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In Reply to: Interested in trying out Opera? posted by John C. - Aussie on December 13, 2006 at 20:58:35:
I've tried it. I'd rather have a root canal without anasthetic.I realize opera singers great talent, and work very hard at their
profession, but still ... I just cant stand the stuff.Glad you enjoy it though.
Follow Ups:
Human voice is the most refined of all musical instruments. It has tremendous capability of conveying emotion. But this emotion cannot be taken out of context, because passion over nothing is ridiculous. Hence the opera with its fantastic plots, unreal characters, and out-of-life situations. Opera is escapism. But the whole art is nothing but escapism, not opera alone.Unconvinced? Watch Farinelli, the scene where he sings the second Handel area. Good stereo sound will help.
I respect the singers abilities but I cannot listen to it. It's not an indictment on opera, it's just far from my preference.> I'd rather have a root canal without anasthetic. <
I make no distinction between that experience and listening to opera. But I, too, am glad there are people that can appreciate it. It's an art form and as such I'd hate to see it disappear.
I never cared for opera either.However, I love Russian music, including the orchestral suites of Rimsky-Korsakov, and the choral music of Rachmaninoff and others. And I kept reading that Rimsky-Korsakov's best music was his operas.
Then, last year, I returned to SF for a visit. The only thing the SFSO was playing during my stay was Stravinsky's The Nightingale and Oedipus Rex. So I got tickets. It was a staged production, including music, vocals and dance. The Nightingale especially was terrific!
So I got a couple of DVDs of R-K operas, which are rather like ballet with vocals. I've liked them a lot.
I am still quite skeptical of opera. Most of them seem to be the "romance novels" of music - overwrought, trite love stories. I still cannot stand to just listen to opera.
But I've enjoyed watching the DVDs so far. The visual makes a big difference. The dance elements make the R-K works visually exciting.
I've also tried some that did nothing for me. I tried Langgaard's Antikrist, because it seemed to have a more intellectually gripping libretto. Unfortunately, although the music was quite good, the staging was boring and the libretto was absolute idiotic nonsense. And I was disappointed that the only DVD of The Nightingale I could find is animated. What I would give for a video recording of that SFSO performance.
I'll probably try some other operas on DVD. Not sure which ones. I don't think I am ready yet for Wagner. So I'm open to suggestions.
...ignoring most recordings made since, oh, 1960. With exceptions!Offhand I'd recommend, among more recent productions (and available on video), the Peter Sellars threesome of the Mozart / Da Ponte operas, and the Stratas/Carreras/Levine La Boheme -- what a performance!
Most operas are like most movies and musicals--the plots are full of holes and are generally unbelievable. So I treat them that way: as an excuse for great music. Feel free to ignore the generally-silly plots and enjoy operas as abstract music rather than program music.
About 20 years ago I didn't like opera either, and figured I just didn't get it. But I did like Mozart. So I forced myself to sit through an entire CD performance of Don Giovanni. That's when I discovered that Opera could be worth listening to. There are a couple of other operas that are approachable. Carmen, certainly, and to a lesser extent Faust.I still don't listen to most operas. Most sound to me like a few good bits in a sea of "I had to fill 3 hours with notes."
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