so do you, uh, do you like opera?

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Would you go if someone gave you free tickets? How about if you had to pay? What operas have you seen? Were they any good? Does it ruin the thing to be looking down at at a translation the whole time? are you an OPERA BUFF?

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

refer here for some names and faves....

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I am becoming an opera buff due to my wife's recent career switch. So far, I've seen her production of "Carmen" (which was fabulous), a Met production of "Rigaletto" (which was fabulous) and sang as a chorister in a Tanglewood Music Center production of "Falstaff" (which was fabulous). Oh, and I saw a staged version of "Madame Butterfly done by the Boston Symphony and Tanglewood Festival Chorus which was (wait for it...) fabulous.

― Dan Perry, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Don Giovanni and The Fiery Angel are two that folks on these boards might like. They might be the most accessible operas for those who grew up in a rock/pop world. Shit, the stage scene from The Fiery Angel looks like an Alice Cooper or a KISS concert.

I also like The Magic Flute, though strictly speaking it's a Songspiel and not an Opera.

― Tadeusz Suchodolski, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Damn, I forgot that I saw "Don Giovanni" in Stuttgart a LOOOONG time agoe.

― Dan Perry, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I'm not sure I'd agree to attend an opera, even if the tickets were free. I have an extremely strong negative visceral reaction to the sound of the operatic voice. It makes me uncomfortable. I get this sense of "let's get out of here" when I pass a nearby vocal academy and hear students rehearsing. Still, if someone offered, I might be tempted to go. I have never been to an actual opera. I think I would have to go on the condition that I might suddenly decide to get up and leave at any point.

― DeRayMi, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

If I did go to the opera, it might be a good time to get high on herb, something I haven't done for almost four years now.

― DeRayMi, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oddly enough, a month or so back I was given a couple of tickets for The Turn Of The Screw at the Royal Opera House. Thankfully (given the cost of any future tickets) I didn't immediately feel an affinity with it, but it was not as objectionable as I'd feared. I'd go again at the drop of a hat. Or a couple more free tickets. Opera in a nutshell: female singing = screetchy & bad. Male singing = warm & good. Children singing = charming & great.

― harveyw, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

DeRayMi, that is just about exactly how I feel, too. When I hear a soprano wail, I feel like I'm being aurally raped, and not in a good way.

― Clarke B., Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i am a major whore for puccini - give me a suicidal oriental drag queen every day, I say.

― Queen G, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Ahhh Puccini. That brings me back, it does. All the way back to two weeks ago, when 2 opera tickets came my way and I had to bolt all the way to 95th St to get them, and then back down to Lincoln Center to meet Emma B who was waiting for me by the fountain. I'm not making this up. It was 7:59 and as soon as she saw me she started running—in her heels—and so I did too, and I caught up with her right at the doors. As we rushed in the man told us we'd "better hurry" so we did; the ticket-takers said "up the stairs to your left, you better run!" so we did, taking the red-carpeted steps two at a time, curving up and around to the balcony level past chandeliers and bored bartenders slowly wiping the vacant bars. Out of breath we gave our tickets to the usher and she shook her head - "I'm sorry, but it's just started." We couldn't believe it. "The first act's not too long, about 40 minutes. You can have a drink at the bar if you'd like." Emma told me later that she'd planned to say that she was on holiday from France and that she'd come to New York specifically for this show, etc. but all that she managed to say in that frustrated moment was: "but I AM FROM FRANCE!" Time froze. The usher and I just sort of stared at her in awe for one small moment and five seconds later we were in standing-room. It was Tosca and I actually enjoyed myself quite a bit. The translations help IMMENSELY.

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I've seen two operas and liked them both.

When I get older I plan to immerse myself in it.

― Todd Burns, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Heavens, never *plan* for what you like. Just let it happen.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Free tickets -> I would go to the opera. Opera tickets are expensive! And the big-name performances on recordings are expensive too, it's a forbidding thing to start exploring.

― Josh, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I love all of Mozart's classic operas, but that has never carried over to many operas by other composers. Even similar or closely related works like don't do much for me. I notice all of the posts here have centered on composers, while I believe that most true opera nuts are obsessed with singers rather than composers.

― Curt, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Uhh, I meant to write, "closely related works like The Barber of Seville..."

― Curt, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I sometimes talk like Todd about saving opera for my golden years. I'll probably keep saying it, just like I keep saying youth is my time for experimenting with drugs and meaningless sex.

― Curt, Wednesday, 27 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I enjoy opera, though I definitely have to be in a particular frame of mind to appreciate it fully, and there are plenty of operas that don't grab me at all. Of those I've heard to date, my favorite is probably Wozzeck, but I've also been quite taken with The Rake's Progress, the Ring, and Tristan und Isolde . I haven't heard Pelleas in its entirety yet, which is pretty ridiculous (though I've sort of avoided it, saving it up for the right time); nor have I heard all of Satie's Socrate. Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea has some great sections (though it's very, very long). I once arranged Gershwin's Blue Monday for an ensemble at my college; it's incredibly cornball, but when you spend enough time with it, you start to like it...

I admit that traditional opera singing isn't my favorite style of classical music singing by a long shot -- I prefer clear, pure voices without much vibrato, and in some ways traditional opera singing embodies a lot of what I dislike about classical music vocal performance. But I have grudgingly come to acknowledge that they do meet a real need in the music: Emma Kirkby as Isolde probably wouldn't work. On the other hand, I'd love to hear an early-music soprano tackle what I've heard of Pelleas.

Free tickets: yes. Pay: I can't afford the prices. Translation: not really, though it's easy to let it become a distraction. The way they do it at the Met (subtitles on seatbacks) is the best -- it's effortless and unobtrusive.

― Phil, Wednesday, 27 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I can't stand staying still and crowds. Thus I couldn't stand watching an Opera up close. I can't even stand it on TV, tho cruddy sound may be part of why. On album, I quite enjoy.

― Sterling Clover, Wednesday, 27 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I like sitting -> opera better than indie rock shows

I like wearing t-shirts and skipping the opener -> tough to get in to opera anyway

opera in foreign languages, rock shows incomprehensible due to mumbling and poor sound -> TIE

― Josh, Wednesday, 27 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Shit, never mind. I like 'Wozzeck' quite a bit.

― Clarke B., Wednesday, 27 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

this opera thing... see, I listen to pretty much everything, and I love a lot of choral music, yet I've never 'got into' opera. But at my music class the other day we were played some of 'Dido and Anaeas' by Purcell, and I liked it a lot. The only opera I've seen at the theatre is 'A night at the Chinese Opera' by Judith Weir, which was very modern and impenetrable, and that's it, other then some cheesey performances of Tosca etc on TV. So could one of you people point me in the direction of some good opera that might show me the light? Bearing in mind that my music-liking has a bit of a lull in the 'romantic' period and I tend towards either early music or 20th century stuff in my non-pop listening, I guess this is hard, but I am open to suggestions!

Has anyone heard John Adams' operas? what are they like?

Tracer Hand, i am admiring your eclecticism, on this thread and others.

― Ondes Martenot, Wednesday, 27 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i only like opera if they let me up onstage to eat the prop food and spoon with the cutest lead

i like josh's reason for wearing a tie = he is stokowksi, nearly

― mark s, Wednesday, 27 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Operas I haf seen in proper OPRAH HOUSE and everything:

Marriage of Figaro (some nice tunes, funny if you like farce and cross-dressing, bit long)
King Priam (good music spoilt by OPRAH SINGING, lousy production in this instance)
Love For Three Oranges (GRATE!)
Yes I would go if it was free. But am not an opera-lover, except for (some) Britten.

― Jeff W, Wednesday, 27 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I used to listen to a lot of Opera on record but now only buy the record if I'm intending to see a production. Because of where I live that's not as often as I like. It's my favourite form of entertainment by far. The drama takes me back to the magical world of childhood literature while the music anaesthetises the adult cynicism that would otherwise prevent me from being able to inhabit it. If I see a really good production I'm on a high for days.

I've no strong desire to convert anyone else but if you're interested give the real thing a try. Opera on record, film or tv is nothing like a live performance and I rarely enjoy it.

― ArfArf, Wednesday, 27 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i am eclectic = i get to everything late, regardless of genre

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 27 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

NECKTIES UNACCEPTABLE

― Josh, Wednesday, 27 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I stayed away from opera for a long time because of my instinctive aversion to the sound of classically-trained opera singers, but recently I did go to a perf of "Don Giovanni" with my girlfriend, and found it reasonably enjoyable, so I think I may be more open to the medium in the future. There are also more non-traditional operas which I've heartily enjoyed - like "The Carbon Copy Building" which was billed as a "comic-book opera". It's a collaboration between the comic-book artist Ben Katchor and the composers from Bang on a Can, with a rock-influenced score that should appeal readily to people who are traditionally opera-shy.

― o. nate, Wednesday, 27 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Saw Don Giovanni in Prague last year. Unfortunately, all the casts voices were fucked because they'd been singing for months. interestingly phallic death scene they employed, I though. Am seeing Madame Butterfly (WNO) in Southampton on Saturday for free. I admit I wouldn't have forked out otherwise, probably, because half the time I don't pay attention to listings anyway and wouldn't have noticed it. oh, and tickets for operas are fairly pricey! (though, wahey, cheap student entry!)

― Bill, Wednesday, 27 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Some time ago I bought Morton Feldman's Neither: Opera with Words by Samuel Beckett sung by Sarah Leonard and played by the Radio- Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt conducted by Zoltan Pesko. I've been mad for it. I don't normally play 50-minute avant-garde compositions all the time but I was this time. It's really great. She wails these long wind-like tones while the orchestra slowly plays these really thick muddy chords. I was talking to a friend on the phone when I was listening to it once. She thought it was spooky. I don't know if it counts though: "Neither has been identified by some as an opera (it was commissioned by the Rome Opera) but it makes use of none of the conventions of traditional opera. There is no story, no mise-en-scene. The intensity results from emotional/aesthetic tension, not plot manipulation or character transformation. The music does not attempt to accompany or depict the text in the usual fashion; instead Feldman has created a kind of musical equivalent to the enviroment that Beckett's words suggest, invoking the same atmosphere and sharing a similar vision."

― sundar subramanian, Wednesday, 27 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I think you misunderstand me Ned. I don't plan to like it. I already like it, I just don't have the time or the energy to go through it all right now and I want to immerse myself in opera when the time comes in, rather than listening to ones here or there. I want to be able to listen to an aria and be "Oh, that's from The Magic Flute from Mozart."

I tend to go about things in such a manner. Immersing myself in them for a while and then taking the elements that I like and discarding the ones that I don't once I leave.

― Todd Burns, Wednesday, 27 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

eleven months pass...

heh. bought neither on saturday and listened to it yestreday.

my first opera recording.

its a diff recording tho' (on col legno) and it does not obey operatic convention. the singer is always singing in a high pitch throughout (is she reciting the text bcz I can't hear the words) (though its not continuous, she will stop every so often and the orchestra works its magic by producing these very weird tones, as sundar describes above).

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Monday, 17 March 2003 11:29 (twenty-three years ago)

three years pass...

OPERA

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Monday, 10 April 2006 19:23 (twenty years ago)

I went to the Met a lot as a kid. I think I saw something at City Opera in college, but otherwise it's been years. However, I plan to return before this season is out.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Monday, 10 April 2006 19:27 (twenty years ago)

I wonder who was in Tracer's Tosca. Also, Dan, Rigoletto does not have an 'a' in it.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Monday, 10 April 2006 19:27 (twenty years ago)

I've since figured that out. "Ago" also doesn't have an 'e' in it.

I'm in a production of "Lucrezia Borgia" that's going up at the end of the month (WOOT). I'd forgotten how much I dislike singing in Italian.

― Dan (Che Il Suo Colpe In Tendere?) Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 10 April 2006 19:30 (twenty years ago)

(Oh yeah, since the last time I posted to this thread I've done "Nixon In China", "Luisa Miller", "The Crucible" and "La Vie Parisienne".)

― Dan (Talent!) Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 10 April 2006 19:32 (twenty years ago)

nice. are you a chorister?

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Monday, 10 April 2006 19:34 (twenty years ago)

Yup! It's fun, it satisfies that "I wanna be on STAGE!" itch without scuppering the day job, and I GETS PAID TO DO IT WOOT.

― Dan (Yay Extra Cash) Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 10 April 2006 19:36 (twenty years ago)

four months pass...

exciting

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 20:32 (nineteen years ago)

Check here for the shows my wife and I are doing this season!

― Young Fresh Danny D (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 20:36 (nineteen years ago)

more!

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 15 September 2006 19:46 (nineteen years ago)

three weeks pass...

that looks like an interesting company, Dan

PBS reminds me how much I love Fledermaus. While the Met has replaced it in the holiday role with Zauberflote-as-Nutcracker, I see Chicago is doing it this season with Andrea Rost and Alice Coote.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 12 October 2006 02:28 (nineteen years ago)

one year passes...

i'm listening to the La Scala Trovatore - Licitra is so amazing

― gabbneb, Sunday, 14 October 2007 18:33 (eighteen years ago)

Opera Boston, nice. I know that post was a while ago, but you guys do a number of shows at the Cutler. I'm currently at Emerson, so, I'll probably try to get out to a few of these.

― pinkie, Sunday, 14 October 2007 19:57 (eighteen years ago)

one month passes...

NOW PLAYING:
Carmen, ACT II
"Nous Avons en Tete d'une Affair"

Sassy, Playful, Pure iambic crack cocaine

Ah, permittez...permittez..s'il vous plait
Je suis amoureuse

― Joe, Wednesday, 21 November 2007 01:18 (eighteen years ago)

What's opera, doc?

― Mark Rich@rdson, Wednesday, 21 November 2007 05:21 (eighteen years ago)

I love you YouTube

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EEhHroh2r4w

― Mark Rich@rdson, Wednesday, 21 November 2007 05:22 (eighteen years ago)

eight months pass...

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080808/D92EA3680.html

― gabbneb, Monday, 11 August 2008 14:52 (seventeen years ago)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R3IMgXjrJY

― Geir Hongro, Monday, 11 August 2008 14:54 (seventeen years ago)

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