Opera

[Nicole Marie]

A while back there was a thread about the Four Play feature, the main complaint was that opera is difficult to understand (Can't find the original thread). I found this article on CNN about a new study on opera. Cool stuff. But I think the article misses the point that opera is an art form and that often it's the embelishments and range of the vocalist that better describes a scene then the words. I think they looked to much at "we don't get it" then what opera is. But it's still worth a read.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/01/07/divas.sound.ap/index.html

[OperaTenor]

"....a soprano distorts pronunciation when she opens her mouth wide and adjusts her vocal tract to hit the highest, loudest notes."

Ooooo, I love this. Thanks Y.R.H., now I've got all kinds of anti-soprano ammo. With just a little editing(read distortion of the facts), I can make the above statement into:

"....a soprano distorts when she opens her mouth to hit the notes."

Sorry Selma, just too good to pass up. :p

[barfle]

When it comes to not being able to understand the singers, every vocal form of music is subject to that criticism. I remember only too well when I was a kid listening to rock and roll how the adults would ask "What are they saying?" I feel the same way about hip-hop, although I'm certain that's in a foreign language.

As I've noted here several times before, you don't attend opera for the story. You attend it for the way it's told.

[OperaTenor]

Yeah, how 'bout (c)rap? They're speaking and I can't understand half of the "lyrics".

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

[b] "....a soprano distorts when she opens her mouth..." [/b]

I wonder what happens to a tenor when he unbuttons his lip to distort sopranos? Maybe this should be filmed?

Or perhaps I shall simply sing the Small World song at you. Three octaves up, squeaking like a fruit bat, off key.

[OperaTenor]

Gotcha!

Please do sing that rendition. It should blend nicely with my tinnitus.



BTW, Haggis, are you done with the FRS yet?

[barfle]

OT, some people can tell the difference between (c)rap and hip-hop. I never wanted to spend the time to find out. It's like trying to decide whether I like liver or anchovies better.

[Nicole Marie]

Rap is something I enjoy very much. Barfle you are right about the reference to opera. Some artist style is more difficult to understand. Tribe, De La Sul, Nas are very easy to understand. Artist like Busta, and 50, slur and distort so much that it takes a few times to get it. But it's like any art form, some like and some don't. But just because you don't like it, does mean you knock it... (c)rap reference.

<small>[ 01-07-2004, 04:30 PM: Message edited by: Nicole Marie ]</small>

[Serenity]

Sorry, I prefer (w)raps!

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Wraps are quite good, anchovies are pretty good, liver is one of my favorite foods. Liver's even better than wasabi peas.

I vastly prefer my music with a tune. Many opera pieces have a tune; this is good. I can attempt to sing along. I usually fail miserably, but I can try.

This insistence on a singable tune leaves me unappreciative of Rap, Hip-Hop, and Philip Glass. I suppose that makes me a tunist, or a tuna, or something; but there it is.

Who else best loves music that sits in the back of your head and keeps you company for hours and hours, and days and days? And lets you try to sing along.

[barfle]

As I noted, I believe most of us find the music that was popular when we were between 10 and 30 to be the type we like best, and the reason we stopped listening to popular music is because it moved away from what we learned to like.

I understand that a lot of people like rap. I don't need to understand why. Like liver, I gave it a shot or two and found it not to my taste. My wife likes liver, and that doesn't mean I think any less of her. But when she has liver, I have something else.

So, just like my parents think the Rolling Stones didn't make music, and my grandparents thought Glen Miller was offensive, I tend to think that a lot of what kids call music these days doesn't fit my definition of the word. I've never told anyone what they should like and dislike, but I've never held back my opinion either.

In truth, I'm sure there's popular music out there that I would like if I heard it. The only problem is, in order to find it, I would have to put up with all the stuff I already tried to like, and failed.

So, is this thread about being able to understand opera singers properly hijacked?

[OperaTenor]

Properly hijacked?

"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip........"

...or...

"It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all........."

Was there something about tunes that stick in the back of your head and won't go away?

Selma, you're my hero.



<small>[ 01-08-2004, 09:27 AM: Message edited by: operatenor ]</small>

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

I'm pretty sure that Sam McGee would make a fine opera. We'll need a baritone for a principal narrator, a tenor to play Sam, and a roving cast of thousands to play assorted prospectors and barmaids. This has potential.

Where can we find a sufficiently stiff tenor to do Sam's part? If we're going to do more than one show, he should already have a FRS.

Hmmm.

[treebeau]

Originally posted by operatenor:
Properly hijacked?

[b] "Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip........"
[/b]

That reminds me of something. Bear with me here. Someone once posted something about how Paco-Bell's Canon shows up in so much music. Like it's structure is universal. Recall that?

Well, I found another. I heard a twisted Christmas song where they took the lyrics to "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem" and set them to the tune of "House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals.

Then, quite accidentally, I found that the lyrics to the "Gilligan's Island" theme song also fit that tune quite well.

Got to be more than coincidence. So, maybe this tune is another universal one. Can anyone put other well known lyrics into the same tune? I'd like to compile a list.

Regards,
Tim B.

[piqaboo]

I dont know about fitting it to "House of the Rising Sun" ( a song written for a lot of one syllable words), but "O Little Town of Bethlehem" fits nicely to the tune of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen".

[barfle]

George Harrison lost a lawsuit claiming his My Sweet Lord was the same as the tune from He's So Fine.

[Bones]

Chuck Berry won a suit against the Beach Boys because they used his "Sweet Little Sixteen" for the music to "Surfin' USA."

[audiogirl]

Try putting the words to "Amazing Grace" into "I'd like to Teach the World to Sing"....

[piqaboo]

Audiogirl, i tried that and I really wish I hadnt. That puppy took up residence in my head for HOURS!


Had a great treat this weekend - got to watch the SD Opera rehearse. They were just setting up the blocking (or staging), so it was like watching a play be rehearsed but one with fabulous music. After the chorus got the jist of each scene, the principals would come on to go thru the key bits, and we'd get MUSIC from the chorus and principals. I enjoyed it all so much that I came back for a second three hours. My only regret is that they didnt sing more! I am really excited about seeing the final production now.

The tenor who plays Calaf seems to have a pretty small voice - I dont see (?hear?) how he will sing over the chorus as he has to. The women singing Liu and Turandot have good strong voices, which are quite distinct one from the other. The guy who plays the father (timor?) sounded good to me, but the real treat was listening to one of the 3 ministers. Cant remember his name nor which of the three he is, but such a yummy voice. And of course the chorus, which sounds GREAT. (I apologize to all who feel this may overencourage OT to the detrimental stretching of his head-gear).

<small>[ 01-14-2004, 11:23 PM: Message edited by: piqaboo ]</small>

[piqaboo]

crud, hit the quotes instead of the edit key to fix those spelling errors. sigh.......

<small>[ 01-14-2004, 11:22 PM: Message edited by: piqaboo ]</small>