Author Topic: Opera  (Read 11348 times)

Basil

  • Um....err......oh bugger!
  • Help me!
Re: Opera
« Reply #50 on: 27 September, 2016, 09:07:12 pm »
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

Little Richard innit?
Admission.  I'm actually not that fussed about cake.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Opera
« Reply #51 on: 28 September, 2016, 09:23:22 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.
I'd be inclined to start with Don Giovanni because it's easy enough to follow the plot without subtitles.  The Magic Flute has some weird Masonic shit in it.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Opera
« Reply #52 on: 18 October, 2016, 12:36:56 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

Well, Mrs. Wow and I went to the Maidstone Odeon to witness this event. The singing was wonderful and the music utterly sublime, as we knew it would be, but the trivially stupid plot was taken more seriously than on the previous two occasions that I've watched it, and Mrs. Wow came out feeling angry.

The plot is that the blokes from two sets of lovers get involved in a bet with another older guy that, with the blokes' co-operation, within 24 hours the two women will have been unfaithful. This is achieved by the ploy of the two guys telling their lovers that they have suddenly been called up to fight in a war, and then they return in disguise and each homes in on his friend's lover. Of course, the older guy wins the bet. Normally, I think directors are sensible enough just to concentrate on the music, but in tonight's performance the two women ended up feeling very guilty and the blokes were angry with them for their infidelity. There was quite a bit of background and behind the scenes stuff (we were in the cinema about 4 hours, and the interval was only 20 minutes) and the conductor, Semyon Bychkov, claimed that the plot was "feminist". Where he got that idea I really don't know. The whole point about it is that women are made to look like unfaithful airheads whilst the blokes revelled in totally unjustified indignation.

Anyway, it still contains some of the most wonderful music and remains, I think, my favourite opera - but I have to confess that I have not experience all that many. THe ROH are broadcasting several more to cinemas over the next few months, as well as some ballet.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

mattc

  • n.b. have grown beard since photo taken
    • Didcot Audaxes
Re: Opera
« Reply #53 on: 18 October, 2016, 09:37:11 am »
Have I got this right (based on brief googling):
Alfonso (the "older guy") believes all women are fickle. So HE bets on the two fiancées being UNfaithful.

In which case, the two young studs have no motivation to successfully seduce the women (unless the point is that they are overtaken by natural male urges!).

Seems a very odd way to setup a wager.  :-\
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Opera
« Reply #54 on: 18 October, 2016, 10:34:17 am »
Funny to see it billed as Mozart and da Ponte - it's rare to see an opera billed like a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.  I couldn't tell you the names of Puccini's or Verdi's librettists (Wagner should have shot his).

There doesn't seem to be a rule for billing musicals/operette - Gilbert libretto, Sullivan music but Rodgers music & Hammerstein libretto.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Eccentrica Gallumbits

  • Rock 'n' roll and brew, rock 'n' roll and brew...
Re: Opera
« Reply #55 on: 18 October, 2016, 02:28:55 pm »
My feminist marxist dialectic brings all the boys to the yard.


Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Opera
« Reply #56 on: 18 October, 2016, 10:56:36 pm »
Have I got this right (based on brief googling):
Alfonso (the "older guy") believes all women are fickle. So HE bets on the two fiancées being UNfaithful.

In which case, the two young studs have no motivation to successfully seduce the women (unless the point is that they are overtaken by natural male urges!).

Seems a very odd way to setup a wager.  :-\

I think you have got it right. That's why, given that the plot makes absolutely no sense at all, it is best to concentrate on the sublime music. Last night's performance actually tried to make some sense of the plot. It's bloody ridiculous since, for a lot of the time, the blokes' disguises aren't actually in place. You are forced to believe that their lovers only recognise them when they are wearing a specific suit and tie each.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Opera
« Reply #57 on: 19 October, 2016, 08:00:45 am »
I suppose audiences that will swallow a three-ton Tosca will swallow anything.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: Opera
« Reply #58 on: 19 October, 2016, 08:03:59 am »
(Wagner should have shot his).

He wrote his own librettos, didn't he? I take it you're not a fan...

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Opera
« Reply #59 on: 19 October, 2016, 09:42:21 am »
I enjoy the music, but when e.g. three Valkyries stand on a mountain-top amid thunder & lightning belting it out, it's a wee big anticlimactic to know that they're singing something along the lines of "Oh look, here comes Fred**, I hope he won't scare the horses".

** or Odin, Löki, Janet Street Porter or other agent of mischief and doom.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: Opera
« Reply #60 on: 19 October, 2016, 03:57:20 pm »
Most opera can be summed up as "after a lot of singing, she dies"  ;D
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

mattc

  • n.b. have grown beard since photo taken
    • Didcot Audaxes
Re: Opera
« Reply #61 on: 19 October, 2016, 06:36:28 pm »
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Opera
« Reply #62 on: 25 October, 2016, 09:50:06 am »
My introduction for neophytes is The Magic Flute.

As mentioned over in the theatre thread, I've never had much desire to go to the opera but after seeing Amadeus at the NT last night, I want to see the Magic Flute.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Basil

  • Um....err......oh bugger!
  • Help me!
Re: Opera
« Reply #63 on: 20 November, 2016, 06:04:02 pm »
Good news:. Just booked very decent seats for WNO's M. Butterfly for us, two sons and respective gfs for February in Cardiff.
Bad news:. How much!!!? 

Mrs. B and I have already 'done' Butterfly, but I figure it is a good intro for the boys and gfs.  Of the operas we've already seen, I think that that, Bohem and Carmen are good starters for those new to opera.
Admission.  I'm actually not that fussed about cake.

Basil

  • Um....err......oh bugger!
  • Help me!
Re: Opera
« Reply #64 on: 20 November, 2016, 06:07:09 pm »
*makes note to stock up on man sized tissues in the new year*
Admission.  I'm actually not that fussed about cake.

hillbilly

Re: Opera
« Reply #65 on: 20 November, 2016, 08:45:34 pm »
I've discovered the pleasure of small scale opera, having recently enjoyed a performance of Die Fledermaus by Fulham Opera. They perform in a church, accompanied by an 11 piece orchestra. The singers are right in front of you, belting out numbers. It's rather stirring and much more engaging than ROH and ENO.  It helps that Die Fledermaus is rather funny with some easy to get along with arias.  I'm not going to claim that all such small productions will be as engaging but it really gives a sense of people and voice.

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: Opera
« Reply #66 on: 10 August, 2023, 10:01:01 am »
We went to see M Butterfly. The first ever opera I have seen, apart from a comic opera. About 200 in the audience, in an intimate setting.

It only took 2 hours and had surtitles. I didn’t recognise any of the tunes though.
It is simpler than it looks.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Opera
« Reply #67 on: 10 August, 2023, 11:13:40 am »
Not even The Stars and Stripes?
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: Opera
« Reply #68 on: 10 August, 2023, 11:15:50 am »
Not sure that was in it!

To be fair, it was a piano and a violin, rather than an ensemble.
It is simpler than it looks.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Opera
« Reply #69 on: 10 August, 2023, 04:10:10 pm »
The first duet between Pinkerton and Sharpless is larded with the first phrase of it, and it recurs a few times throughout the rest.

https://youtu.be/wH9jmcKOefU

Lovely stuff. Never seen it performed live but I've listened to it more than a few times.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

CrazyEnglishTriathlete

  • Miles eaten don't satisfy hunger
  • Chartered accountant in 5 different decades
    • CET Ride Reports and Blogs
Re: Opera
« Reply #70 on: 15 September, 2023, 09:09:01 pm »
Now you’ve got me.  Am I looking forward more to the Beast in Black / Gloryhammer double-header or the UK premiere of George Benjamin’s latest opera? 
Eddington Numbers 130 (imperial), 182 (metric) 571 (furlongs)  114 (nautical miles)