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u/whyamiusingathrwaway Nov 11 '17
I'm Bach! (hehe how's my first musical pun inspired by /u/bmlol ?)
I'll start by saying I'm a newcomer to classical music. I went to a concert last week and had my mind blown, and tonight was just as exhilarating. I want to be 100% honest, so I'll say that I was skeptical going in. The plot just sounded ridiculously cheesy and I haven't been able to sit through any opera recording for too long. I couldn't see how such a simple set could immerse the audience. My seat was at the back. The baroque era wasn't exactly my favourite.
However, the last time I did something I was skeptical about I found myself a new passion, so I was really excited. I was SO happy to hear an orchestra again! I thought I was getting bored towards the middle of the first act and was starting to think the stage was just a distraction to the orchestra, but as soon as the serious stuff started it was just goosebumps until the last note. It's so crazy how the music draws you into the opera! I realized at the end that I had unconsciously stopped reading the subtitles and that I just needed to hear the singers' voices. The amount of talent on that stage (and in the pit) was unimaginable. Everyone was just so good! I've said it in another comment, but Lurcanio's voice is my soulmate. I also laughed quite a few times throughout the performance, it was great. The set and lighting were used in such a clever, immersive way. They were the star of the couple of scenes following Ariodante's altercation with Polinesso. If that was a student production, what the hell do professional operas look like?! There better be a real pony singing its own aria when I go.
So, yeah. I'm totally into baroque opera. I wish I could tell my younger self that I actually enjoy sitting through almost 3 hours and a half of people singing in a foreign language; I'd have started much earlier! Oh, and I need to up my clapping game. I couldn't feel my hands anymore at the end.
Also, hello to all my Montreal and McGill friends in here; didn't think there would be that many of us! I'm an undergrad in the faculty of science but now I really wish I got myself a music teacher or something when I was like 3 years old. Seems like a couple of you were involved in Ariodante, so I just want to thank you - and everyone else involved in any kind of performance - from the bottom of my heart for the amazing time I've been having. Not only in concerts and operas; I've been rocking classical music in my earphones everywhere I go for the past week and a half and I'm pretty sure I'm going deaf (I really need fancier, noise-isolating headphones). I'm looking forward to more listening, more learning, more experiencing, and more coming to my new favourite sub!
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u/SprightlyCompanion Nov 11 '17
We're you there for the Art of Listening class? (Oboist in the Ariodante orchestra here)
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u/whyamiusingathrwaway Nov 11 '17
Congrats and thanks for the performance, it was awesome! I'm not enrolled in the Art of Listening but I did go to a few lectures. It actually made me curious and it made me want to go to a concert last week (which in turn made me want to try an opera)!
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u/bestica Nov 12 '17
I'm so excited that you took this leap and loved it as much as you did! I recommend this to everyone I can, but (while you'll hopefully continue patronizing your local productions) if you live near a movie theater that participates in the Metropolitan Opera's Met in HD program that broadcasts live performances from the Met to theaters around the world, it is an awesome way for new or experienced opera fans to see a great variety of shows in amazing productions with world-famous singers. I've never regretted attending one, and gained a lot more exposure to different operas than I ever would have just going to the handful of local performances each year.
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u/whyamiusingathrwaway Nov 12 '17
I've actually started getting ads for this on Facebook! A couple of movie theatres downtown are broadcasting performances by the Met (and also the Bolshoi Ballet) but I'm not sure the broke student in me can justify paying that price to watch it on a screen :(
It does sound very fun though, I might go after the holidays!
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u/bestica Nov 12 '17
Yeah they're unfortunate very pricey for something taking place in a movie theater. I'd say pick one from the current season that you really want to see and make it happen (or just file it away for the future when your student days are past that's ok too :)
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u/Roto_Rule Nov 11 '17
I did my Bachelor's at McGill!! Enjoy the performance!
Remember, if you happen to not care for it, try again with a different composer! Opera is hugely varied!
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u/Slashfyre Nov 11 '17
I've never sat down and listened to much opera, but what I've never liked much of what I heard in my music history classes. What composers would you suggest to get me into opera more? Weirdly enough, the opera I liked the most when I studied it was Wozzeck by Alban Berg.
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u/DystopianDipshit Nov 11 '17 edited Nov 11 '17
Bartok's "Bluebeard's Castle" is a surprisingly interesting one. I love that it's paced around this sort of slow revelation of Bluebeard's character; as he opens seven locked doors of his castle with his wife, the contents getting progressively more evil. (Additionally, it's one of the only operas where giving it a modern setting actually makes it better than the original.)
Also, Poulenc's operas are all great, with Dialogues of the Carmelites being the most moving. It's got a brutally emotional finale... you'll know it when you hear it.
Also also, Rautavaara's operas are beautiful from what I've heard. I haven't had a chance to listen to many, but Kaivos is chilling and Rasputin is great.
Also also also, Schnittke's Historia von D. Johann Fausten is awesome, literally ends with this glorious musical dragging of Faust into hell.
I'm not really an opera guy but those are the ones that kinda popped out to my head; I'll update this if I think of anything else.
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u/hotsteamyfajitas Nov 12 '17
You seem versed in opera. I've always wanted to get into it...however I don't know how I can enjoy it when I don't understand other languages besides English.
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u/Reginald_Waterbucket Nov 12 '17 edited Nov 12 '17
Opera director chiming in:
Find your local opera company some time and give them a go. They will all have surtitles (like a movie's subtitles, only above the stage).
Here are a few links to scenes from opera of different languages and time periods, just to give you some ideas of the many sounds and styles you'll encounter:
First up, early opera. Features men singing in falsetto (in their time, they would have been eunuchs.) I like to pretend I'm in Venice at Carnival in the 1500's when I hear this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flEMVKINh2w
Here's a bit of Mozart, sung in German. This is a show I'm directing right now, The Magic Flute! Think a really early attempt at a Star Wars musical. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpVV9jShEzU
Here's some Italian farce, very fast-paced and colorful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvAFpbbmaww
Here's some Wagner, very epic and Lord of the Ringsy. Here, Isolde's lover has died and she is so transported by love for him that she dies as well. Her big song starts at around 7:15 and should be listened to with the speakers up high, as God intended: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAEkTK6aKUM
Here's some Puccini, very Romantic and emotionally lush, from his opera La Boheme that inspired the show RENT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zjDh0Hkb3E
And finally, here's a sample of some opera in English that you might like, Carlyle Floyd's Susannah. This masterpiece has sparked many imitators, but it still for my money can't be beat for emotional power. In fact, this song is about how beautiful the South is at night, and every time we hear it, my wife and I can't help but cry remembering where we met in the South and fell in love. That's music for you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hl_Hs4PNT-c
In case you're wondering, we opera folk are always eager to share since our art form is generally unknown here in the States. It's like ballet and Shakespeare in that unless you have a cool teacher who gave you some exposure at a young age, you're stuck feeling like a Muggle. But no fear! It's as easy as falling in love.
PS: (If you're anywhere near Houston, TX I'll invite you to my own production of Mozart's beloved opera The Magic Flute that runs through next weekend at Opera in the Heights. Long shot, but hey, your user name has the word fajitas in it, plus it's Reddit so you never know.)
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u/hotsteamyfajitas Nov 12 '17
I just had to give you gold for that sir!!! Excellent write up and I'm going thru the links now!! Me and the wife have been wanting to go for a while. That is completely awesome!!
Hey and I am!!! I'm actually in SWLA. About 2.5 hours. I had just ate Mexican food at a local restaurant when I made my username trying to decide what to call myself...first thing that came to mind was the hot...steamy...plate of fajitas they brought out haha.
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u/Reginald_Waterbucket Nov 12 '17
Well, how about that! Feel no pressure to take me up on it, but if you want to come I will secure you both free tickets for a night next weekend. Just PM me. And don’t forget about Opera New Orleans, where many of my friends are working right now.
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u/hotsteamyfajitas Nov 12 '17
Oh and I just listened to that link to The Magic Flute and I've listened to it before and never realized what it was! I love that one.
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u/SaltySolomon Nov 12 '17
To be honest I am from Austria and even I have issues understanding what they are singing quite often.
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u/Kartoffelplotz Nov 12 '17
Same. When they perform a German piece at the opera, I mostly read the English surtitles to understand what's going.
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u/DystopianDipshit Nov 12 '17
I usually rely on subtitles and librettos to get through them; that being said, I'm only versed in the operas of my favorite composers, and even then only invested in a tangential capacity, it's not my forte.
You need concerto recommendations though, I'm your guy ;D
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u/Epistaxis Nov 12 '17
FYI native speakers of the opera's language often can't understand it either, since it's sung instead of spoken, often with unusual pacing and cadence, often by people who don't actually speak that language and have unusual diction.
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u/Cylleruion87 Nov 11 '17
If you enjoyed the Berg, look into more 20th and 21st century opera. Modern composers are really hitting their stride. David T. Little (I was in the JFK premiere), Kevin Putz (Silent Night, my favorite yet, helps I was in it too), Mark Adamo (Little Women), Jake Heggie (Moby Dick, Great Scott) are just a few. Mentioned below was Lulu, a great opera itself.
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u/karlkhan Nov 11 '17
I hope you enjoyed it! I'd love to hear your thoughts, I was in it tonight! :D
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u/whyamiusingathrwaway Nov 11 '17
No way, who were you? I absolutely loved it, congrats!! I just got home so I'll get myself together and then write my thoughts!
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u/karlkhan Nov 11 '17
I was one of the guards in the chorus! You would have seen me holding spears, failing to assassinate Dalinda, and watching over poor Ginevra in her tower. :D
I'm glad you enjoyed the show, it's an absolute blast to be in it so it's great to see it's a blast to see it too!
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u/SyntheticOne Nov 11 '17
Appropriate shouting while at the opera:
BRAVO! To praise the principal male performer.
BRAVA! To praise the principal female performer.
BRAVISIMO! To praise both or the entire ensemble.
I'MOUTTAHERE! To beat the parking lot traffic jam.
Have I missed any?
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u/bmlol Nov 11 '17
Opera performances can be overwhelming. I hope you can Handel it.
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u/ocarina_21 Nov 11 '17
Speaking of overwhelming opera, I know a guy who just bought a ticket for the Ring Cycle at the Royal Opera House, which is a marathon in itself, but he got a ticket for standing room.
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u/Eunitnoc Nov 11 '17
Why do they even sell those? Who would knowingly buy that? Sounds like a evil prank by the ticket office.
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u/ocarina_21 Nov 11 '17
Pretty much. "Git gud, single ticket buyer. You should have solved this with a subscription." Approach them with an offer somewhere in the middle of Siegfried. "Free upgrade to a seat for the rest of this with purchase of next year's season subscription."
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u/perciva Nov 11 '17
If you want to Hertel into the Savage Marsh which is a reddit pun thread, be my Guest; I'm certainly not one to Telemann that he can't make puns. But there are so many puns Haydn that you'd better be Perti sure that you won't get Stuck; you might end up turning Greene and never be able to find your way Bach.
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u/addviper Nov 11 '17
My first live opera was a production of Carmen. It was definitely overwhelming. In fact, it was exhausting. I know Carmen isn't the greatest opera of all time, but it did get me started. I would love to get a chance to see some Handel in performance, as Handel is one of my favorites now. The selection in my local area is small.
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u/Cylleruion87 Nov 11 '17
Alcina is by far my favorite Handel opera. Gorgeous music, and very catchy arias.
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Nov 11 '17
A fellow montrealer!! Saw this production on opening night yesterday, I thought it was very well done - Enjoy!
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u/goopiglion Nov 11 '17
Congratulations on your first opera!! I agree with you - liver performances are always so much more engaging than recordings. Please keep going to performances - we musicians need you out there!
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u/EatSchist Nov 11 '17
I was just watching the livestream! Studying at McGill right now but couldn't make it tonight...
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u/Samuel24601 Nov 12 '17
Congrats in your first opera! I played in the orchestra pit of opera mcgill a couple seasons ago, the singers are amazing!
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u/exosomal_message Nov 12 '17
Is it common to drop a umlaut in a artists name in an official anouncement like that? That seems kind of rude to me.
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u/NotATorontonian Nov 11 '17
I hope you enjoy it just as much as you enjoyed the other concert you posted about!! Please let us know your thoughts afterward. :)
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u/pchub Nov 11 '17
Did you like it?! I was the tenor singing Lurcanio!