Which Opera Should I Try to Go To?

[duchess of malfi]

I tried one opera way back when I was a college freshman, and just discovering classical music -- and I hated it!
It is only recently that I realized that the opera I had seen was by a composer I do not particularly care for...
So I thought I would try again...with a composer I like...
There are two operas by Mozart coming up in my area soon...one put on by the University of Michigan School of Music and the other by the professionals at the Michigan Opera Theater.
I guess I just wanted some input from people who are opera fans on which might be a better choice?
With Elohimfest coming, I will only have finances to attend one, but not both...and lack of time is always a big factor, too...

[matrixman]

Don Giovanni, if you're in the mood for a darker side of Mozart.

Umm, works for me. But that's just my humble opinion, Duchess.

[Fist and Faith]

Not an opera fan myself. Some of the most extraordinary music ever written can be found in the arias and duets of many operas. But that's only a few/several minutes in a work of a couple hours.

Not much of a Mozart fan either. Of his several hundred pieces, I only truly love a few, and think many others are ok.

So am I gonna be any help here?? But I give the same answer as MM, and for the same reason. My complaint with Mozart is that, to my ear, it doesn't usually have the depth of emotion of my favorite composers. Too cutesy. But Don Giovanni is a bit more serious.

[duchess of malfi]

I am a Beethoven girl myself, but I do really like Mozart's Requiem...

[matrixman]

The Duchess likes Ludwig!

I've listened only to parts of Mozart's Requiem, but they were good parts.

I really don't know The Magic Flute, hence I picked Don Giovanni, because I at least heard the whole thing once--watched a production of it on PBS years ago.

My view of Mozart is the same as Fist's. Aside from a few works I love, much of Wolfgang's music seems bland to my ears.

[duchess of malfi]

Oh yes, I do like Ludwig. The passion and fire in his music speaks to me as no other musician can.

[Fist and Faith]

Did you know Beethoven has an opera? Fidelio. Of course, it's probably not coming to your area soon, but you could always get the cd.

[Worm of Despite]

"Fidelio" was the password Tom Cruise used to get into the you-know-where in Eyes Wide Shut.

[Fist and Faith]

I wouldn't know. Only a filthy perv would watch that movie.











Although he shouldn't have said it the second time, eh?

[Worm of Despite]

Yelp.

It would've been nice if Bach had made operas.

[Fist and Faith]

Heh. Yeah, because maybe then I'd be an opera fan!

[matrixman]

Kubrick's use of the word in his film was a kick for us rabid droogs. All hail Ludwig van! (Oops, wrong Kubrick film.)

But does this mean that folks who've seen Eyes Wide Shut but don't know Beethoven will from now on associate the word 'Fidelio' with 'sex orgy'?

It does seem surprising that Bach didn't write an opera, since he explored just about every other musical form of his time. Maybe something like the St. John Passion or St. Matthew Passion was the closest Bach came to doing opera?

[Damelon]

I haven't seen Eyes Wide Shut, so I'll comment on the original question posed by Duchess.

I've never been to an opera myself. I've always been curious about seeing Wagner's Ring cycle though, and the Lyric Opera's doing the cycle next year for their 50th anniversary, so ummm....

Duchess, I don't think you'd miss with either choice, but I'd probably pick The Magic Flute myself.

Mozart is "easy listening". I like his music for having the qualities of being "thinking music", music to listen to while concentrating on a problem. Not as intense as Beethoven for the most part, though there's some intense music there, yet for the most part his music has the quality of being "graceful". BTW, his thread has inspired me to play one of his "intense" pieces, his 40th Symphony.

Foul, I remember reading a story about Bach traveling to try to meet Handel. Handel was regarded, in their lifetimes, as the greatest living composer, and a writer of operas. Anyway, Bach walked to where ever it was that Handel was living at the time, only to find out that Handel had moved that morning. The writer mourned that they could have learned from each other. Handel learning Bach's compositional theory, and Bach about composing operas.

[Fist and Faith]

Yes, MM, odd about Bach writing no operas. We mark 1600 as the beginning of the Baroque era, because that's when opera was invented. And yet the guy who is so often considered the pinnacle of the Baroque, the guy whose death in 1750 marks the end of the Baroque era, didn't write any. As you say, the Passions are a clue. He worked as a cantor in the church in Leipizig for many years. Before that, I guess none of his patrons wanted operas. Tons of instrumental music while working for Leopold in Cöthen (Anhalt-Köthen).

As for the word "Fidelio," I haven't heard the opera, but the other association can't be a bad thing!

[matrixman]

I've never heard Fidelio either, F&F, only the overture, which is a strong piece of music by itself. Someday I'm going to sit down and listen to the whole thing.

Damelon, if you decide to go see The Ring, be sure to report your adventures to the us afterwards. It ought to be quite an experience! I just hope for your sake that they won't be charging exorbitant ticket prices. I've seen the entire Ring cycle, but only on TV (of course). It was the one put on by the Metropolitan Opera and directed by Maestro James Levine.

Mozart's 40th? Yessir, I like that one. Symphonies Nos. 36 "Linz" and 38 "Prague" are my two other favorites of his.

[duchess of malfi]

Well, I am going to try Don Giovanni this Friday night www.music.umich.edu/events/coe.lasso...if I like it perhaps I can talk my way into seeing The Magic Flute www.motopera.org/current_season/03-04_s ... cflute.htm later this spring...if it can fit in with our very busy schedules...

[Fist and Faith]

Since Damelon brought it up in the Beethoven thread, the bargain-priced Naxos label has some great opera performances. At least they're great according to people who know lot more about opera than I do. Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia is considered by many to be as good a performance as any.

You know, getting the Penguin Opera Guide isn't the worst idea. www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/ ... 5?v=glance Like any review guide, some people will argue that it's great, and others will argue that it's crap. Personally, I've never disagreed with any of the overall Penguin Guide's favorite picks. There are recordings that I think are great that they don't like, but none that they think are great that I don't like.

[Edinburghemma]

Kubrick's use of the word in his film was a kick for us rabid droogs. All hail Ludwig van! (Oops, wrong Kubrick film.)

But does this mean that folks who've seen Eyes Wide Shut but don't know Beethoven will from now on associate the word 'Fidelio' with 'sex orgy'?

I always associate Ludwig with orgies and I know Beethoven quite well , and there's nothing wrong with that!

On the opera front. I had a very nasty run in with an opera singer once, (although one of my best friends is an opera singer, so it is going some way to alleviate my animosity) and now have a hard time having anything to do with the art form. All opera is evil.

[duchess of malfi]

Well, tonight is the night...I'll let you all know how it goes...

[duchess of malfi]

It was very good, though Californiababy whispered urgently to me as soon as it began

This thing is in Italian!!!!!

They did have a little screen above the stage, however, that had little captions to give you the general idea of what was going on. I don't think it was a direct translation because they would have one little line for five or more minutes of singing, but it worked. You could follow the plot.

The music was glorious...the singers, many of them graduate students in opera performance, were wonderful, especially the girl who played Donna Anna...it was a sold out performance and they all got a standing encore.