Opera

[thomas_williams]

I am wondering how many of you are opera fans?  I am.  I have listened to a number of operas on the radio, but this past Thursday night I got to actually watch a live operatic performance for the first time.  I saw Cavaleria Rusticana and Pagliacci (sung in English) at the State University of West Georgia in Carrollton, GA.  Magnificent performance-- greater effect than if the words had been merely spoken-- I just don't know what else to say!  So who else has comments?

[MzrtMusic]

I love Opera! I got hooked with Mozart's "The Magic Flute" and I've loved it ever since! I recently got to go see "Turandot" by Puccini, and I too was moved incredibly. There is something about listening to music in a foreign language... There is an emotional quality that gets lost when you are concentrating on the meaning of the words.

[thomas_williams]

Yes, when I don't understand the words, the voice often seems like another instrument.  I would like to see an opera sung in a foreign language-- watching the action would probably add some understanding.  But then, when I do understand the words, it's like listening to-- or watching-- a movie or play, but the effect is greatly enhanced by the music.

[tosca1]

I adore opera. The human singing voice is unsurpassed in its emotional impact.  When describing the emotional force of Maria Callas's singing, the great  Renee Fleming described it as a kind of "cultivated screaming".  The language of music should mostly address the heart and of course the rapturous power of the operatic voice can touch us in a way that no other instrument can.
Opera fires the imagination with the full gamut of emotional responses.  

As pianists we can all learn from listening to the vocal artistry of a great singer in shaping a phrase and bringing life to each note.

Kind regards,
Robert.

[erik-]

I love opera but what I enjoy most in opera is the music and voices not the words and the meaning of the words, because they are quite "stupid". I went to see Rene Flemming performing in Massenet's opera "Manon" once, and there was a whole aria where she sang farwell to a small table. The aria was really beautiful ! but the text was just laughable. And there are many examples like that.

[tosca1]

I envy you in having had the chance to hear Miss Fleming perform as I believe she has the most glorious voice and the artistry to match in the world today. On a dramatic level opera works mainly through the presentation of conflict whether it be personal, political, religious, love or whatever.  The beautiful aria "Adieu, notre petite table" from Massenet's "Manon" touches us because of its musical and dramatic poignancy as the little table is the symbol of the wonderful happiness of a love affair that sadly Manon has to abandon.  When a singer of Renee Fleming's calibre performs this aria it speaks directly to our heart and transcends mere verbal language.
I agree that much in opera is melodramatic and dramatically implausible but that is why it is opera and  an artform that takes us beyond  the literal and prosaic.

Kind regards,
Robert.

[donjuan]

Opera is wrongly stereotyped by multitudes of stupid people.  I love opera fro the atmosphere and rich melodies.  BY favorites are Bellini's "Norma" and
"I Puritani"  Don Giovanni by Mozart is perhaps one of the greatest as well.  Long live the theatre!!

[thomas_williams]

Yeah, some people have these idiotic stereotypes of what they think opera is-- for example, read (and listen to) what soprano Lauren Criddle has to say about her experience working with elementary school kids:
https://www.fromthetop.org/gr_pages/gr_ym_Criddle_Lauren.html

(It is actually a hillarious episode on the show From the Top, but kids should learn the truth about opera and classical music in general.)