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View Full Version : Confession is good for the soul - Opera



WOStantonCS100
11-01-2012, 02:48
Ok, I may be in a small group here; but...

I really do like opera. I always have. I'm not fond of the practice of pulling out parts of operatic compositions and treating them like pop songs. I like the complete works. I like reading the librettos. I imagine I can (and often try to) make a note sing on my guitar like the best opera singers can, sort of how Jimi Hendrix made that one note sustain in 'Machine Gun'. When I hear a great opera singer hit "a great note" (and not necessarily a high one), it just sends chills down my spine. You really have to listen to opera, to get it. I love that.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it. :)

JJack
11-01-2012, 22:02
I agree. It's only when you place the Mad Scene into the rest of the opera that it makes any sense.

I bought a 6-cd package of Maria Callas 100 - almost never listen to it, but I love nothing better than to cue up Norma. For Callas especially, the recitatives were where all the important stuff happened.

I would modify your statement a little for myself, and say that I don't have to listen, but I'm richly rewarded when I do. Some operas (say, Carmen) hit you over the head while listening in a car, while others only reward extended, repeated, and careful listening.


off topic:
[do you use a Stanton cartridge? I'm shopping for a new cart and would love a recommendation at the Stanton's price level]

WOStantonCS100
11-01-2012, 23:31
I would modify your statement a little for myself, and say that I don't have to listen, but I'm richly rewarded when I do. Some operas (say, Carmen) hit you over the head while listening in a car, while others only reward extended, repeated, and careful listening.

:thumbsup:


off topic:
[do you use a Stanton cartridge? I'm shopping for a new cart and would love a recommendation at the Stanton's price level]

Stanton makes selection (for the audiophile) very easy; because, they only offer one cartridge choice!! :lol: The current version of the 681 is all there is. It is a moving iron, and it's quite good IMHO.

I do use Stanton cartridges, including a couple 681's I got used. Upgrading with a new cantilever and a retip elevates their performance to "stupidly good", again, IMHO. I do have other carts in and around that price range (Shure, Grado and Audio Technica) all good; but, I'm actually using the Stanton's. ;)

jandl100
12-01-2012, 07:41
Opera. :hmm:

I dislike the melodrama of it all.
And such horrible things happen.
And the plots are a bit daft, more often than not they are very daft!

It's all a bit inyerface.
I prefer my eternal verities presented at one step removed - like a late Schubert piano sonata or late Beethoven string quartet.

Having said that I do love Philip Glass's Akhnaten. And Mozart's Magic Flute. And Handel's Xerxes.
And I had a grand time listening to the 1st act of Boito's Mephistopheles yesterday when a forum friend brought it 'round.

So perhaps there is hope for me. :)

jostber
12-01-2012, 09:10
This short thread on great tenors has some wonderful music: :)

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=15029&highlight=tenor

WOStantonCS100
13-01-2012, 00:07
...And such horrible things happen...

:lol: ...perhaps a more eloquent version of modern day television programming? ;)

keiths
13-01-2012, 01:31
No, sorry - not for me. I've tried (though I've only ever seen one opera live - Aida in the Roman ampitheatre in Verona), but just find everything about it contrived. In fact, I can't do with classical singing at all (so even though I love Vaughan Williams, I can't tolerate Sea Symphony etc).

JJack
13-01-2012, 05:50
No, sorry - not for me. I've tried (though I've only ever seen one opera live - Aida in the Roman ampitheatre in Verona), but just find everything about it contrived. In fact, I can't do with classical singing at all (so even though I love Vaughan Williams, I can't tolerate Sea Symphony etc).

Although I love both opera and lieder, I completely understand this.

As a "gateway drug" to classical singing, I'd suggest a couple of singers who don't sing with the affectations that put most people off. No belching or scoops or BWAHHHHHHH, just effortless-sounding glory.

Try Gundula Janowitz singing Strauss 4 Last Songs, Karajan conducting, just the 3rd one is a great introduction. She just rides on a carpet of glorious string playing, seeming to never need to breathe. On DG.

And you might try a few Schubert songs sung by Elly Ameling on Phillips. These are widely availble on vinyl or CD. Just a beautiful voice.

Finally, you might check out Dawn Upshaw singing Canteloube's Songs of the Averernge.

None of this is opera, but rather songs, and all absolutely beautiful in their accompaniment as well as the melodies.

All of these singers have beautiful voices that haven't been ruined by the now-standard teaching practice of forcing singers to swallow the tone (in the way one would do if one were making fun of opera singers).

jandl100
13-01-2012, 07:16
:lol: ...perhaps a more eloquent version of modern day television programming? ;)

Yup, a close analogy .... I don't watch TV either, for that very reason! :D

MartinT
23-02-2012, 23:32
I love some lieder and adore choral music, but I just can't take opera despite having seen a few live. It's the same reason that I don't like musical films - they're unrealistic. Moreover, I don't need visuals to go with my music, I create what I need in my head.

WOStantonCS100
24-02-2012, 00:19
...I create what I need in my head.

...arrrr... do ya now, Martin? :eyebrows:

I completely agree with not needing visuals. (There's a can of worms.) But, anyway... my introduction to all music was without visual aids or live performances; and so, my preference remains for pre-recorded music in a controlled environment over a live show.

MartinT
24-02-2012, 06:45
my preference remains for pre-recorded music in a controlled environment over a live show.

Fascinating, and I agree for rock concerts. I'll go for the atmosphere and the event and even the lighting and projection but certainly not the sound. I far prefer studio albums to live albums, too.

For classical, it's different. There just isn't any comparison between hearing a good recording and, say, a big Mahler or Shostakovich concert played by a world ranking orchestra and conductor. Being lucky enough to have always lived in or near London, I have seen many very memorable concerts and, for me, they are the pinnacle of classical music performance.

Seeing Tennstedt, Solti and Jochum live were performances that will stay with me forever. Rattle, too. And then there was Radu Lupu...

WOStantonCS100
25-02-2012, 18:28
Fascinating, and I agree for rock concerts. I'll go for the atmosphere and the event and even the lighting and projection but certainly not the sound. I far prefer studio albums to live albums, too.

For classical, it's different. There just isn't any comparison between hearing a good recording and, say, a big Mahler or Shostakovich concert played by a world ranking orchestra and conductor. Being lucky enough to have always lived in or near London, I have seen many very memorable concerts and, for me, they are the pinnacle of classical music performance.

Seeing Tennstedt, Solti and Jochum live were performances that will stay with me forever. Rattle, too. And then there was Radu Lupu...

The last time I took my wife to the symphony, even in box seats, we were plagued with noisy and rude neighbors who mostly view going to the symphony as a status symbol rather than a chance to observe/listen to great orchestral music in a proper music hall. (So, completely rude and inconsiderate, ignoring the rules, talking on their cell phone!!! They even got up and left before it was over. Perhaps, that was a blessing.) Maybe, it's just where I live. We can't seem to get away from that element. Sheesh, that could be a whole other topic.

MartinT
25-02-2012, 22:27
Blimey, it's a bit different in London - although I would never want box seats as the sound is poor, better off in the stalls close to the orchestra. They are mostly knowledgeable and appreciative audiences. If anyone was talking on a mobile they would be ejected sharpish. I think we are blessed with decent venues and many world class orchestras.

goraman
25-02-2012, 22:55
I have always loved Delibs Flowers Duet from Lakme.
I can listen to Italian and french opera but don't much care for German as it's to guthral.
Thank God Arabs don't do opra it would sound like a bronchitis attack.

Biff, your not doing air guitar to opera now are you? That would just be wrong.
Not sure I understood you.

WOStantonCS100
25-02-2012, 23:34
Martin, indeed, I would imagine it would be quite different anywhere in Europe. It would have been quite different back home (NYC). But, here, despite the Schermerhorn Symphony Center being quite nice, the differences in audiences-at-large are easily discernable. I'm not saying everyone in this area is uncultured; but, like you said, an eagle-eyed attendant would have snatched up that lady and her cell phone and tossed her out on her arse, right quickly, in other places.

Jeff, no air guitaring to opera. :lol: I just meant the quality of the notes that the best opera singers can sustain and with such magnificent vibrato and dynamics. I find that grand; notes that can stop you cold in tracks and send shivers up and down your spine. I try to emulate that to a degree as a guitarist, just as I try to emulate the phrasing and inflections of the best jazz singers.