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Author Topic: Opera, anybody?  (Read 32418 times)
hypehat
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« on: June 18, 2011, 07:23:13 AM »

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
« Last Edit: June 18, 2011, 07:32:17 AM by hypehat » Logged

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« Reply #1 on: June 18, 2011, 08:11:28 AM »

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.
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« Reply #2 on: June 18, 2011, 08:03:39 PM »

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. Smiley
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hypehat
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« Reply #3 on: June 21, 2011, 05:47:03 AM »

Well tell me about it then! I am jonesing for tips on what to see/listen to!
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« Reply #4 on: July 21, 2011, 02:32:24 AM »

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.  Grin
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« Reply #5 on: July 21, 2011, 11:50:46 PM »

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.  Grin

Keen on sprechstimme then?  Cheesy Great opera, Lulu as well. If you want to try something further out, I'd recommend "Die Teufel von Loudon" by Penderecki.
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« Reply #6 on: July 22, 2011, 12:59:11 PM »

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.  Grin

Keen on sprechstimme then?  Cheesy 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. 
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« Reply #7 on: July 23, 2011, 06:13:15 AM »

If you want to try something further out, I'd recommend "Die Teufel von Loudon" by Penderecki.

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
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« Reply #8 on: July 23, 2011, 09:36:44 AM »

record shops have acres of boxsets of it on vinyl for peanuts waiting for my grubby mitts.

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...  

I love the orchestral music of many operas but I'm not too keen on most of the singing.

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.

« Last Edit: July 23, 2011, 09:45:33 AM by noname » Logged
pixletwin
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« Reply #9 on: August 11, 2011, 12:55:52 PM »

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

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hypehat
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« Reply #10 on: August 11, 2011, 01:12:48 PM »

Dude, you posted that last time! You gonna tell us what you like or what?  Grin
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All roads lead to Kokomo. Exhaustive research in time travel has conclusively proven that there is no alternate universe WITHOUT Kokomo. It would've happened regardless.
What is this "life" thing you speak of ?

Quote from: Al Jardine
Syncopate it? In front of all these people?!
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« Reply #11 on: August 11, 2011, 06:32:14 PM »

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

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.

 Razz
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Joshilyn Hoisington
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« Reply #12 on: August 11, 2011, 07:33:39 PM »

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!
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hypehat
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« Reply #13 on: October 06, 2011, 12:06:46 PM »

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....
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All roads lead to Kokomo. Exhaustive research in time travel has conclusively proven that there is no alternate universe WITHOUT Kokomo. It would've happened regardless.
What is this "life" thing you speak of ?

Quote from: Al Jardine
Syncopate it? In front of all these people?!
hypehat
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« Reply #14 on: October 06, 2011, 12:08:11 PM »

They even have some Caruso recordings in there! This is fantastic...
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All roads lead to Kokomo. Exhaustive research in time travel has conclusively proven that there is no alternate universe WITHOUT Kokomo. It would've happened regardless.
What is this "life" thing you speak of ?

Quote from: Al Jardine
Syncopate it? In front of all these people?!
Peter Reum
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« Reply #15 on: October 09, 2011, 09:34:41 PM »

I like opera, but I went to Rigoletto this afternoon and really didn't care for it.
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« Reply #16 on: October 10, 2011, 08:36:16 AM »

I may be crucified for this, but I think much of Verdi's works verge on "extremely boring".
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Ron
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« Reply #17 on: October 10, 2011, 08:38:02 AM »

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

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. 
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« Reply #18 on: October 10, 2011, 08:42:26 AM »

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.
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Joshilyn Hoisington
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« Reply #19 on: October 30, 2011, 12:36:59 PM »

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".

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.
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« Reply #20 on: November 30, 2011, 06:14:25 PM »

I should say, "Upon which you can't always rely."
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« Reply #21 on: November 30, 2011, 11:44:21 PM »


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.


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.
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« Reply #22 on: December 05, 2011, 01:10:43 PM »

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?
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hypehat
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« Reply #23 on: December 05, 2011, 01:14:57 PM »

Aw, we try!  Grin

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...
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All roads lead to Kokomo. Exhaustive research in time travel has conclusively proven that there is no alternate universe WITHOUT Kokomo. It would've happened regardless.
What is this "life" thing you speak of ?

Quote from: Al Jardine
Syncopate it? In front of all these people?!
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« Reply #24 on: December 05, 2011, 01:43:34 PM »

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?

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