“We are Siamese, if you please. We are Siamese, if you don’t please.” Even as quite a young child I understood the wit behind this text, the Asian sound of the accompaniment, and the yowling Siamese twang of the voices. Anyone who has ever owned, or even just known a cat, understands how these lyrics from Lady and the Tramp (by Peggy Lee, I understand) sum up their stereotypical behavior of independence and disinterest in their owners' wishes!
All the squares in the quilt are made of cotton, but to get the look of the mayhem and destruction the pair of cats create in the film, I covered my square of cotton with a very sheer layer of "craquelure"silk. It was given to me, so I don't know where it was made, but perhaps it came from Thailand.
Another little gem that betrays a deep understanding, if not love of cats is Duetto Buffo de due Gatti, typically attributed to Rossini. Apparently, it was actually a compilation written in 1825 that draws
principally on Rossini's 1816 opera Otello, most likely by the English composer
Robert Lucas de Pearsall, who used the pseudonym G. Berthold. Whatever - my favourite version of it is by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Victoria de los Angeles (check out YouTube), who have a lovely little spit and hiss at the end.
Just to be contrary, like the cats portrayed, the elegant and gorgeous opera singers get portrayed as alley cats, and those created for a child's animated movie get the hand-painted treatment.
Miaow!
Susan
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