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Re: Hi Smorg... (Reply to this comment)
by smorg
Hiya Regina!
Man! $50-75 for an "orchestra" seat is pretty sweet indeed! Have you tried the Dress Circle of the Lower Balcony yet (just to see if the acoustics is better)? Here at Civic Theater, I'd almost always go for the lower balcony for the better acoustic even if I can't see the performers as well.
And great observation about the universal appeal of The Magic Flute, too. :o) It's amazing how Mozart fits all those different music into the same opera and makes it flow!
I wish it is easier for the modern audience to take to opera... But the truth is, this music genre (same as other genres of classical music) requires attention... One really has to not be multitasking but sitting down and really listen in order to really appreciate opera, I think. Most young people today don't seem to want to invest in that.
Anyhow! Thanks a bunch for stopping by. Hope your weekend has started well!
Ciao,
Smorgy :o)
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Mar 14 '08
10:33 pm PDT
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Hi Smorg... (Reply to this comment)
by reginafug
great advice!
The more one listens, the more addictive it becomes.
I was blessed to live in Houston, and at $50-75 for an "orchestra" seat, it is a sweet indulgence to listen to "live" opera, indeed.
Regarding the "young and old".... there is a masterpiece out there suitable for every age bracket. Obviously some operas are very dark and full of doom, and would scare the young. But, at the Magic Flute (the last HGO performance I could attend, last month, boo, hoo!), it was delightful to see so many youngsters in the audience, and they were really into it!
A great write-up, Smorgy!
Regina
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Mar 13 '08
2:46 pm PDT
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Hiya Vic & Margaret (Reply to this comment)
by smorg
Hey, The Magic Flute is a great work for most beginners indeed. And it's really to Mozart's credit that the same work appeals to hard-core opera fans as well. Sometimes it's hard to imagine that a single Singspiel could house both a folksy aria like Papageno's 'Der Vogelfänger bin ich, ja!' and a devastating lament like Pamina's 'Ach! ich fühl'. The dude was a force of nature!
By the way, Margaret, have you read Edwin McArthur's biography of Kirsten Flagstad? I just got around to it this week and your great uncle is mentioned a lot (in very nice ways, too)! :o)
Wishing y'all a very happy weekend!
Cheerio,
Smorgy :o)
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Mar 07 '08
5:22 pm PST
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Re: God bless... (Reply to this comment)
by smorg
Hiya Schlamozzel,
Thanks a bunch for your kind endorsement, bro. :o)
I'm only advertising it, but the real credits should go to the great musicians and theater crews who deliver the goods with each performance, tho. It never ceases to amaze me how they can make you forget how preposterous the opera's story line often is and totally relate to the characters and the music they play.
Cheerio, :o)
Smorgy ...confesses to having as many as 10 wiggly toes that also love opera music! ;o)
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Mar 07 '08
12:59 pm PST
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Re: Re: Re: Your enthusiasm will make recruits... (Reply to this comment)
by Penguinlady
My great-uncle used to be a conductor at the Met, the director of the "German Wing" when Toscanini was his counterpart in the "Italian Wing." When he died, his widow got lifetime tickets, so even when we had no money at all, my parents used to go to the old Met and sit in good orchestra seats.
They took me to my first Figaro when I was about seven, and I've probably seen it at least a dozen times since then, if not more. I loved it as a kid, not knowing the real story, and was transfixed by people jumping out of windows and hiding in chairs and mistaken identity and gorgeous music.
I think it's a great introduction to opera!
Margaret
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Mar 07 '08
9:52 am PST
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Re: Re: Your enthusiasm will make recruits... (Reply to this comment)
by vicfar
Margaret,
as a matter of fact I do recommend the Magic Flute as the first opera. It is short, lots of fun, no sopranos rolling their eyes and dying of TB...i.e. something one does not need any practice to immediately like. I remember hearing the aria from the Queen of the Night when I was a kid and I was totally transfixed!
Cheers
Vic
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Mar 07 '08
3:35 am PST
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Re: Your enthusiasm will make recruits... (Reply to this comment)
by Penguinlady
a Mozart Opera - great music, little recitative,
Well, as long as you don't go see The Magic Flute or Abduction... They are mostly sprechtstimme, lots and lots and lots of talking.
On second thought, that's not rally recit, is t? So mayube you're right!
Margaret
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Mar 06 '08
10:19 pm PST
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God bless... (Reply to this comment)
by Schlamozzel
Your SPIRIT! Thank you for your FINE WORK to make Opera "approachable" by the masses. You are a true lady from head to toe. (Assuming you have toes)
I bow to you, dear sweet woman.
Cheers,
Schlamozzel
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Mar 06 '08
7:03 am PST
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Re: Your enthusiasm will make recruits... (Reply to this comment)
by smorg
Hiya Vic,
Ick! I'm always mixing up the o and the a in these Italian names! Thanks a bunch for the alert, bro. :o) I've got to review one of his opera soon, too (probably the La Bohème with Pavarotti and Cotrubas). Been meaning to, but kept getting distracted into other recordings.
You're right about the recitative being a turn off, I think (especially the secco ones of the opera seria). That's a cool thing about watching the DVD, where you can usually skip them and go straight to the songs (providing that you already know the story). Though that is truly nothing compared to hearing and seeing a performance live in theater. I'll never forget how Kasarova's float pianissimo hovered bodilessly above me in the next to last row of Balcony 2 at Carnegie Hall, or how Mariusz Kwiecien's sudden blast of fortissimo note sent the orchestra packing during Le nozze di Figaro here last year. These opera singers are really outrageously underappreciated by the popular media!
Thanks a bunch for stopping by and for your very kind comment, too! Hope things are going well in Europe.
Cheerio,
Smorgy :o)
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Mar 05 '08
5:17 pm PST
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Your enthusiasm will make recruits... (Reply to this comment)
by vicfar
even among a few country music lovers (hopefully)...Really a brilliant, articulate essay!
In my opinion, what turns people off to opera is the recitative, which takes a while to swallow. There's just too much of it in some operas. It is just like the never-ending strutting around in some Russian ballets, where the ballerina prepares her routine with empty gestures and the exaggerated grin as if emotions should be transmitted by facial expression!
I am no expert, but I recommend -as a first approach- full immersion: go to a good opera house and see a Mozart Opera - great music, little recitative, and librettos that are not as hopelessly romantic as those of Italian operas.
Honestly, renting a DVD will turn people off: you can literally fall in love with opera at a live show (remember Cher's tears at la Boheme at the Met in "Moonstruck"?), but DVDs are for more experienced viewers.
Just my thoughts. Oh, and you misspelled (horror!) the name of one of my favorites (Puccini)...
Cheers
Vic
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Mar 05 '08
2:04 pm PST
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Hiya Gael! (Reply to this comment)
by smorg
O well, on second thought I think I'm probably better off not understanding the lyric of Bluebeard's Castle anyhow, matie. ;o) My mom has done more than her share of blushing!
Thanks a bunch for putting up with another one of my tomes, matie. :o)
Cheerio,
Smorgy
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Mar 03 '08
7:18 pm PST
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Hi Smorgy.... (Reply to this comment)
by gaelkm,  in Music
....I'm part Hungarian, but alas, only speak a word or two, so I can't help out. I enjoyed your wonderful review though - which was very informative and educational!
~gael
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Mar 03 '08
3:57 pm PST
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Hiya Stephen, Margaret, & Arashi-san! (Reply to this comment)
by smorg
Ack, I haven't heard his Philip Glass's Appomatox yet, Stephen (do you like it?), but was pretty undecided on whether to put him on the list... Him, Heggie, and Adams..I think. But they've only written a handful (though in these days and age, a handful is a lot when it comes to opera, ay?). Might just add him later. Will see! ;o)
And I'm with ya' on that stand and sing thingy with the older singers, Margaret. :o) Love it when they can also act convincingly while doing all those obnoxious roulades and scale-runs, etc. Some of these opera singers are just supernatural!
The downside is that they're often overexploited by some stage directors who insist on weird choreography that distract rather than add to the story telling... and then when the singers miff a few notes during a Mozart aria while jumping on the trampoline, some audiences are so fast to bash them for a bad job of singing. That opera singing job really isn't as glamorous as the stereotype has it sometimes, ay? ;o)
Thanks a bunch for your compliments, matie! Coming from a singer, that really perks up my morning!
And I'd love to shake your hand someday, too, Arashi! :o) I hope it'll spare a few singers some unearned grief they have to endure when reading reviews or opera blogs, too. It's so easy to just listen to these marvelous singers reducing some of the most difficult music ever written to ditty and pick on them. I wish some critics would consider what Christa Ludwig says in her memoir; 'opera critics should be able to say what they write to the artists' face' (paraphrasing). :o)
Thanks a bunch for stopping by and wishing y'all a great week!
Cheerio,
Smorgy :o)
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Mar 03 '08
4:27 am PST
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You made my day! (Reply to this comment)
by arashi-san
Smorg, you're my goddess. It's exactly what I always tell everyone when they start making comments about opera, and what I've been dreaming of to see in a written form. You rock. Can I shake your hand?
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Mar 03 '08
2:45 am PST
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As usual - (Reply to this comment)
by Penguinlady
- a superlative piece of writing. Your passion for the subject bursts through every review you write and they are all so information-filled that I come away feeling abashed for not knowing more.
I've never been a fan of the Strike-a-Pose-and-Sing-for-a-While-and-Then-do-it-Again school of singing as exemplified by Marilyn Horne, and I've always been in awe of the people, mostly women, who can sing so beautifully while dancing on tables, or throwing themselves on swords, or lounging on chaises or... I can't even do it standing up!
Thanks, as usual!
Margaret
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Mar 02 '08
7:00 pm PST
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Philip Glass (Reply to this comment)
by Stephen_Murray, in Music
doesn't make the list, even after "Appomatox"?
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Mar 02 '08
10:21 am PST
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