parody of Detective Series, which involves a whole Jazz Band killing its Saxophone Player just because he played badly.
8. La Comisión - Himnovaciones (The Commission - Hymnnovations)
- Note: The Act was long, so it was reparted through the show.
The Act is about the composer Mangiacaprini given the task of making a new national anthem, but including a propaganda of the President's Political Party inside the anthem.
Bonus Act: Perdónala - Bolérolo (Forgive Her)
- A bolero where the main singer describes how horrible his wife has been to him, and the group of accompanying singers consoling him, advising him to put up with her and love her nevertheless. (You know, all the good couples quarrel sometimes, and almost all pursue each other wielding an axe, just like your wife did.)
External links
- http://www.lesluthiers.org
- http://www.leslu.net
- http://www.lesluthiers.com
- http://www.mastropiero.net