brit-gob 9 Posted May 30, 2004 Share Posted May 30, 2004 Anyone ever been to an opera? I've been invited to one over summer and the idea is not exactly something I'm excited about. Interested to hear if anyone has been, their thoughts before and after.... Link to post Share on other sites
Karnidge 2 Posted May 31, 2004 Share Posted May 31, 2004 I've never been but know some people who love going. Not convinced, but if I was invited I think I'd go for the experience. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted May 31, 2004 Share Posted May 31, 2004 It's like going to see a musical except they sing all the time. The arias, the big tunes, are usually pretty stunning moments, but they're few and far between. There's a lot of recitative, a kind of operatic dialogue which is about as fun to listen to as a conversation between two cats in an alley. It's all in Italian, or French, or German, and even if you happen to understand a bit of the lingo, it's hard to grasp when it's being screamed and trilled by a fat lady wearing a tent and a little guy in britches who looks like her lunch. In the interval, you can eat ice-cream and read the programme which goes like this, "Scene 3 A street in Venice. Badoglio, who is secretly married to Vagittio (of which Vagittio is unaware) visits the home of her blind father Madoccio. Madoccio, the exiled prince of Padua, insults Badoglio. Badoglio sings "Vecce do Padova", while Madoccio steals Badoglio's wallet etc." My parents dragged me along to hundreds of operas when I was a kid (I didn't know there were so many!) and by God it was hot in the upper circle with my corduroy trousers on. But by all means go if you're curious. Some people claim to enjoy opera. Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 I think everyone should go to see at least one decent opera to get a real perspective on it. I did not really enjoy the one I went to, but I can see how they might be enjoyed. Just not my cuppa. Seems Ocean11 had a sensory overload back in his corduroy kecks. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 I've only been once, but really enjoyed it. I saw the Flying Dutchman by Wagner in Dresden. It was back in the days of East Germany, and cost next to nothing to go in black market money. The opera house was one of the few buildings to survive the US bombing during the war, and made for a great setting. It's very powerful when you get twenty or thirty singers all going for it in unison. Opera is far more dramatic than ordinary choral music. I didn't find the not understanding the language aspect such a problem. There's usually enough going on as it is. Lots of people seem to be entertained by the Matrix trilogy, for example, without understanding what the story is supposed to be about. For the most part, I have problems listening to Japanese people singing in foreign languages, so I've not been to opera here. Link to post Share on other sites
guzzlers-baps 0 Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 I'd love to go to an opera. I wonder what and where is a good one to go to? Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 Verdi has some of the more memorable tunes... "Your tiny hand is frozen" (always a laff when her tiny hand is about as big as Akenbono's foot). Link to post Share on other sites
Muer-p 0 Posted June 9, 2004 Share Posted June 9, 2004 I've seen Phantom of the Opera. Does that count? Link to post Share on other sites
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