Opera

[wgscott]

“The opera is to music, what a bawdy house is to a cathe­dral.” 

 

-- H. L. Mencken

 

 

Discuss. 

 

 

[AnotherSpin]

What was H.L.Mencken' preferred choice: cathedrals or "bawdy" houses?

[christopher3393]

7 hours ago, AnotherSpin said:

What was H.L.Mencken' preferred choice: cathedrals or "bawdy" houses?

 

Cathedrals. Another gem from Mencken:  “The gen­uine music lover may accept the car­nal husk of opera to get at the ker­nel of actual music within, but that is no sign that he approves the car­nal husk or enjoys gnaw­ing through it.”

 

 

[Ralf11]

what kind of opera?

 

 

[wgscott]

Opera wouldn't be so bad were it not for all the god-damn singing.

[rodrigaj]

To appreciate music and opera it's wise to gaze upon the other through the opposing lens.

 

To appreciate cathedrals and bawdy houses it's wise to gaze upon the other through the opposing lens.

 

(A lesson from history that repeats with certainty and which H. L. Mencken would certainly agree with.)

[Ralf11]

Was the OP forced to attend an opera recently?

[wgscott]

nope

 

I have to confess I enjoy some of the Overtures, just not the actual operas.

 

I often listen to the Overture Il Barbiere di Siviglia before taking the Bianchi out for a spin.

 

 

[mansr]

The visual aspect is a major part of the opera experience. In an audio only recording, I tend to find much of a performance rather dull, although amazing segments lurk here and there.

[Kal Rubinson]

2 minutes ago, mansr said:

The visual aspect is a major part of the opera experience. In an audio only recording, I tend to find much of a performance rather dull, although amazing segments lurk here and there.

The visual aspect is a major part of the experience at the opera, sure.  OTOH, I quickly tire of watching the same action at home via BD even though I continue to enjoy the music with the display off or via audio only recordings.  

[mansr]

14 minutes ago, Kal Rubinson said:

The visual aspect is a major part of the experience at the opera, sure.  OTOH, I quickly tire of watching the same action at home via BD even though I continue to enjoy the music with the display off or via audio only recordings.  

Yeah, watching at home isn't the same thing.

[sphinxsix]

I find opera vocals quite unbearable too (I quite like some instrumental opera recordings though eg Wagner - The 'Ring without Words' issued by Telarc ). I guess I find operatic singing unnatural and tiresome just like heavy metal growling which I can't accept either.

I can't even think about my possible reaction to a death metal band which would add operatic vocals to their frontman growling

[mansr]

37 minutes ago, sphinxsix said:

I can't even think about my possible reaction to a death metal band which would add operatic vocals to their frontman growling

I'll have to suggest that to the local musicians and see what they do.

[sphinxsix]

16 minutes ago, mansr said:

I'll have to suggest that to the local musicians and see what they do.

Anxiously awaiting the result.

[rodrigaj]

Getting back to H. L. Mencken, this is something he wrote:

"My lack of sound musical instruction was really the great deprivation of my life. When I think of anything properly describable as a beautiful idea, it is always in the form of music. I have written and printed probably 10,000,000 words in English, and continue to this day to pour out more and more. But all the same I shall die an inarticulate man, for my best ideas beset me in a language I know only vaguely and speak only like a child."

 

I think he is acknowledging the role education plays in the appreciation of Western classical music. This is certainly true in the USA where music education is being decimated. An appreciation for opera requires work given that most of us will never be given any operatic insights.

 

Listening to one of the @kirkmc Next Track podcasts, I followed up and read Angela Hewitt's article in the Washington Post. She ended her article:

 

"Like a novel, it’s not something that can be apprehended quickly or conveyed in any other form; like a novel, you have to meet it halfway and think about what it is or isn’t saying to you..."

[Ralf11]

Opera is like a slow movin' musical with beefy people doin' too much singin' and not enough dancin'

[Ralf11]

OTOH, way back when opera audiences were tough.  In the early 1700's one of the first buildings the French settlers built in New Orleans was an Opera House.

 

Newspapers of the time report that gentlemen used their walking sticks ot drive alligators away so the ladies could pass on the raised wooden sidewalks unmolested.

[AnotherSpin]

9 hours ago, sphinxsix said:

I find opera vocals quite unbearable too (I quite like some instrumental opera recordings though eg Wagner - The 'Ring without Words' issued by Telarc ). I guess I find operatic singing unnatural and tiresome just like heavy metal growling which I can't accept either.

I can't even think about my possible reaction to a death metal band which would add operatic vocals to their frontman growling

 

You could listen to Tarja Turunen, she posses abilities of opera singer (and recorded classical material) and sings with some metal bands.

[AnotherSpin]

I could not decide whether I should I be baffled by remarks here, but I personally believe opera singing is the most beautiful I know from all kinds or types of singing. And opera would be considered as the highest form of art, imho. From the other side I could not be exemplary objective here, as I adore opera for decades and I have enormous experience of listening opera recordings. Wagner, Mozart, Verdi, Puccini... are capable to bring me to tears quite often.

[AnotherSpin]

 

[coot]

46 minutes ago, AnotherSpin said:

I could not decide whether I should I be baffled by remarks here, but I personally believe opera singing is the most beautiful I know from all kinds or types of singing. And opera would be considered as the highest form of art, imho. From the other side I could not be exemplary objective here, as I adore opera for decades and I have enormous experience of listening opera recordings. Wagner, Mozart, Verdi, Puccini... are capable to bring me to tears quite often.

 

Bravo!

[sphinxsix]

31 minutes ago, AnotherSpin said:

 

 

I admit - sometimes 3 or 4 minutes of operatic vocal in a movie isn't that bad (ok, not more than 5 )

 

 

[Kal Rubinson]

27 minutes ago, sphinxsix said:

 

I admit - sometimes 3 or 4 minutes of operatic vocal in a movie isn't that bad (ok, not more than 5 )

 

 

Do you really think that is opera?

[sphinxsix]

48 minutes ago, Kal Rubinson said:

Do you really think that is opera?

No. Operatic vocal - yes. Composition by Eric Serra performed (mostly - here is what ES said about it: http://en.traxmag.com/interview/35491-eric-serra-tells-the-secrets-of-the-diva-song-in-the-fifth-element  ) by Inva Mula. Am I correct?

[Kal Rubinson]

33 minutes ago, sphinxsix said:

No. Operatic vocal - yes. Composition by Eric Serra performed (mostly - here is what ES said about it: http://en.traxmag.com/interview/35491-eric-serra-tells-the-secrets-of-the-diva-song-in-the-fifth-element  ) by Inva Mula. Am I correct?

I would call it an operatic travesty.