Pertaining to the title of this little episode, I could rattle off the top 40 YouTube opera videos to catch if anyone wants. Perhaps I will do that soon!
Just today I'd have to put Anna Netrebko way on up there. She is gorgeous and sings as nicely (in certain repertoire). I heard her caress some Bellini piece on the radio the other day and just about drove off the road due to my exalted state-- whooey, babe!
The other point to this title: I have been asked why anyone should care about opera nowadays if it is more or less the Top 40 from 200 years ago. Even people who think they hate all the wobbly singing suspect that this highly cultured art form holds some mystique or cachet. Well, it does! You're right. And I have been really slaying myself to get the wording just right. And not be too long-winded, which, as an operaphile, I easily tend to do. Musn't hold forth ad nauseum, right?!
Opera was its Top 40's. Catchy tunes, emotional stories, good entertainment. Take a peek at a few things on You Tube-- not Paul Potts or Andrew Lloyd Webber-- those are Opera Lite and LOTS of fun, but glance at the real thing here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vazQuEh47mo&feature=related
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvNU_1Z9ZU8
Neither of these is the One Perfect Offering of that particular number. Such a thing probably doesn't exist on film! But it's a little something for you!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
New Year's Resolutions
I was greatly heartened this morning to hear some resolutions of WFMT listeners being read on air: two out of three of them wanted to learn more about opera (and how to 'tolerate' it!). Well, well! Your old auntie here has LOTS of info and ideas for them! I'm so impressed that there are such stout-hearted souls still out there! Those of us in the proverbial know have a cosmically important duty to help our seekers.
First off: don't play your umpteenth recording by various artists as a ploy to enrapture them. Netrebko, Callas, and Tebaldi will come AFTER other introductions are made. Those fine ladies will be the vehicles, thank you, not the stars-- at first.
There are many user-friendly operas. Start with the [weak] plot, give an aria and highlight, then move on. Give some time to digest in between, as it were. Carmen goes very well, exotic, erotic, tuneful. The Barber of Seville charms everyone in the first act. Puccini carries one away. Hummable is accesible; accessibility is key.
Again, it's all about the emotionalism. The passion of that well-trained BIG voice. Sumptous orchestrations. If you're over-the-top, this is for you. If you prefer quiet, this is for your inner feelings.
Not every opera is for every person all of the time. Me, I cannot tolerate Madame Butterfly. The music is so gorgeous that I weep just to hear it, but I don't need to cry these days (got enough of it elsewhere, you know?). I also despise that American imperialism and a deep chauvinism are chief themes. And that a nice, naive young woman with a baby suffers so mightily. TOO MUCH LONGING wears me out! Yet I very much recommend this opera to a neophyte in that it is so operatic and beautiful and sexy and and and.
I can see that my prose is suffering here, so I shall quit for now. More useful thoughts put eloquently will follow soon, I promise!
First off: don't play your umpteenth recording by various artists as a ploy to enrapture them. Netrebko, Callas, and Tebaldi will come AFTER other introductions are made. Those fine ladies will be the vehicles, thank you, not the stars-- at first.
There are many user-friendly operas. Start with the [weak] plot, give an aria and highlight, then move on. Give some time to digest in between, as it were. Carmen goes very well, exotic, erotic, tuneful. The Barber of Seville charms everyone in the first act. Puccini carries one away. Hummable is accesible; accessibility is key.
Again, it's all about the emotionalism. The passion of that well-trained BIG voice. Sumptous orchestrations. If you're over-the-top, this is for you. If you prefer quiet, this is for your inner feelings.
Not every opera is for every person all of the time. Me, I cannot tolerate Madame Butterfly. The music is so gorgeous that I weep just to hear it, but I don't need to cry these days (got enough of it elsewhere, you know?). I also despise that American imperialism and a deep chauvinism are chief themes. And that a nice, naive young woman with a baby suffers so mightily. TOO MUCH LONGING wears me out! Yet I very much recommend this opera to a neophyte in that it is so operatic and beautiful and sexy and and and.
I can see that my prose is suffering here, so I shall quit for now. More useful thoughts put eloquently will follow soon, I promise!
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