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Am making tenative steps into the field. This is good because record shops have acres of boxsets of it on vinyl for peanuts waiting for my grubby mitts. Also, there are cheap little productions going on constantly in London if you know where to look....

So far, have got/seen/loving,

Puccini's La Boheme (have seen it twice, once with a solo piano and updated/translated to modern times, and another 'straight' performance with full orchestra. It makes me swoon. and cry)

Pagliacci (Dark stuff about a clown who kills his cheating wife)

Andre Previns version of A Streetcar Named Desire, as I watched a documentary about it. Good, although the fact it's continually in a Southern drawl is a bit irritating.

The Rape Of Lucretia By Benjamin Britten (Mostly due to my friend seeing it over the weekend and her claiming it did wonderful things to her body and soul. I listened to it in the dark with headphones on and promptly had nightmares. Eeeek)

Oh, and Porgy & Bess.


Anyone else dig? I'm kinda put off by the 'aura' surrounding a lot of it. That and I have no idea where to start.... Can anyone set me right

The opera scene in Pretty Woman is moving enough!
Never been to one, tho I think it could be kind of cool; the language is a pretty big barrier, I think.
Can't see sitting around listening to stuff, I have absolutely no clue about, tho.

Love opera. I have had season tickets to Opera season locally since I was 14 years old. :)

Well tell me about it then! I am jonesing for tips on what to see/listen to!

I love the orchestral music of many operas but I'm not too keen on most of the singing. Not keen at all actually. Some of the Russian stuff is okay, I suppose----if it's sung by Russians.

The one opera that has my 100% approval is Alban Berg's 20th-century masterpiece Wozzeck----I even forked out for the full score----although it's a million miles away from Puccini and even Britten.  But the plot's just as lurid.  ;D

Keen on sprechstimme then?  :-D Great opera, Lulu as well. If you want to try something further out, I'd recommend "Die Teufel von Loudon" by Penderecki.

Thanks for the tip. :=) I have Lulu in the same box set from the '60s but I must confess I haven't given it a listen yet. 

According to Wikipedia, "the French premiere of the opera in 1972 was rather disastrous; the performance was greeted with orange peels, turnips, leeks, cat-calls, and foot-stamping". Well, that's whetted my appetite for a start. :*P

I've been listening to lots of classical (I hate using that word) music on vinyl that I have bought for dirt cheap... got over 25 Beethoven records including his 9 symp's and a 300+ page book from the Beethoven Bicentennial collection for 6$ at a local shop... all are at least in VG+ condition. H. Von Karajan conducts the symp's with the Berlin Philharmonic... but anyways, back to opera...  


That is why I love opera...I don't get so hung up on the meaning of the words but rather the feeling of the melody. I've only been to one opera, a Puccini I think, but I was blown away.


I remember it was early December of maybe 1999 or 2000. I was in the college library listening on my walkman to cassettes that were required listening for the music classes I was taking. Now up to that point I was 19 and never gave opera a shot. As I left the library I walked outside and it just started to snow. People were switching classes on campus and just as the cold air hit me some opera aria came on the walkman. Everything was so dramatic that I think I understood what all the fuss was with operatic music. That was my first real experience with opera and I have been a fan since...but of the more traditional stuff. I think I will look into the suggestions posted here though.

Big opera fan here. Had season tickets for our local company for the last 15 years.

Dude, you posted that last time! You gonna tell us what you like or what?  ;D

LOL I have a terrible memory!  :lol

My favorite opera is The Magic Flute. Aida is a close second. I also love Tales of Hoffman and The Ring Cycle.

 :p

Opera is actually my favorite--the music, yes, but when it all comes together with great acting and sets, plus great singers--nothing beats it for a night out.  I have a particular fondness for Puccini.  He's a bit like Brian Wilson in some respects--people who don't know him well think he just wrote throwaway pop, but if you get into you'll find endless things to discover.  Manon Lescaut is a favorite, I think La Boheme makes everyone cry.

I like the French stuff a lot, Gounod, Massenet, etc.  Verdi is great--and he wrote most of the great melodies that everybody knows but doesn't know where they come from, see La Donna e Mobile, the Brindisi from La Traviata, the Anvil Chorus from Il Trovatore, Va, Pensiero from Nabucco, etc.

But I love it all, really--Been going to Opera Grand Rapids here for years and am hoping to get into Chicago this year for Les Contes d'Hoffman, at least--and I go to as many live in HD broadcasts from the Met as I can.

Glad to find some Opera fans here!

Oh man, has anybody seen this? A veritable goldmine

http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/victor-book-of-the-opera/interactive

Listening to Musetta's Waltz from 1916! 19fucking16!! This is incredible....

They even have some Caruso recordings in there! This is fantastic...

I like opera, but I went to Rigoletto this afternoon and really didn't care for it.

I may be crucified for this, but I think much of Verdi's works verge on "extremely boring".

I haven't made my tentative steps into the field yet, but I plan on it one of these days.  I agree with you about the aura, but you can help change that, you don't have to be a snob to like Opera.  Listen on my friend.  I hope you find something entertaining and enriching, 10 trillion opera fans can't be wrong. 

Actually one of the coolest operas I have ever been to was a double bill of I Pagliacci and a staging of Carmina Burana which was treated as a sequal to Pagliacci. It was very inventive and entertaining.

Well, how many have you heard/seen?  He wrote over twenty, so to say that "much" of his works verge on boring means you've seen, at the very least, 14 Verdi operas, which would be, I suppose, just over half of them, depending on if we throw in the Requiem.  If you've seen 14 Verdi operas, then you're pretty hardcore, because it's mostly a handful that get the most attention.

With Verdi, I feel like there's something for everybody--Historical Dramas, Fairy Tales, Love Stories, Boston, Africa, Spain, Italy...you can travel around the world. 

I'm surprised Peter didn't like Rigoletto.  The great arias from that are almost Brian Wilson pop.  La Donna e Mobile is one of the most hummable melodies of all time, Caro Nome, Ella mi fu Rapita, Possente Amor, etc, etc--all great stuff.  But that's taste for you, I guess.

Of course, It helps when you have very good singers, which you can't always rely on.

I should say, "Upon which you can't always rely."

I agree Rigoletto was the first opera i saw live. i came away from that thinking what great tunes it had, this was top notch music right up there with the Beatles.

I do actually like understanding the words that's one of the reasons Henry Purcell's Oratario Dido and Aeneas is one of my favourites. Also agree with the earlier poster about the Magic Flute being great, although i've only seen that on DVD.

I really should just find an opera board, because I can tell this is not going to be a scintillating source of continuing conversation, but:

Anybody else lucky enough to go to Rodelinda live from the MET in HD this last Saturday?

Aw, we try!  ;D

Sadly, I'm on the wrong side of the atlantic for that. Trying to grab tickets for something in the ENO's 2012 season, but my friends are being non-committal. Definitely want to see Porgy & Bess...

I have been wanting to go to those HD broadcasts, but my wife won't go with me and I hate going alone.  :'(

This topic is old (the previous post was over eight years ago!) but I need an opera topic and if there's one available, why start a new one for the two or three posts it's going to get?

This is a subject close to my heart these days thanks to a good friend many years my junior. Lucia Lucas was and still is a world-class baritone since transitioning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp9EHoL5akM

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/apr/30/don-giovanni-trans-opera-singer-lucia-lucas

My view of Verdi has softened since I last posted. Maybe it's because I am getting older. I dunno.  :lol (for the record, at the time I posted, I had personally attended Otello, Falstaff, MacBeth, Luisa Miller, La Traviata, Il Trovatore, and Rigoletto. I have made a point of listening to his earlier opera's lately though.  Just finished listening to Nabucco last weekend whilst Spring cleaning) :)

It would be cool to tempt aeijtzsche back to this topic. Her views always make interesting reading.

I've since added Berlioz's Les Troyens to operas I enjoy, bringing that list up to a grand total of two (the other being Wozzeck). 

I once sat through Puccini's Turandot--a friend of a friend was singing in it. Let's say I survived. ;D

Actually I love orchestral music from operas. It really does help when everyone keeps their gob shut. :lol

I used to be able to attend operas regularly , or at least live broadcasts in a local theater featuring the New York Metropolitan Opera. Occasionally I would listen on the radio.

Can't do links on my tablet but there's a commercial online - Met Texaco Commercial - that ran for many years here in the US. Showed that even out in the middle of nowhere cowboys could enjoy the opera!

Nowadays I can't get out for the theater shows, and don't have 3 plus uninterrupted hours available on Saturday afternoons to listen to the broadcasts. But I can still listen to individual arias and duets.

One of my faves is Bizet's The Pearl Fishers.
Hope you can listen to duet by Jussi Bjorling and Robert Merrill . Heavenly.

Also aria by Bjorling, Je Crois Entendre Encore.
And if you wish, David Gilmour (!) does a credible take on this song.

I just got a bachelor's in voice today. Have lots of stories to tell froy experiences in the opera world. I just wrapped up a production of La Scala di Seta, an obscure Rossini opera, bell canto Italian composer as the tenor lead. Hard af music, like Handel on steroids to sing.

Just a few posts into this revived topic and true to form I've already insulted at least two posters with one of my famous sweeping statements. :lol I'm so very sorry, folks.

Glad to see you around again, Lizzie. :)

Is this the commercial you mean? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCHx1RG4fPA

And here are Björling and Merrill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PYt2HlBuyI

Now I think of it, this duet is a favourite of my wife's. I must admit it sounds very classy. You may convert this philistine yet. ;D

Congrats, FHCS.  Wow. ::)

Is The Silken Ladder obscure? I know and love the Overture (Rossini overtures are wonderfully uplifting):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRjm0dkLO3k

I for one would love to hear about your experiences in the opera world, so please feel free! :)

I also love instrumental music in operas. Carmen is particularly great.
And vocal selections are packaged as instrumentals to be performed in symphony concerts. One of my favorites is Britten's "Four Sea Interludes" from his opera Peter Grimes.
 "Dawn" gave me goosebumps.

Wow. I heard a live performance of the Britten "Interludes" only last week! What a brooding, ominous picture they paint. You just know disaster is going to strike. Yes, those menacing brass chords in "Dawn"! ::)

Here are all four interludes under Paavo Järvi:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTd2aXLTA84

It took me literally decades to catch onto old Benjy Britt. In the end it was "my" choir's rehearsals and performance of his Hymn to St Cecilia that converted me.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Grimes

When in St. Petersburg we checked out the places where Shostakovich and Gogol lived. Gogol wrote his short story The Nose at the address in the picture. The name of the bar now on those premises seems to be a comment on that outrageous tale. :lol

(https://i.postimg.cc/439ZH5TD/IMG-2751.jpg)

And Shosty wrote an opera based on Gogol's story at Ulitsa Marata 9 (with a great restaurant a little further up). I've given the whole thing a listen over the past couple of days and it's equally outrageous!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzqRJSn0g6A

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nose_(opera) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nose_(opera))

Gah!!!! Too much work and too little time to craft decent posts! Anyway... Two weeks ago (to the day) in St. Petersburg we attended a performance of Prokofiev's opera Betrothal in a Monastery at the Mariinski Theatre. A dream come true, you might say--that theatre is the home base of our favourite conductor Valery Gergiev. Here he is conducting the entire work but not onstage--what a studio version lacks in atmosphere it gains in audio quality:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZalX4-wRcA&list=OLAK5uy_lmCH42IIBHE0O8owOor0CTluU7k5Vp88Y      

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betrothal_in_a_Monastery (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betrothal_in_a_Monastery)

(https://assets.classicfm.com/2014/41/mariinsky-theatre-1413216212-view-0.jpg)

Oh, look at all this...

What are you trying to say? :smokin

I do know you didn't have particularly high hopes for this thread a while back. ;D

I saw Boris Godunov at that theater back in September 1991.
I remember it as a wonderful opera - what I saw of it. We were staying at a hostel that was unheated . It was so cold that I pretty much had to wear everything I had to get warm, and got very little sleep.
The theater was very comfortable temperature wise, and I fell into a half sleep about half way through the opera. I could hear the music but the plot in my half dream was quite different from the actual plot. Just hope I didn't snore!  ;D

I'm happy that there's been some more discussion!!!  Which I will respond to by and by!

Looking forward to that, JH.

I love a lot of the instrumental music in operas, particularly by the Russians and Wagner, and I love many overtures of all nationalities but I've never been a great fan of operatic singing.

The two major exceptions are Berg's Wozzeck and Berlioz's Les Troyens. And l'm beginning to warm to the Russians, thanks to maestro Gergiev--they have fantastic singing voices! So there's hope for me yet. ;)

Wow! I can imagine that was spectacular beyond belief. Was it under Valery Gergiev? I can only assume he was the theatre's conductor by then, as a young man with all his hair. :P


Oooff!! Poor you. Conditions seem to have changed since then. Contrary to what we were told, we found Pete to be a warm, friendly place where everyone was helpful even if they only spoke Russian. The hotel was splendid and so were the restaurants and bars we visited. 
 

We have a Gergiev comp with a slab of Boris on it, the "Coronation Scene" I think, with bells clanging like crazy. Truly wonderful stuff. And I had this cheapo LP of selections from Boris when I was a kid. I've always loved Mussorgsky.

I don't recall who was leading it back then, but it was an absolutely spectacular production. I was quite upset for falling asleep - it surely wasn't because it wasn't wonderful.
St Petersburg was a great place and everyone was quite friendly. All the places were properly heated except that hostel we stayed at.
It was a time of flux - there had been an attempted coup earlier that month. Lots of rumors going on, and I was glad to have brought my little shortwave radio with me so that I could pick up BBC World Service. It was exciting as well. We arrived in Leningrad at night and the next day it once again became St Petersburg.

Talk about being in the right place at the right time!! I found a version of Boris from the previous year (1990), conducted by Valery Gergiev (and I read elsewhere that he conducted the performance you attended):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFeO8b64EaQ

(https://www.mariinsky-theatre.com/more_big/1428524624_mariinsky_opera1.jpg)   

Oh wow, thanks!! I'll finally get to be able to see the whole thing lol.

I'm curious what it is about the singing involved in Wozzeck, Troyens, and Russian stuff that separates it from other stuff that you don't like?  I think that's really interesting.

Also, part of what I am trying to do is translate some of the magic moments from opera that have moved me, from a medium that many people just can't get into to one that is more familiar.  Because operatic singing is definitely a hurdle for a lot of people, and I get why.

In addition to the overtures I'm doing, I'm also recording the entirety of Handel's Rodelinda, and hoping to sing a lot of it, or get helpers for the lower and higher voices, to sing it in a less classical and more pop way--not to dilute, but to present in a different way, so that I might proselytize on behalf of the music that I love the most--and ultimately the music itself is more important that how it's done (as long as it's done well.)



Well knock me down with a feather.  That is unbelievable.  I love a Rossini tenor, especially when they sing Bellini, but you know, whatever.  Congrats, a bit late.

Sort of not topical, but I recently read a great book by Masha Gessen, The Future is History, which portrays the break up of the CCCP in a very, very personal and intimate way, including the episode of the strange coup attempt to which you were temporally adjacent.  I can't imagine that tumult doesn't still play itself out in the artistic hearts of the Russian people and become made manifest on the operatic stage in some way!

Oooff! Putting questions of taste into words is never easy...

It's not just the singing. For me, Wozzeck is all about the music as a whole--the singing in effect comes second. It's music that really speaks to me--I love Berg's Violin Concerto as well (and no, I have no interest at all in delving into other atonal/twelve-tone operas). Berlioz's music is like nothing else in "classical" music. It really helps that he couldn't play the piano! And Les Troyens is his biggest canvas. I love the story behind it and the barbaric picture he paints. As for the Russians, their singing has a special strength that appeals to me. Besides, I have an affinity with the sadness infusing so much of their music and with the orchestral colour.

As an aside, there may be a parallel here with my thoughts on pop music. Once the lyrics become more important than the music (much rap, many protest songs and ballads) I'm out of there.     

Your question also got me thinking about what it is that generally bugs me about opera. It can't just be the fact that the orchestra is stuffed into a pit for the sake of a few people on stage. That said, the few concertante versions of operas I've attended were much more satisfying, maybe because there is no hierarchy--everyone's there on stage in an equal capacity (and in full view).     

I love a lot of choral music of all eras and the longer works in partlcular often feature solo singers and I have no problem with these (Berlioz's Les Nuits d'été is another case in point.) So, one factor may be the action. It would tie in with my lack of affinity with plays. 


Goodness. I was planning to buy that album on Bandcamp today but from what you say I wouldn't have been buying much! (I missed that "TBD".) So it's another work in progress (read: labour of love). Please keep us informed about that too. 


Pity FHCS never expanded on his operatic achievements as well as his tastes in opera. That would have helped this thread no end.

As for Bellini,  we attended a performance of his La sonnambula in Palermo years ago. That was an amazing experience. There were shouts of approval throughout ("Bravissimo!") and a few Don Corleone lookalikes in the audience. So yes, context can be a major factor!!

Sorry, long rambly post. ;D

This is a scene from Alban Berg's Wozzeck, in the version I bought in the 1960s (see below). Regrettably I can't find a decent libretto online. 

Act Two, Scene 5: The guard-room at the barracks. Night. The sound of sleeping soldiers (an extraordinary choral effect). Wozzeck is lying in the barracks on a bunk with his friend Andre and can't sleep, the music from that evening's dance still playing in his head. He is obsessed with the image of Marie (the mother of his child) in the arms of the Drum Major.  Even saying a prayer doesn't help. Suddenly the Drum Major crashes in drunk. He boasts to Wozzeck of his manliness and of Marie’s charms, which he has enjoyed (he had seduced her outside her house the evening before). He then beats up Wozzeck while the others look on. The Drum Major leaves and silence return to the barracks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wozb37GfvOk

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71Y0vIRE-oL._SX569_.jpg)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wozzeck (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wozzeck)

I've never seen Wozzeck. It's on the Metropolitan Opera schedule - live performance to be seen in theaters nationwide in U.S. in February. Will do my best to catch it.

I've never seen it in person.  Definitely looking forward to it (now that I live in NYC and can go to everything at the Met).  One of the highlights of my life was when, as a young conservatory student, I got special passes to watch Boulez rehearse the CSO doing a concert version of Lulu.  At the time it seemed so magical--to the extent that when I listen to Lulu now I wonder if I didn't just dream the rehearsal because the subsequent experiences of recordings just have not quite been that magical.

I've been thinking about this (sorry to bring it up again and disrupt the flow but I have to ask). Say if I were to buy this album tomorrow, would I automatically get the rest of it over time? Does Bandcamp work that way? Or should I wait? I'd be most interested to hear it, you see.

Well, that is a good question, and I honestly am not sure how Bandcamp works!  I'm flattered that you are so interested.  I suppose I would advise holding off.  It's a pretty loose timeline to completion--I'm sort of hoping to be able to do some equipment upgrades on the recording end and there's some instrument maintenance/upgrades that are necessary.  I want to do a really, really good job on it; and for it to sound pretty crisp.  So it may be a little while.  I'd love to have act one done this year but my ship will have to come in for that to happen.

That said, I do have a number of what I would call test recordings in various stages that I could share.  Perhaps I'll put some of those on my SoundCloud.  Actually some early feedback from people who know something about opera could be helpful.

https://soundcloud.com/user-826159106 (https://soundcloud.com/user-826159106)

There's a few demos.  Only Dove Sei and "Fra Tempeste w vox" have vocals.  They are all more "proof of concept" experiments right now.  I do have a few that are more like "done" but I'll withhold those for now.

Apologizes if this is blurring the line between Music discussion and Making Music discussion.

I really do love Handel though, and I think he's just an extremely gifted, sassy, competent melodist and I'd love to get people who would not otherwise inclined to listen to him to listen to him!

OK, I'll wait! Whatever it takes, time-wise. Thanks for getting back to me on this. I just think it's a fascinating project, one that clearly means a lot to you. And I like the philosophy behind it--making music that you love accessible and/or acceptable to others without dumbing down.   

Let me know if what you hear in the demos seems promising!

Wow, thanks! I have some time tomorrow so I'll give them a close listen. I hope others will too.


I rather think I fall into that category and I've been listening to him all week so you have at least one convert. Before now, the only Handel piece that really floored me was "Zadok the Priest"--real shivers-down-the-spine stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiXgOQ9_-RI

The thing about people like Handel, and anybody who wrote a lot of stuff, is that of course there's going to be crap.  Rodelinda is my favourite Handel opera and there's a couple numbers that are just so boring.  I think 50% of Messiah is super boring.  But then there are these great moments that are so great.  And I think that people don't get the sense of fun that Handel put into a lot of his opera, and to a lesser extent the oratiorios.

It's such a contrast, because Zadok is, as you mention, this profound expression of religious feeling--but on the other hand, there's something like "Fra L'ombre e gl'orrori" from Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, which, ok is not strictly speaking an opera, but that number is just so ridiculous in what it asks of the singer and on paper looks hilarious, but the effect is so stunning in an equally profound way.  (Not unlike the founder of our feast Brian Wilson...?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFcY40h-vH8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFcY40h-vH8)

I just had to hear this before turning in. Ye gods--two and a half octaves and if that's not enough Purves sneaks in a low A! :o

It's been a good day. BW has a lot to answer for!

I'd say it's more than promising, JH. Please keep up with this project because the end result I know will be really special. I hope others who are following its progress will exercise patience--it looks as if it will take years rather than months. But it will be well worth the wait!

I've linked "Dove sie, amato bene" elsewhere as it gives the best idea of what it will eventually sound like. I really love those vocal harmonies towards the end!

Perhaps you should give it its own topic in the "Who Make Music" section. It would be a shame if it got lost among everything else in this thread.

Perhaps I will...

Haha yes. There's this rather irritating notion floating about that Bach only wrote masterpieces. I wish I could believe that!!   


Just an idle thought... Maybe the "synth vocal" you used in "Ho perduto" is a good solution for the two boring numbers. All-synth versions would be even better--sort of a statement to yourself about how boring they are! ;D

Of course, even if Bach didn't only write masterpieces, his chaff is at least workmanlike.  I think that's what separates the greats, or at least a major component.  And I think that's what is missing in some of the worst music (both then and now).  Bach and Handel may not have been inspired at all moments when composing, but even when the art was lacking, the craft was there.  So even the boring stuff is "good" in a way.

This week, the cultural TV programme we in NL have on Sunday afternoons included the "Letter Scene" from Eugene Onegin, here sung by Anna Netrebko under Gergiev from a Met performance six years ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d56MMagyMXs


Bach is my next challenge (he has been for decades). For me Bach is Glenn Gould, Leopold Stokowski and Alban Berg (the Bach quote in his Violin Concerto). And not much else. I don't think it helps that insensitive performances can sound more like sawing wood than making music.

That said... we attended two magical performances of his Weihnachtsoratorium a few years back, one in Weimar by an amateur company and the next (the following night!) in Leipzig, in the church where Bach played the organ. Once again, context can be important (and any concert attended on holiday is special). 

While I'm here: I won't comment on your recent additions to the Handel French Ouvertures in that section of the forum, although I shall give them a listen later today. It may attract more views (and listens) if your name is there rather than mine ("Not him again!").

Interesting to hear about your experience with Bach.  It's true that Bach (well, and all music) needs sensitive performers who know what they are doing.  With Bach, many of the people doing serious historical scholarship informed readings of his work are doing a great job--but more and more ensembles are versatile now and know how to incorporate the baroque gestures that suit the music best. 

I went to a performance of Bach's Magnificat last year for my home-town's "Bach Festival" and it was such a bloated affair, with the symphony chorus flooding the very reflective performance space with nearly 200 voices.  Oof.

Nevertheless, I hope you overcome your Bach challenge.  He is much more than Gould, Stokowski, and Berg!

I really appreciate your encouragement, JH. I'll try to keep this short (famous last words!):

Here in the Netherlands (I emigrated here from the UK), Bach is everywhere, more so than Mozart, Beethoven or anyone else. You hear him all day on the radio. Every Easter, throughout the country, literally hundreds of Dutch choirs of every calibre can be heard singing (or in some cases bellowing) all or part of the St Matthew Passion. This makes it very difficult to step back and take a cool calm look at the man and his music, especially if you're not keen on him to start with.

Now, there's been this fascinating four-part series on Dutch TV in which an intelligent Dutch Bach devotee retreads the man's long trek to Lübeck to see and hear his idol Dieterich Buxtehude. (We watched the last episode an hour ago, after I read your post.) There he spoke with the organist of the Marienkirche (the tenth organist in line after Buxtehude), who described DB and his music, relating it to the "stylus fantasticus", a term I'd never heard before (I've read it up since then). It then struck me that Buxtehude might be a good way in, before tackling Bach himself. It might also give me an idea of what music of Bach's I should listen to first. The organist mentioned that the church's organ was flanked by six balconies and that Buxtehude filled these with musicians for a work in the (another new one on me) "Colossal Baroque" style called Benedicam Dominum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8GMpQHCKUA

So that's what I'm starting with. What a thrilling piece it is too. And then, once I've finished my second Handel comp, it will be the turn of Bach! I'll post on whatever progress I make not here but in the "classical" music topic (I Hear A Symphony). Who would have thought it? Thank you so much for your wise words!

I'll comment on Buxtehude in the classical music thread.  Shame he nor Bach ever tried opera but it gets dramatic enough.

I'm likely to go to see Orfeo ed Euridice this Weekend at the Met here in NYC, with Jamie Barton as Orpheus.  Always interesting to hear how the Met tackles older operas.  I'll be sure to report.

Maybe their patrons had other ideas (just guessing here). You mean there's drama in the likes of the St. Matthew Passion, which on reflection is almost a concertante opera with recitatives and arias. Actually, my eleven-year-old grandson will be singing in the "ripieno" choir in a performance of that work at our local concert hall next March!


If you do, enjoy, and yes, please let us know your thoughts on it!

For me it would be like seeing the film after reading the book. I own the only recording I'll ever want to hear (see the LP cover I posted on page 2) and the images that recording conjures up for me, so I don't think a staged version would be doing me any favours.

Lulu is a different matter. I have it on CD together with the CD reissue of "my" Wozzeck (somebody kindly scratched the LPs). I love the orchestral suite but have yet to check out the opera itself. One day... Of course, I'm furiously jealous of aeijtzsche getting to hear Pierre Boulez rehearse it! ::)

It was miraculous.

Anyway, I've just seen Orfeo ed Eurydice at the Met.  Kind of an odd experience with a technical mishap, a medical pause, and an audience member, apparently ignorant of the ancient myth, gasping and moaning with shocked anguish when Orpheus looks back at his belovèd.

Jamie Barton was a great Orpheus, and I always forget how the opera is basically a choral concerto for Orpheus, with so little singing from the other soloists.  The production was interesting enough.  It's not an easy opera to stage well, I guess.

Not really my favourite music--it can be a little dry for my tastes sometimes.  I liked the excesses that Glück felt like he was correcting.  Nevertheless, the Met orchestra makes it all sound good.  They have definitely learned how to sound like competent players of earlier music than the romantic fare that is the modern opera house's wheelhouse.  Amusing to watch the trumpets and trombones play their one or two lines here and there and then go to the canteen and then come back to play another short passage before turning around to leave again.  The timpanist got to go home after about 10 minutes, I think.

Always a treat to go to the Met, though since moving to NYC it has been sad that it has become a little less the magical event of a lifetime that it was when I had to fly in once a year...  Ah, well.

I bet that drew a few sniggers! :lol


This is a newish area for me so I wasn't familiar with Jamie B (I am now--she is amazing!). So this is what you heard (and saw):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by4ADMts1KQ

 
You mean such as shortening the da capo arias (I've just been reading about him)? It's a bit like my initial objection to Palestrina, that it was too clean. I've changed my mind since then--anyway, it wasn't P's doing. :P 


That reminds me of Berlioz's book Evenings with the Orchestra, where (off the top of my head) the percussion and heavy brass get a thousand bars' rest, break out the sandwiches and tell each other anecdotes--the difference being that the operas they were performing were mainly crap. That's hilarious, that your musicians actually left at such moments! And oh, I see your principal conductor these days is Yannick Nézet-Séguin (he was ours in Rotterdam for ten years), although Mark Wigglesworth conducted Orfeo.       


I understand where you're coming from. Still, a lot of people would give an arm or a leg to be in your position right now! ;)

I'm ok with shortening long da capo arias, but I miss the devilish vocal showmanship.  I've always liked a little showing off.

I remember my first trip to the Met, in around 2012 I think.  I had been watching the HD broadcasts for years at that point and considered the Met to be the closest thing to heaven on earth, other than Western Studios in LA. When I turned the corner into Lincoln Plaza and saw the front of the Met Opera building, I fell to the ground!  I saw Jonas Kaufmann in Werther and was so transfixed I left my body.  The next night I saw the sort of silly modern pastiche opera "The Enchanted Island" which I actually fell asleep during because of exhaustion, but as I walked down the grand staircase I was so overwhelmed by being there that I collapsed in sobs. 

I can never have that again.  I am grateful to just be able to hop on a subway and go any time I want now, but I miss the glory of my first experiences.

Goodness. Thanks for sharing that, JH. Maybe such moments are not meant to be repeated--I don't know.

See it as something to think back on with pleasure. And to bring to mind if ever you're troubled (which I hope is never the case).

I'm always troubled!   ;D

I'm trying to decide whether to go see Akhnaten, the Glass opera, next.  I actually really like Satyagraha, but much of Glass's other opera leaves me bored.  Sometimes it is exciting just to try to figure out the time shifts and extreme syncopations during the course of the evening.  The sets look neat, and the primary soloist, Anthony Roth Costanzo, is quite a talent.

I saw Akhnaten advertised when I visited the Met site. I really like Glass's film music and love the old Virgin LP of parts one and two of Music in Twelve Parts.  Simply stunning. I couldn't believe my ears when I first heard that. I could do without all that counting in Einstein though. :P

H'mm... That's three reasons to see it against one to stay away. if you ask me, JH, it's a cut-and-dried case. :)

E, this overture is a desperate attempt to coax you back into the fold before the opera topic closes down yet again. Help!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmuFOuh3QHs

(My grandson sang in the "Children's Chorus" in a local concertante production of Carmen a couple of years ago.)

JK: I mentioned this briefly in the movie thread, but I'll mention here too as it's on topic. If you like Opera, you really need to watch the movie Philadelphia. There is a scene with Tom Hanks playing an opera for Densel Washington. I won't spoil it, but it's an intensely emotional and compelling scene. If nothing else, so a search for the scene on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwRHwKZSu-w

"I am life!" I must see that film. What a moving scene. No wonder Hanks got himself an Oscar.

I have a love-hate relationship with opera. There's this UK TV detective series where the protagonist is often seen late at night alone in his home, going over the day's case with a glass of whiskey and an aria from an opera blasting out (sometimes accompanied by the thumps and shouts of irate neighbours). It always seems so idyllic to me and makes me wish I appreciated opera more! Recent conversations with two wonderful people in this and related topics may eventually convert me completely. We'll see. ;)

Thanks, Jay. :)

It's hard for me to concentrate to post much right now. My youngest sister took ill a couple of days ago and will have major surgery tomorrow. Shocked all of us. After things settle down a bit I will try to post more.

So sorry to hear that, E. You and yours are in my thoughts right now.

ForHerCryingSoul once mentioned La Scala di Seta in this topic (and then disappeared). Maybe an aria from that opera will help keep your spirits up at this difficult time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMEYRbXHkUo

Next time you're around, JH, perhaps you could recommend a decent version of Rodelinda out of the CDs listed below. They are all available from my local record-lending library. In each case I've listed the lead soprano (where indicated), ensemble and conductor.

- Simone Kermes/Il Complesso Barocco/Alan Curtis
- Barbara Schlick/Stagione/Michael Schneider
- Sophie Daneman/Raglan Baroque Players/Nicholas Kraemer
- Joan Sutherland/Philomusica of London/Charles Farncombe
- Joan Sutherland/Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera/Richard Bonynge
- Orchester des Reichssenders Stuttgart/Carl Leinhardt
- Sonia Ganassi/Orchestra Internazionale d'Italia/Diego Fasolis

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Portrait_of_soprano_Susannah_Maria_Cibber.jpg/220px-Portrait_of_soprano_Susannah_Maria_Cibber.jpg)

Oh dear, I could write a doctoral thesis on this.

It is tricky--I have not really...loved any Rodelinda on CD.  I'm not sure why, but the right cast has never come together for me.

That said, if you have to choose one, I'd go with the Kraemer.  It feels a little more...heartfelt.  The tempos are sort of old-fashioned, as it were, at times, but the band is historically informed enough.  This one wins for me because I really like Robin Blaze as Unulfo, who is one of my favourite characters in Handel's operas.  His voice is not for everyone, but I find it touching.

As a contralto myself, I always seek out recordings of Sonia Prina, who sings Eduige on the Curtis recording.  I love her unique, flexible but weighty voice.  I have modeled my technique after her.  Also a really interesting, three dimensional character in the opera.

Thank you for taking the time to explain! So it's the Kraemer then. It's just so that I can get acquainted with the opera in connection with your Rodelinda project. Although there's clearly no rush.

Here's Sonia Prina as Eduige, just to get into the spirit of things:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5CZvw_6kGk

I just had to seek out this non-BB/'60s example from Joshilyn H's "Grass/Power Mower" introductory video. "Quel torrente, che cade dal monte", sung by the hero in Handel's Giulio Cesare, in this version features the French contralto Delphine Galou:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZtBm3ByMS4

(https://www.operamusica.com/media/cache/170x197/media/cache/img_profile/rc/Vhz7GExC/upload/image/57/73/c9/5773c940424d1.jpg)

I like her; that's a nice reading of it.  I love that aria--I'm a sucker for the brisk ones with very long melismatic expressions.

That's an aspect of Baroque I still have to work on! That said, the Buxtehude harpsichord album I'm listening to these days can get pretty florid at times--and I seem to have survived. :smokin

Which brings me to another problem area I appear to have overcome thanks to you--music for solo harpsichord! Who would have thought it?

I had a job interview where one of the questions asked of me was "What is your favorite opera?"

I answered "The Magic Flute" and I am pretty sure that is why I didn't get the job.  :'( :lol

On my last resume (I'm also job hunting...) I put "Especial interest in the use of natural and valved trumpets, and cornets in French opera, 1855-1905".

That's probably why I didn't get the job.

Well then this should appeal to you! Today my wife saw Nathalie Stutzmann in her role as conductor during a lunchtime rehearsal, putting the local orchestra and the solo hornist through their paces in Mozart's fourth concerto for that instrument. Needless to say, she sang all the parts that needed correcting! Here she is in her role of contralto in a Handel aria that must be rather familiar to you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa90IML1VEo

I would heartily recommend seeking out recordings by the sensational French harpsichordist Pierre Hantaï.  He gets the baroque thing without going over the top, and is a very sensitive, methodical player.  I love his interpretations of Couperin, but he is also an excellent Bachist.

I love Nathalie!  Another one I try to emulate.  "Furibondo" is a classic aria from a rare Handel comedy! (Partenope)

Here you go (I have it bookmarked for later):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa90IML1VEo

I see Nathalie sings the part of Arsace, Prince of Corinth. I'll be a Handelian yet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partenope

Thanks for the recommendation. :) I see there are several videos of PH playing Couperin on YouTube. I have this one lined up for later:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odp9MevcPNQ

Well. If I like what I hear (I once slept through a concert of harpsichord music that included Couperin!), I really am home and dry. Then it's just country & western but perhaps I'll give that a miss. :lol

I really don't think I could match what you've done for me, JH, but I'll try whenever I can. Here's a great favourite of mine by Francis Poulenc, his kaleidoscopic Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani, in what for me is the definitive 1961 recording, warts and all, with Maurice Duruflé playing the solo part: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RduLr1Cp9Ls

Back to topic! :lol (I'll shoulder the blame.)

There's this feature every Monday morning on Dutch "classical" radio where they discuss a world-famous aria. Today it was the turn of "Der Hölle Rache" from Mozart's The Magic Flute, sung by their soprano of choice, fellow countrywoman Cristina Deutekom. In the feature it was pointed out that in her hands the high F sounded every bit as effortless as the high C. There's no sense at all of having to reach for it--unlike in the case of F. F. Jenkins, who always seems to get a mention whenever this aria is brought up. :P     

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qmyWC38HVI

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristina_Deutekom

(https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03023/Deutekom_3023655b.jpg)

If you read this, JH, I was wondering whether you'd decided to see Akhnaten. :smokin

Well at this point it's a matter of being able to afford Akhnaten--so it's looking unlikely.

I've always envied those high sopranos who can sing those Queen of the Night Fs.  And indeed, I've always envied the sopranos who can hit Bbs!

I also love the Tenor rep that reaches up to F and beyond, which, of course is mainly limited to Bellini, God Bless him!

This Wednesday my school is performing Orpheus in the Underworld by Jacques Offenbach. It's been translated into English by Buck Ross from the Moore's School of Music in Houston, Texas. I personally think the translation offers a more modern take on the humor, while not impacting too much of the music. It uses the longer 1874 version as a template. I'll be playing the part of Pluto, and we open this Wednesday! If there is a livestream link would people like to see it?

Ooohh! Yes, FHCS, please do. I know I'm not alone in this. I hope I catch it (or at least some of it) in NL, time zones being what they are. (It will also be a great opportunity for me to work on my high kicks.)

Whether there's a livestream or not, the very best of luck with your role, sir. And thanks for letting us know. :)

And, to get us in the mood, here's an extract from the Buck Ross version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcpyInst1Mg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpheus_in_the_Underworld

Yes!!!  That's really cool -- I'd love to see Offenbach get his day in the sun.  Although like we've discussed, sometimes prolific composers' work suffers, Offenbach wrote a lot of great stuff besides Hoffman and Orphée!  And so much of it is so fun and funny.

Are you at MSU?  (I'm a Michigander...)

https://livestream.com/musicmsu/11232019Orpheus

Here is the live stream link! Yes I am a Michigander if you peak closely at the URL! The show starts at 7pm EST! It should be a fun time!

Shoot, I totally missed it.  Will it be available to listen to on demand?  I sure hope so!

That's cool that you're at MSU.  I have pretty deep connections in the Michigan vocal world, and I like to keep up with what the schools are doing.

I'm trying to get my hands on some recordings of the shows I have done in my time here, it might be a little bit, but I will see what I can get. So sorry that you missed it... MSU is getting a new building which will be pretty sweet when it's all done.

I saw Akhnaten on Saturday thanks to the Metropolitan opera broadcasts live in theaters.
The opera is scheduled to be broadcast on radio in a couple of weeks . I don't know how well that would go over, as the visual in this is very important.
It's VERY much steeped in ritual, which I am very used to and understand (helps to have gone to those long Catholic Easter eve services as a kid lol). Some of the audience around me didn't get it , why everything went very slowly.
The guy playing Akhnaten was interviewed during the second Intermission . He had to have his entire body waxed to remove all hair from his body (ouch). He also had to get in shape so that he could effectively make those very slow movements.
A hallmark of the production is all the juggling taking place throughout . The jugglers have to make sure to stay in time with the music, the tempo switching from 5 to 7.
The highlight is the Hymn to the Sun which is sung during the latter part of Act II. A beautiful hymn praising the Sun and all creation.
A rebroadcast of this opera will take place in a lot of theaters tomorrow . Didn't realize that these operas can be seen in 70 countries .

The live broadcasts are the best--and responsible for Opera being the love of my life, too.

Sorry it doesn't look like I'll get to either the rebroadcast, or see it in the house.  :(

Yes, please do, I'd enjoy hearing you sing!

I never got round to answering this at the time. (Pity about the Glass opera. :()

So Bellini is the man for the high tenor stuff. Now you have to tell the more operatically challenged among us what of Bellini's high tenor rep we should be listening to!

Actually, I just checked and discovered we'd seen La Sonnambula in the Teatro Massimo di Palermo on October 25th, 2000, during a mini tour of Sicily. I even managed to locate the programme notes for that season. Regrettably the google "translation" is too long to post here but it's a revealing read. This string will get you there: "'Questa Sonnambula è un canto sublime' al massimo". ;)

Well the stupid high stuff, my favourite, includes Arturo in I Puritani, and Fernando from Bianca e Fernando.  I love Nicolai Gedda's recordings of Puritani (and in general; what a pro he was) and for Fernando I enjoy Greg Kunde's high Fs. 

This is not a great recording but here he is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1nA19TvH9I (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1nA19TvH9I)

Ye gods! That high F at 8:00!! :o

Interestingly, I had a cursory look round this morning and bumped into Nicolai G several times (I'm familiar with the name but not the voice) but thought I'd wait for your verdict.

I shall look out for his Arturo on YouTube. Thanks!

Here are Nicolai Gedda and Beverly Sills in "Credeasi, misera". NG supplies another one of those high F's--what a thrilling sound. I see I Puritani was Bellini's last work during his short life.

So JK's listening to opera these days... In this case I'm sure the personal connection helps, having visited Catania (and Naples and Paris)--I just needed a nudge, I suppose. ;D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9w_TTK7UP1c

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_puritani

I love Gedda so much.  He seemed like such a nice man,besides being a great singer.  Have you got to he and Sutherland’s live recording of “vieni fra queste braccie” where they both sing a high D simultaneously.  Idda peed my pants if I were in the opera house for that.

It's late (well past one a.m.) but I got there!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAEkrBbEELo

That unisono passage just after 2:50 beggars belief. As you say (using other imagery), just imagine hearing that live! I like the uploader's comment that "Gedda's top register was the most glorious sound that ever came from a man's throat". I take it you agree. :)

I've always equated Joan Sutherland with the admittedly wondrous likes of Strauss's Four Last Songs. This puts her in an entirely different light.

There are lots of interviews with Gedda on YouTube. I'll check out some of them tomorrow. ;)

Here's a dilemma:

My Mother has asked to go to an opera at the Met with me when she and my father visit me here in NYC for Christmas.  (As has been our custom, even before I lived here...)

The dilemma is:  The two options are Wozzeck with Peter Mattei, which under normal circumstances would be a slam dunk, especially since Yannick Nezet-Seguin is conducting.

But the other option is Rosenkavalier, which I have never seen in an house, and which the Met orchestra interprets so movingly, AND the cast might feature Magdalena Kožená OR Matthew Polenzani, neither of whom I've heard in person, the former of which's reading of the mezzo arias in Bach's cantata Mein Herz Swimmt im Blut never cease to make me weep, the latter of which has been such a consistently satisfying tenor over the years for me that I really owe it to myself to hear him live.

On the other hand...Peter Mattei is glorious, and it's Wozzeck...

Dear me, JH, this isn't going to be easy. I assume you've checked that tickets are still available for both. And you're familiar with the work of the costume and stage set designers in both cases. I'm almost tempted to ask which one you think your mother would prefer but that's hardly the point!

Assuming you've seen Wozzeck before, that's the one factor (bar extenuating circumstances such as a change in the cast) that could break the dilemma and tip the scales in favour of the Strauss.

It's something for you to consider. It may help you to make up your mind one way or the other.

I'll check out your other recent posts tomorrow. ;)

Well, JH, have you decided yet? Time is running out, you know. It would be terrible if you missed out on both of them...

And (to save you diving into the Sandbox again)... any joy with your Kansas City research errand?

I've not decided!

No joy with KC.  Might have to go myself sometime in the medium range future.

Taking your remark at the top of page 3 into consideration, I'll put my money on Wozzeck. ;)

Pity about the KC (non-)connection...

Got out of the house yesterday afternoon and caught an abbreviated version of The Magic Flute at the movie theater, an earlier production by the Met. It was advertised as kid friendly. Didn't see any little kids but there was a fair sized group of teenagers there which was nice.
There were lots of puppets and flying birds. Great escapism.
I'm not an opera expert by any means. Don t know who did the "definitive " version of a certain character. Anyway, after the Queen of the Night's first aria (not the famous one, that came later) someone in the crowd shouted "Awful!" Didn't think she was awful, but what do I know? He made some further comments that were met by twitters from the audience. After it ended and as everyone was leaving the guy said, "Makes you appreciate (Maria) Callas." I thought it was hilarious. : -)

You know what sounds good to you!

There's a very distinct kind of opera fan whose enjoyment of opera seems to come in the form of hating 99% of the people who sing it, not really caring about the actual music, composers, dramaturgy, etc, and judging people who like what they themselves hate.  It seems to me to be a decidedly joy-free way to care about something, but there it is.  I am of course always happy to hear a great singer, but I'm a composer person, not a singer person.  If a mediocre singer sings a piece of music I love, I still love the piece of music.

Glad you had fun, E. The "definitive" interpreter of the Queen of the Night? Found a bunch of names on a website and the most mentioned were those of Lucia Popp, Edda Moser, Diana Damrau, Natalie Dessay, Ana Dulovski and Cristina Deutekom. I'm far less of an opera expert than you! I was about to say aeijtzsche is the person you need--and there she was!

Anyway, this is La Deutekom demonstrating her considerable vocal chops (gotta support the Dutch candidate):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpgluRqpsjc

(https://img.discogs.com/rC9kGGo9o_iEwKd-hW6M60IVr7U=/fit-in/300x300/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(40)/discogs-images/R-9636284-1487065790-9630.png.jpg)

Someone could be in for a treat. ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEKd3cFAcn4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Rosenkavalier

My attention was drawn to this aria, "Tenez! Elle ouvre sa fenêtre!... Il m'aime!", from Act 3 of Gounod's Faust in a most unexpected and delightful way. This version appears to date from 1951: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O7I_3Asg5A

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gounod-Eleanor-Steber-Metropolitan-Orchestra/dp/B06XRHRLHZ  (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gounod-Eleanor-Steber-Metropolitan-Orchestra/dp/B06XRHRLHZ)

Trying to decide whether to see Wozzeck at the HD broadcast on Saturday. I've seen the previews and it looks to be a fantastic production. But it also looks to be 2 hours of sheer depression. Do I want to do this?
Maybe I can arrange to go home after the opera and watch old Fawlty Towers or Fry and Laurie episodes to feel good again.

Really, E, it's only a story! And think of Berg's wonderful music. ::)

This is the Met, right? With Peter Mattei and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. You'll be kicking yourself if you don't go. Remember JH's dilemma. ;)

I missed this first time round (probably because it wasn't addressed to me!). Oh yes indeed. Another composer person here. An orchestra can massacre a favourite piece of mine--it won't change my opinion of that piece a jot.

Once I heard a college orchestra making a complete mockery of the "Polovtsian Dances" from Borodin's opera Prince Igor. The conductor even stopped the rehearsal for the umpteenth time to complain that one of the trombones sounded like a camel in labour. That was me finished for the rest of the evening. Still love those dances though. ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGNObWgU2Qw

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Igor (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Igor)

And lo and behold, Lucy Crowe, singing Rodelinda in that video, will be fulfilling that same role in Amsterdam later this month, together with countertenors Bejun Mehta (Bertarido) and Lawrence Zazzo (Unulfo):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymxatfxrMt8

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodelinda_(opera) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodelinda_(opera))

Okay I will see Wozzeck. However I can't see it on Saturday . The weather here is supposed to be severe. However, thank goodness , the theater will show a repeat next Wednesday afternoon so I'll go then.

Did you make it to Wozzeck, Lizzie? And if so, what was your verdict?

Great production but very depressing. :-(

Sorry to hear that, E.

To lift us up a bit, here's a duet from Rodelinda, now getting seven performances in Amsterdam's opera house. Countertenor Lawrence Zazzo (Unulfo in Amsterdam) is Bertarido in this duet ("Io t'abbraccio") from Act 2, with Nuria Rial as Rodelinda (Lucy Crowe does the honours in Amsterdam):       

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpDEEBw50n8

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodelinda_(opera) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodelinda_(opera))

As to snobbery in Opera, there was a post on the Metropolitan Opera FB page urging patrons who attend the matinee performance today to stay after it ends. There will be a discussion session featuring some of the cast, possibly the conductor, etc.
Believe it or not, there were a couple of posts criticizing this, saying this is how Opera is being "dumbed down" nowadays. According to them , Opera is for the elite and not what one referred to as the "great unwashed." Thought he was kidding but from his later replies he and the other guy were serious.
 I'm thinking about my "unwashed", just getting by Grandmother , who treasured her 78rpm Enrico Caruso records .

That's sick! I remember the under-gardener at our local manor house, a very basic kind of a chap, was a great fan of light opera.

Sick, and supremely insulting. "Dumbed down" my left leg. I wonder if you met these types face to face whether they'd be so gosh darn cocky.

Here's another version of this duet I heard this morning on Dutch radio, sung by Joyce DiDonato (Rodelinda) and Patrizia Ciofi (Bertarido):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLJqsBGSj5w

 I don’t know how many countries can access this, but the Metropolitan Opera is showing free broadcasts of operas. The opera showing through tomorrow is Carmen.
It’s available on the Met Opera on Demand app available on various devices.

Let's hope a bunch of people watched it. I'm not an app person (except for family) but belated thanks anyway for the heads up, Lizzie.

Hoping you're okay out there.

By way of compensation for not watching it, here's the wonderfully upbeat overture:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oADEqBBJaaA

Hello, the free series is continuing for the Met broadcasts. They will be doing a couple of Italian operas. Next week will be all Wagner.
Sad news - got word that the Met is laying off all of its union musicians and chorus. But I think trying to maintain their health coverage for a while (imagine those of you outside the US shaking your heads at that, as health coverage is a given where you live)

Our local opera company suggested another source for free streaming of operas
Operavision.eu
Operas performed by various European companies
They are now featuring Mozart operas performed by a Finnish company.

Oooff! This topic hasn't been posted in since lockdown.

To help keep my spirits up in these weird times, I recently turned to a work by the memorably named Italian Baroque composer Leonardo Vinci. It's his 1725 opera La Rosmira fedele, also known these days as (La) Partenope after the Queen of that name, here sung by the contralto Sonia Prina, whom I know aeijtzsche considers a model for her own singing voice.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kpmNYKFOG-nmlCo0y-TUDxiworHP9l6rY

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71a32tj6QdL._SY606_.jpg)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partenope_(Vinci) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partenope_(Vinci))

Each of the 54 segments in the video linked in the previous post identifies the role featured in that segment. To facilitate listening, and in case the cover image does a runner, here's a list of who sings what:

Maria Ercolano, soprano (Arsace, Prince of Corinth)
Maria Grazia Schiavo, soprano (Rosmira/Eurimene, beloved of Arsace)
Eufemia Tufano, mezzo-soprano (Emilio, Prince of Cumae)
Sonia Prina, contralto (Partenope, Queen of Naples)
Stefano Ferrari, tenor (Armindo, Prince of Rhodes)
Charles Do Santos, baritone (Ormonte, commander of Partenope's troops)

Giuseppe/Pino De Vittorio, tenor and Borja Quiza, baritone, provide comic intermezzi, variously described as hilarious ("they stole the show") and excruciating!

(Recorded live 29 April--1 May 2011, Auditorium Victor Villegas, Murcia, Spain.)

Before we leave this topic, the page linked below gives an invaluable in-depth review of the live performances and clarifies a couple of things (and explains a whole lot more). First, the two aforementioned comic intermezzi are only on the DVD (and not the CD linked above), where they get the aforementioned flak from some quarters. Second, the banter between Vittorio and Quiza's characters is in Spanish because the audience is Spanish! For those interested, and to gather as much material as possible in one place, here are both intermezzi as included on the DVD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtN1e1TvB90

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2r0jvhcWFU

https://theidlewoman.net/2015/01/14/partenope-leonardo-vinci-1725/ (https://theidlewoman.net/2015/01/14/partenope-leonardo-vinci-1725/)

The closing scene of Francis Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites (completed 1956) has to be one of the most heart-breaking moments in all opera. Towards the end of the Reign of Terror in France during the 1790s, the sisters of a Carmelite monastery went to the scaffold rather that give up their faith. In the final scene (here at 2:25:59), the fall of the guillotine can be heard 14 times as the nuns' voices drop out one by one. Absolutely chilling. That said, this may be the greatest and most affecting music Poulenc ever wrote: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh6ZIguBmV4   

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialogues_of_the_Carmelites (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialogues_of_the_Carmelites)

Yes I’ve only been able to watch it once. Too gut wrenching. :(
I’m a Lay member of the Carmelites. We honor these brave women, the Martyrs of Compiègne, on July 17 each year.

Hello, Lizzie. We only seem to bump into each other here, as I don't post in (or even look at) any other part of this forum these days.

It was certainly brave of them. The strength of their faith defies all imagining.

I've often envied people who have faith, something outside everyday life to fall back on...

Take care in these troubled times.

This brings back some memories of the time when aeijtzsche used to post in this thread. I heard the aria "Caro! Bella!" from Handel's opera Giulio Cesare this morning and thought of her. It features a favourite of hers, the contralto Sonia Prina, in the title role with soprano Natalie Dessay doing most of the singing as Cleopatra, supported by Le Concert d’Astrée under Emmanuelle Haïm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV_7LFDKODA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giulio_Cesare  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giulio_Cesare)