OK, so I listen to a lot of opera music...preferably the long torturous operas of Richard Wagner, his Ring cycle and Tristan und Isolde are my favourites. The sweet melodies of Mozart's operas, Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro and Die Zauberflöte.

I find some of the Italians operas to be my favorites, some of the tunes are undoutedly lovely, Aida, La traviata, and La bohème.

So any opera fans here or do you hate them? I used to hate them when I was little, & I understand that it's a pretty much dead art (what opera was created in the last 50 yrs besides Nixon in China??) Anyway, in the midst of all the "crap" music now...opera is very interesting to me.

If you have any particular grudge against them, see them as slightly ridiculous, outdated or pretentious then please by all means reply.

I do enjoy opera, I have seen Rigoletto and keep meaning to see Carmen, but do listen to as much as I can on the radio.

I do enjoy opera, I have seen Rigoletto and keep meaning to see Carmen, but do listen to as much as I can on the radio.


It's nice to hear that somebody here appreciates this beautiful art form...I knew somebody that graduated from my high school who wanted to sing opera professionally, I wonder what happened to her.

Oh really I can't stand this silent treatment.

I've since been listening to a little more of the Italian stuff and I must say it certainly gets the juices flowing. If anyone has listened to Tosca by Puccini you'll know what I mean, each time the big tunes creep up and signal their arrival I let loose a littel shriek and proceed to blub through the next aria. Really that feisty Tosca, and ooh that evil Scarpo, but you know it'll end in more than tears and surely everyone dies as they must do in tragic opera.

Really everyone at least knows Nessun Dorma, that's from a Puccini opera, Turandot. And if you think that is beautiful. Well. It is. But there's so much more beauty to be had in the likes of the aforementioned Tosca, La Boheme and the Verdi operas Rigoletto, Aida, La Traviata, Otello.

So opera fans or the opera curious. Give me a wink and a nod, just to let me know I'm alive and you're alive and that, opera is alive and well. Tell me of your impressions of opera, does it turn you off, does it seem old fashioned or slightly ridiculous?

Responde! Responde! Responde!

I'm not much for grandiose classical opera (c. 1750--1905), but I'm a fan of modern chamber opera such as:

Robert X. Rodriguez: Frida (1999), with libretto by Hilary Blecher and Migdalia Cruz,  based on the life of the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and her tempestuous relationship with the celebrated muralist Diego Rivera.

Jason Kao Hwang: The Floating Box: A Story in Chinatown (2001), with libretto by Catherine Filloux, which charts the journey of an immigrant family over continents, languages, and generations.

Philip Glass: Orphee (1993),  based on the film by Jean Cocteau.

John Cage: Europa 5 (1991), for ensemble of five that juxtaposes the immediacy of opera and the European past with the intrusions of American and electronic culture.

Arie Shapira: The Kastner Trial (1994), an electroacoustic opera based on the court testimony of the trial in Israel of Rudolf Kastner for complicity with the Nazis in the slaughter of the Hungarian Jews.
Most unfortunately, this recording is not commercially available, but I have received a copy of it via my ongoing correspondence with Shapira and have broadcast it in excerpts on my radio program.
http://hcc.haifa.ac.il/~ariks/

There are many different kinds of works called "opera," many of which have nothing to do with bloated Italians bellowing their lungs out for $200 a ticket!

I'm not much for grandiose classical opera (c. 1750--1905), but I'm a fan of modern chamber opera such as:

Robert X. Rodriguez: Frida (1999), with libretto by Hilary Blecher and Migdalia Cruz,  based on the life of the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and her tempestuous relationship with the celebrated muralist Diego Rivera.

Jason Kao Hwang: The Floating Box: A Story in Chinatown (2001), with libretto by Catherine Filloux, which charts the journey of an immigrant family over continents, languages, and generations.

Philip Glass: Orphee (1993),  based on the film by Jean Cocteau.

John Cage: Europa 5 (1991), for ensemble of five that juxtaposes the immediacy of opera and the European past with the intrusions of American and electronic culture.

Arie Shapira: The Kastner Trial (1994), an electroacoustic opera based on the court testimony of the trial in Israel of Rudolf Kastner for complicity with the Nazis in the slaughter of the Hungarian Jews.
Most unfortunately, this recording is not commercially available, but I have received a copy of it via my ongoing correspondence with Shapira and have broadcast it in excerpts on my radio program.
http://hcc.haifa.ac.il/~ariks/

There are many different kinds of works called "opera," many of which have nothing to do with bloated Italians bellowing their lungs out for $200 a ticket!




I will have to take your word for that concerning opera as I do not get much of a chance to discuss it - opera is not exactly the music genre of choice for my age group - mores the pity. I can certainly see where you are coming from though and would imagine that there are many opera 'snobs' out there who feel there is a set exegesis of the operatic text that should not be deviated from. Of course it is art and as such should be seen through everybody's own personal lens. That said opera like classical literature should in my opinion - if you are going to do it properly - be approached with certain analytical tools under your belt as I believe you indicate. Otherwise your just going to come out with naive views - as I almost certainly would do - hence why I merely listen for pleasure.

I will have to take your word for that concerning opera as I do not get much of a chance to discuss it - opera is not exactly the music genre of choice for my age group - mores the pity. I can certainly see where you are coming from though and would imagine that there are many opera 'snobs' out there who feel there is a set exegesis of the operatic text that should not be deviated from. Of course it is art and as such should be seen through everybody's own personal lens. That said opera like classical literature should in my opinion - if you are going to do it properly - be approached with certain analytical tools under your belt as I believe you indicate. Otherwise your just going to come out with naive views - as I almost certainly would do - hence why I merely listen for pleasure.



Anyone who has a rigid definition of the elements of opera is a drag and a bigot, just like all those who stick their stodgy "musts" into any art form.  A "snob" is someone who has a narrow field of expertise--be it wine, antiques, opera, computers, or whatever--and is so insecure he must hold his knowledge as a badge of superiority above others.  Those who truly love any given field would want as many others to discover for themselves what there is to love, and shun the snob because the snob only alienates others.

I do! I do! My favorite Operas are Tosca and Carmen :)

I haven't been to an opera in about 7 years. There's no one who wants to go with me and it sucks going by yourself.

I do! I do! My favorite Operas are Tosca and Carmen :)

I haven't been to an opera in about 7 years. There's no one who wants to go with me and it sucks going by yourself.


Aww, NullandVoid, I love Carmen too! I hate that so many of my peers are ignorant of this. Has anyone heard Strauss' Salome before? It's a German opera.

I don't know too many operas but I really like Carman. I have seen Madam Butterfly (on t.v.) that was ok. I want to see La Boheme but haven't as of yet.




Cat

To add a further twist to this thread. A few years back I saw a ballet performed to the music of Madame Butterfly, it was pure divine.

To add a further twist to this thread. A few years back I saw a ballet performed to the music of Madame Butterfly, it was pure divine.



My step-son was IN a Carman ballet when he was with the Washington Ballet. It was the ballet's debut (never been preformed prior to that). We actually got to see it (since we are a distance from Washington.)





Cat

My step-son was IN a Carman ballet when he was with the Washington Ballet. It was the ballet's debut (never been preformed prior to that). We actually got to see it (since we are a distance from Washington.)





Cat


Sounds great Catwoman, I bet you were very proud.

To those who are new to opera, I'd recommend picking up some of the Verdi and Puccini operas. As I mentioned Rigoletto, La Traviata by Verdi, Madame Butterfly, La Boheme, Tosca by Puccini. It might be best to get a general book on opera. The opera 101 book is well recommended for beginners though it's rather amerocentric but that'll be fine for you. Otherwise a night at the opera is definitely the best introduction. Go, watch the people, laugh at them, enjoy the performance, the music. Don't be intimidated. Scoff in the face of elitism. But be quiet when the music is on and laugh and clap in all the right places mind you.

I understand that it's a pretty much dead art (what opera was created in the last 50 yrs besides Nixon in China??) Anyway, in the midst of all the "crap" music now...opera is very interesting to me.



There are a number of contemporary musicals that are entirely or almost entirely sung: Phantom of the Opera and lots of ALW stuff, (like him or hate him).... 'Pacific Overtures', 'Company' and lots of other Sondheim... Ahrens and Flahery's 'Ragtime' (based on the Doctorow novel)...

to me, the distinction is fairly arbitrary.

I must be  the only person here who dosn't like operas, I find them to be a bit hard to get into (watching, not preforming...  ::) )

Well, some of them are boring, and if you don't speak the language, it's worse.

Well, some of them are boring, and if you don't speak the language, it's worse.
The language in opera does not matter, if the scenario of the opera is known, the events will portray the story.

blobbety, bloo, bah, blah.  yeah, I know Carmen dies in the end, but I still want to know what the hell she's singing about in the cigarette factory dude.

blobbety, bloo, bah, blah.  yeah, I know Carmen dies in the end, but I still want to know what the hell she's singing about in the cigarette factory dude.
Why not read a copy of the manuscript before you go to opera.

It was just a for instance.

Well, some of them are boring, and if you don't speak the language, it's worse.


True that opera isn't for everyone, I like to think of it as an acquired taste.

PS-If you can't understand the language? Most operas have subtitles going across the screen.

I think everyone should see at least one opera in his or her lifetime at a real opera house.

I'm no big fan of the genre, but for New Years '01 into '02 I saw "La Boheme" at the Met.  It was an otherworldly, even spiritual experience. 

And for those that worry that it'd be hard to follow, it most definitely is not.  The Met has a subtitle screen at every seat, and of course you get a libretto (opera-speak for "playbill.")