Opera for beginners
Jun. 21st, 2019 05:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cahnMy family's reunion, in a couple of weeks, involves powerpoint presentations, because we are total dweebs that way. I figured my PPT this time would be on opera, because, well. (My other thought was making it on teaching Sunday School, and I'm still thinking about it, but I think I'd have more trouble making it work and might need more time than I actually have to think about it properly. Doing opera requires much less hard thinking and a lot more pretty pictures.)
Questions for you:
-If you are NOT an opera fan: what would you like to know about opera? What would make you more likely to watch it?
-If you are not an opera fan, would you be willing to watch and/or listen to a couple of clips and tell me which one was most effective at holding your attention?
-Opera fans: I think I could show maybe one or two clips. What would be thirty-second-to-one-minute clips that would (a) be intriguing to a non-opera audience and (b) that I would have access to? (I have a somewhat embarrassingly large library of DVDs after this last year.) And (c) have English subtitles, which unfortunately takes out a large swath of Youtube videos. I'm thinking of the Met's English Magic Flute (but what part? "Hm!Hm!Hm!Hm!" maybe? Or the part where Papageno plays the bells?) and maybe the auto-da-fe scene from Don Carlo where Posa takes the sword (probably the version with Hampson and Kaufmann, they're such hams). I also wonder about a bit of Restate with Keenlyside and Furlanetto, but I think the auto-da-fe is more immediately accessible. Also I wonder about Onegin. Or maybe the scene where Figaro's parentage becomes known? I also might look for "trailer" clips.
-Same question for audio -- I'll be using my Opera in English CDs. I'm thinking maybe the Catalog aria from Don Giovanni (though it may be too salacious -- there are kids!) or something from Marriage of Figaro -- but what? I'd like an ensemble bit if possible. Maybe the quartet from Onegin?
-I thought I'd have a couple of one-sentence/one-phrase synopses that might convince people to go see opera:
Eugene Onegin: The jerk who totally blew you off when you were a geeky kid regrets it all when you grow up to be beautiful and glamorous
La Boheme: Broke artist friends hanging out together have a lot of fun (but also sometimes tragedy) - see also Rent
La Traviata: Your parent really doesn't like you dating the wonderful person you fell in love with! (yes, yes, I know,seekingferret)
Marriage of Figaro: Men are dumb and the aristocracy is dumb; male aristocrats who don't want to keep it in their pants are a lot of fun to outwit
Don Giovanni: The pitfalls of attempting to seduce every woman who comes your way as a life strategy
Don Carlo(s): ???? I do not know how to summarize this in one sentence, or even two. Being a prince whose dad hates him and also married his fiance can be tough! (That's not bad, except what about Posa????)
I feel like those six are probably the best for beginners. (And Magic Flute, of course.) Any other crowd-pleasers I should put in? (I still haven't seen Aida -- saving it as a treat after finishing Nirvana in Fire!)
(Hmm, maybe instead of a longer audio clip I'll just have very short audio clips for each of those.)
Questions for you:
-If you are NOT an opera fan: what would you like to know about opera? What would make you more likely to watch it?
-If you are not an opera fan, would you be willing to watch and/or listen to a couple of clips and tell me which one was most effective at holding your attention?
-Opera fans: I think I could show maybe one or two clips. What would be thirty-second-to-one-minute clips that would (a) be intriguing to a non-opera audience and (b) that I would have access to? (I have a somewhat embarrassingly large library of DVDs after this last year.) And (c) have English subtitles, which unfortunately takes out a large swath of Youtube videos. I'm thinking of the Met's English Magic Flute (but what part? "Hm!Hm!Hm!Hm!" maybe? Or the part where Papageno plays the bells?) and maybe the auto-da-fe scene from Don Carlo where Posa takes the sword (probably the version with Hampson and Kaufmann, they're such hams). I also wonder about a bit of Restate with Keenlyside and Furlanetto, but I think the auto-da-fe is more immediately accessible. Also I wonder about Onegin. Or maybe the scene where Figaro's parentage becomes known? I also might look for "trailer" clips.
-Same question for audio -- I'll be using my Opera in English CDs. I'm thinking maybe the Catalog aria from Don Giovanni (though it may be too salacious -- there are kids!) or something from Marriage of Figaro -- but what? I'd like an ensemble bit if possible. Maybe the quartet from Onegin?
-I thought I'd have a couple of one-sentence/one-phrase synopses that might convince people to go see opera:
Eugene Onegin: The jerk who totally blew you off when you were a geeky kid regrets it all when you grow up to be beautiful and glamorous
La Boheme: Broke artist friends hanging out together have a lot of fun (but also sometimes tragedy) - see also Rent
La Traviata: Your parent really doesn't like you dating the wonderful person you fell in love with! (yes, yes, I know,
seekingferret)Marriage of Figaro: Men are dumb and the aristocracy is dumb; male aristocrats who don't want to keep it in their pants are a lot of fun to outwit
Don Giovanni: The pitfalls of attempting to seduce every woman who comes your way as a life strategy
Don Carlo(s): ???? I do not know how to summarize this in one sentence, or even two. Being a prince whose dad hates him and also married his fiance can be tough! (That's not bad, except what about Posa????)
I feel like those six are probably the best for beginners. (And Magic Flute, of course.) Any other crowd-pleasers I should put in? (I still haven't seen Aida -- saving it as a treat after finishing Nirvana in Fire!)
(Hmm, maybe instead of a longer audio clip I'll just have very short audio clips for each of those.)
no subject
Date: 2019-06-25 02:34 am (UTC)OMG I have TOTALLY SEEN That Don G! Unfortunately this was one I borrowed from RL Opera Friend and not one I own, so I can't share! But it was super hot. The hilarious thing is that RL Opera Friend is 82 and also a lovely super sweet woman in the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints, so I was kind of hilariously horrified that she'd lent me this! (To be fair, she has a LOT of opera and had probably forgotten exactly how nsfw this particular video was. But I think also watching a lot of opera has made her a little, er, more blase about such things than perhaps others might be...)
Barihunks, what a hilarious site, hee! Thank you for sharing!
Keenlyside is SO GREAT, I love him SO MUCH. Take a look at these two scenes from a totally regie Don G, holy cow, I wish there was a whole video of this, I would totally buy it. Did Leporello actually kiss him at the end of that first bit?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCqXtuBPZeY
no subject
Date: 2019-06-25 04:32 am (UTC)Hee, your story about being mildly horrified that your older RL opera friend had lent you this flagrantly nsfw version of Don G is hilarious. I might actually make a purchase myself, if it's sung as well as it's, er, acted...
no subject
Date: 2019-06-25 08:16 pm (UTC)To be totally fair, the only really nsfw moment of that DVD is at the very very end after he goes down to hell (where that photo was taken) and RL opera friend may have just forgotten about that moment, he's wearing clothes the rest of the time! Though occasionally somewhat artfully, er, ragged clothes. (This seems to be a theme with Keenlyside's opera performances I've seen, actually. He's, um, got a nice enough body that I think directors Just Can't Resist showing it off.)
Let's see, things I remember about this DG. Keenlyside is kind of a psychopathic Don. Really well done, of course, but also really chilling. Ketelsen is hilarious! (Actually I found that regie Don G because I was looking for a particular clip of this one -- the scene where Leporello acts out the love song to Donna Elvira while Giovanni sings, which Ketelsen just hams up.) Joyce DiDonato is Donna Elvira and is really really good, she was probably my favorite of the women. Marina Poplavskaya (Elisabeth in that Met Don Carlo!) is Donna Anna and of course beautiful, although I think DiDonato carries the honors for this one. Ramon Vargas is Don Ottavio and his singing is of course fine (er, hes not quite as hot as, well, all four of the others, and Don Ottavio isn't that interesting, so I'm afraid I kind of ignored him a bit). So, yes, it's very well sung!
I'll say that the production was fine, but not to the level where I felt I had to buy it myself? But I also am generally not as in love with DG as I am with, well, Don Carlo or La Traviata :)
no subject
Date: 2019-06-28 05:09 am (UTC)I will say, that is not something I would have forgotten, myself ;) How I sympathise with the directors who have to resist directing him in non-artfully ragged clothes!
no subject
Date: 2019-06-28 07:55 pm (UTC)You know, that ROH/Met production of Don Carlo didn't dress him in ragged clothes (although he also looks so good in period costume!!) -- there's this Vienna State Opera production he'll be in in the fall, I'm wondering which way they'll go ;)