Thread: Opera!!!!!

Wagner's Ring Cycle is pretty awesome.

Originally Posted by jockeys

Wagner's Ring Cycle is pretty awesome.

While I agree they are awesome. Wagner never wrote an opera. He despised opera. He despised Italians too and Jews but that would be another discussion. The Ring is fourteen and a half hours of what Wagner called "musical drama". It is actually four separate dramas. The Ride of the Valkyrie of course is the most famous (thanks in no small part) to Francis Ford Coppola.

eh, i always liked gotterdamerung (or however you spell it) better than die valkyrie anyhow.

wagner didn't call it opera but he was a contrary bastard and would insist of calling them "red thorny smellnice flowers" instead of what we all know they are

here's an interesting question though...

what's the line between opera (e.g. bizet) and a musical (e.g. webber)? how do you define the difference?

I was just thinking of the Ring Cycle, especially Die Walküre--love the Ride of the Valkyries, and Wotan's long aria before he takes Brünnhilde's immortality away just tears my heart out, every time.

("red thorny smellnice flowers" )

Die Meistersinger is great listening too. You have to have an iron butt for Wagner, though.

And I was surprised at how much I liked Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites when I heard it at the Lyric a couple of years ago.

Ah well, there are so many, of so many different kinds--I can't pick one, or three even.

I like Spike Jones' take on "Pal Yat Chee" too, or on just about anything!

Rich

Originally Posted by jockeys

eh, i always liked gotterdamerung (or however you spell it) better than die valkyrie anyhow.

wagner didn't call it opera but he was a contrary bastard and would insist of calling them "red thorny smellnice flowers" instead of what we all know they are

here's an interesting question though...

what's the line between opera (e.g. bizet) and a musical (e.g. webber)? how do you define the difference?

An opera has no spoken word. All parts are sung to musical accompianment. Andrew Lloyd Webber did write JC Superstar which is classified as a rock opera, as is Tommy by the Who. A musical is a story that is punctuated by musical numbers sung or instrumental.

Originally Posted by icedog

An opera has no spoken word. All parts are sung to musical accompianment. Andrew Lloyd Webber did write JC Superstar which is classified as a rock opera, as is Tommy by the Who. A musical is a story that is punctuated by musical numbers sung or instrumental.

i guess that's a pretty good definition. you still have a grey area for stuff like sondheim's work where even not during songs they sort of talk in a singsong way. but i like your definition.

recitative?

Originally Posted by jockeys

what's the line between opera (e.g. bizet) and a musical (e.g. webber)? how do you define the difference?

Anything in English is a musical, everything else is opera. We all know that english is the worst sounding operatic tongue outside of Swahili.

Life Is Short - Opera Is Long

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