Author Topic: Opera (Read 11456 times)

Bledlow · « **Reply #25 on:** 23 November, 2013, 09:31:17 pm »

Quote from: nicknack on 22 November, 2013, 08:53:22 am

Wozzeck

For a newcomer to opera?

You're a cruel man.

Bledlow · « **Reply #26 on:** 23 November, 2013, 09:44:09 pm »

I too can't understand how people can say "I can't stand opera". I can't stand some operas, & parts of some I enjoy other parts of, & it's not something I'd like to listen to & watch every week, let alone every day, but to me, it's like saying "I can't stand jazz". I find most jazz to be tedious & tuneless. I won't go to the local real ale & jazz festival, because of the jazz. But there are some pieces I love. And I like some opera enough to put up with the boring bits.

A form I like more than opera is the cantata. More singing, less acting. And always, always, the music comes first.

Les Noces - absolutely wonderful. And yeah, I know, it's got all that dancing in it, if properly staged. Aha! Essexian might like that. Well, if he can stand Stravinsky's music.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #27 on:** 23 November, 2013, 10:39:57 pm »

Ever since I first heard him sing, I thought Freddie Mercury would have made a very good operatic tenor.

Eccentrica Gallumbits · « **Reply #28 on:** 23 November, 2013, 10:48:31 pm »

Try the Barcelona album he did with Montserrat Caballe. It's great.

Biggsy · « **Reply #29 on:** 24 November, 2013, 02:23:56 pm »

Someone ought to tell opera singers that amplification has been invented. The only purpose of them singing in that awful way is to project the voice. Wouldn't you rather listen to someone singing from their soul than making a noise just to be heard at the back of the hall?

Exit Stage Left · « **Reply #30 on:** 24 November, 2013, 02:42:02 pm »

I tend to feel that about Marathon running, it would be a lot simpler if they all just used public transport.

Andrij · « **Reply #31 on:** 24 November, 2013, 02:54:16 pm »

Perhaps a bit of auto-tuning as well, just in case?

Opera is seen as music for posh folk, so no surprise a lot of people here "can't stand opera". Reverse snobbery, innit?

Biggsy · « **Reply #32 on:** 24 November, 2013, 03:06:10 pm »

It's nothing to do with posh. It's to do with disliking a style of singing that has the primary purpose of being heard from a great distance without amplification. Some rock, pop and soul singers also sing very loudly, but that's a side effect of expressing their emotion, so it sounds natural. Opera singing is as artificial as auto-tune.

Cudzoziemiec · « **Reply #33 on:** 24 November, 2013, 03:15:34 pm »

Well in that case there's no point in live music at all. Just stay at home and use YouTube.

pcolbeck · « **Reply #34 on:** 24 November, 2013, 03:22:03 pm »

The piano, the resonator guitar, and the dreadnought guitar were developed for the same reason. Perhaps we should stop using those as well.

Biggsy · « **Reply #35 on:** 24 November, 2013, 03:43:37 pm »

I have a very sophisticated and reasonable response to that:

(click to show/hide)

T42 · « **Reply #36 on:** 24 November, 2013, 04:09:05 pm »

Quote from: Biggsy on 24 November, 2013, 03:43:37 pm

I have a very sophisticated and reasonable response to that:

(click to show/hide)
Amplified natural singing, piano and guitar all sound pleasant. Opera singing sounds horrible.

To you.

Biggsy · « **Reply #37 on:** 24 November, 2013, 04:10:49 pm »

Surely to you as well? You're a cousin of mine, judging from your avatar, T42.

T42 · « **Reply #38 on:** 24 November, 2013, 04:19:57 pm »

Nossir, not to me. Cousin perhaps, but tastes differ.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #39 on:** 26 November, 2013, 06:45:53 pm »

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/6Wi7UsXW1As&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/6Wi7UsXW1As&rel=1</a>

For Biggsy. Nothing forced about that performance. Utterly sublime.

Jakob · « **Reply #40 on:** 26 November, 2013, 07:52:50 pm »

Thanks Wow.

Tigerrr · « **Reply #41 on:** 28 November, 2013, 04:22:47 pm »

I love Opera. Les Miserables for instance is a fantastic opera. Pure emotion and spectacle, and magnificent.

T42 · « **Reply #42 on:** 28 November, 2013, 04:28:34 pm »

Suggestion: try Verdi. OK, sometimes the orchestra sounds like the police band but the melodies are pure and sometimes the stories are coherent. Aida's a good one to start with.

Jakob · « **Reply #43 on:** 28 November, 2013, 06:42:47 pm »

Quote from: Tigerrr on 28 November, 2013, 04:22:47 pm

I love Opera. Les Miserables for instance is a fantastic opera. Pure emotion and spectacle, and magnificent.

That was a joke, right?

rogerzilla · « **Reply #44 on:** 28 November, 2013, 08:07:54 pm »

Put it this way, if you can't tell the difference, never follow any of his medical tips.

Eccentrica Gallumbits · « **Reply #45 on:** 19 April, 2016, 09:01:55 pm »

Quote from: Wowbagger on 23 November, 2013, 10:39:57 pm

Ever since I first heard him sing, I thought Freddie Mercury would have made a very good operatic tenor.

Nope, turns out he was a baritone.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/14015439.2016.1156737

rogerzilla · « **Reply #46 on:** 20 April, 2016, 03:38:52 pm »

There's no universal definition of a tenor singer but generally anyone who can comfortably sing a "tenor C" is one, as this means they can sing most tenor pieces. I can only do an A flat. Most men can't sing a tenor C.

hillbilly · « **Reply #47 on:** 20 April, 2016, 03:55:12 pm »

My introduction for neophytes is The Magic Flute. If they don't like that then anything else is going to be a challenge. Then basically choosing ones where they will know at least one of the arias (Carmen, Barber of Seville, La Nozze di Figaro etc.) If they survive that then pretty much anything pre-20th century.

One of my bucket list items is to see all of the Ring Cycle. I've listened to it many times on record/CD, but have yet to see it live.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #48 on:** 27 September, 2016, 08:36:17 am »

Be aware, dear people, that an ROH production of Cosi fan Tutte is due to be broadcast to a cinema near you on 17th October at 6.30pm.

http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/cosi-fan-tutte-by-jan-philipp-gloger?gclid=Cj0KEQjwsai_BRC30KH347fjksoBEiQAoiaqsVBE2TGxAEpV8hB81yhuDKD6DKZOzvvpDU7N-RVsuRkaAr3t8P8HAQ

Snakehips · « **Reply #49 on:** 27 September, 2016, 10:11:20 am »

And last night's Norma is going to be shown again on Sunday 2nd Oct. Recommended.

Author Topic: Opera (Read 11456 times)

Jakob

Jakob

hillbilly