Opera isn't usually the first choice of anyone looking for a musical good time, and it's not the exposition of its every fan's story. Some of even the most passionate of classical lovers, such as myself, began their journeys across the sound universe with Cher and others who continue to keep rhythm on pop culture's head. Indeed, the collective presence of microphone-oriented genres is so overwhelming in the now that the size of what fraction of Earth's population regularly demonstrates interest in the orchestral and unamplified raises such questions as these: How is such music as opera's still alive? Why do performance tickets draw between fifty and four hundred dollars out of a fan's pocket multiple times a year? Is one required to maintain a warped state of consciousness to enjoy it?
1. Bipolar Rules!
In answer to that last one: Pretty much. Though opera is often dismissed as overdone in every way, its Everest-level highs and Hades-level lows (more literal than any non-fan might think) are precisely what make it satisfying to the "right brain" in the most complete way, which is to say that one simply cannot enjoy a performance if one keeps a grip on a sense of reality and psychological balance all the way through. Hence, I write directly to any opera newbies who may be reading this: Embrace the irrational and extreme. If you've started to identify with Lewis Black or just about any given Metallica song, you shouldn't have any problem with either. Why do it? Because (if I haven't written it directly enough) "letting it all go" with Puccini and Strauss can give you a much clearer view of your emotional self. Besides, haven't you ever wanted to hear the world from a manic depressive's audial perspective?
2. Guys, Goths, and Grunge Enthusiasts Present
Be ye not deterred by the evening gowns and diamonds of the Met Opera galas that you read about in celebrity gossip articles, dear newbie (straight to you, again). Maybe Mozart's music is, indeed, elegant and refined. Maybe Handel's shimmers like a champagne flute. However, you have to know that the atmosphere of Wolfgang Amadeus and the fruits of George Frideric help to make the key element of the Romantic Era and our modern Age, a searing something that all hard-rockers and man-cave dwellers hold dear, pop. Power is that to which I refer, power that some operatic works have in such abundance that they need not be juxtaposed with any of their quieter friends for their intensity to be noticed. The receipt for any recording of "Gotterdammerung" or "Boris Godunov," for instance, could rightly be accompanied by a list of mixed drinks and beers recommended for easier listening. As for the other two G's of the subheading: The composers of the late 1800s and early 1900s have got you covered. An evening of "Otello" or "Tristan und Isolde" calls for antidepressants and a day of recuperation, and "Macbeth" and "Elektra" will make you want to run out and grab some more black lipstick and eyeliner. I suggest peroxetine and any brand that's waterproof.
3. We "Get" You
If you like shaking hands with passionate people, you'll love meeting opera fans. We're all a little insane, which is to say that less than fifteen minutes after having laughed, cried, and self-mutilated our way through a three-hour emotional canyon (i.e., "Tosca") we start itching to do it again. There's nothing sweeter to us than a weekend of onstage screaming, plotting, and massacring (thumbs up to the "Nibelung" lovers), anguish being our game. This is to say that we're always looking for the best "release," so you're in good company if you're bumming or need to decompress. Any one of us would be glad to turn on the stereo or the Blue-Ray player, open a bottle of wine or a bag of chocolate nuggets, and sit with you supportively while your brain chemicals duke it out with each other in a match refereed by Giuseppe Verdi.
4. Learning is Cool
Opera makes you smarter. The more you get into it, the more you learn. For instance, I didn't know until a few years ago that a "vorspiel" is a "prelude." I didn't know the difference between "pianissimo" (super soft singing) and "fortissimo" (super loud singing). I didn't know that a person could be a masochist and a sadist at the same time. By the time you've made it to the two-hundred-mile marker on your operatic journey, you'll be surprised at how much German, Italian, French, and Russian you know. You may not be able to speak the languages in their entirety, but you'll be fluent in Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Bizet, and Wagner.
5. The Mystery of the Human Condition...
Is a wide open pasture to an opera fan! Composers have explored scores of philosophies and ideas throughout the years, some of which I've already mentioned in "Five Operas That Changed the World." Granted, you won't find every secret to life by watching "La Boheme" or "Il Trovatore," but you'll learn about how complicated people can be and why you should never ask your daughter to burn a baby. The music illustrates the inner emotional struggle that is sparked by any decision, whether it be to abandon oneself to love or to swear vengeance on a high-power playboy for his misdeeds against a certain feminine loved one. In short, if you're looking for the hidden meaning behind the jargon of Dr. Phil viewers, you might want to give opera a try.
Perhaps now, dear newbie, you wonder a little less at the fact that opera has been around since Jacopo Peri penned "Dafne" more than four hundred years ago. If so, I welcome you heartily to the operatic solar system of the sound universe. May your journey home to Cher be long and scenic. Happy listening, always!
Image: Don Escamillo (Carmen) @ Opera by Candlelight, protected by the creative commons here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
1. Bipolar Rules!
In answer to that last one: Pretty much. Though opera is often dismissed as overdone in every way, its Everest-level highs and Hades-level lows (more literal than any non-fan might think) are precisely what make it satisfying to the "right brain" in the most complete way, which is to say that one simply cannot enjoy a performance if one keeps a grip on a sense of reality and psychological balance all the way through. Hence, I write directly to any opera newbies who may be reading this: Embrace the irrational and extreme. If you've started to identify with Lewis Black or just about any given Metallica song, you shouldn't have any problem with either. Why do it? Because (if I haven't written it directly enough) "letting it all go" with Puccini and Strauss can give you a much clearer view of your emotional self. Besides, haven't you ever wanted to hear the world from a manic depressive's audial perspective?
2. Guys, Goths, and Grunge Enthusiasts Present
Be ye not deterred by the evening gowns and diamonds of the Met Opera galas that you read about in celebrity gossip articles, dear newbie (straight to you, again). Maybe Mozart's music is, indeed, elegant and refined. Maybe Handel's shimmers like a champagne flute. However, you have to know that the atmosphere of Wolfgang Amadeus and the fruits of George Frideric help to make the key element of the Romantic Era and our modern Age, a searing something that all hard-rockers and man-cave dwellers hold dear, pop. Power is that to which I refer, power that some operatic works have in such abundance that they need not be juxtaposed with any of their quieter friends for their intensity to be noticed. The receipt for any recording of "Gotterdammerung" or "Boris Godunov," for instance, could rightly be accompanied by a list of mixed drinks and beers recommended for easier listening. As for the other two G's of the subheading: The composers of the late 1800s and early 1900s have got you covered. An evening of "Otello" or "Tristan und Isolde" calls for antidepressants and a day of recuperation, and "Macbeth" and "Elektra" will make you want to run out and grab some more black lipstick and eyeliner. I suggest peroxetine and any brand that's waterproof.
3. We "Get" You
If you like shaking hands with passionate people, you'll love meeting opera fans. We're all a little insane, which is to say that less than fifteen minutes after having laughed, cried, and self-mutilated our way through a three-hour emotional canyon (i.e., "Tosca") we start itching to do it again. There's nothing sweeter to us than a weekend of onstage screaming, plotting, and massacring (thumbs up to the "Nibelung" lovers), anguish being our game. This is to say that we're always looking for the best "release," so you're in good company if you're bumming or need to decompress. Any one of us would be glad to turn on the stereo or the Blue-Ray player, open a bottle of wine or a bag of chocolate nuggets, and sit with you supportively while your brain chemicals duke it out with each other in a match refereed by Giuseppe Verdi.
4. Learning is Cool
Opera makes you smarter. The more you get into it, the more you learn. For instance, I didn't know until a few years ago that a "vorspiel" is a "prelude." I didn't know the difference between "pianissimo" (super soft singing) and "fortissimo" (super loud singing). I didn't know that a person could be a masochist and a sadist at the same time. By the time you've made it to the two-hundred-mile marker on your operatic journey, you'll be surprised at how much German, Italian, French, and Russian you know. You may not be able to speak the languages in their entirety, but you'll be fluent in Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Bizet, and Wagner.
5. The Mystery of the Human Condition...
Is a wide open pasture to an opera fan! Composers have explored scores of philosophies and ideas throughout the years, some of which I've already mentioned in "Five Operas That Changed the World." Granted, you won't find every secret to life by watching "La Boheme" or "Il Trovatore," but you'll learn about how complicated people can be and why you should never ask your daughter to burn a baby. The music illustrates the inner emotional struggle that is sparked by any decision, whether it be to abandon oneself to love or to swear vengeance on a high-power playboy for his misdeeds against a certain feminine loved one. In short, if you're looking for the hidden meaning behind the jargon of Dr. Phil viewers, you might want to give opera a try.
Perhaps now, dear newbie, you wonder a little less at the fact that opera has been around since Jacopo Peri penned "Dafne" more than four hundred years ago. If so, I welcome you heartily to the operatic solar system of the sound universe. May your journey home to Cher be long and scenic. Happy listening, always!
Image: Don Escamillo (Carmen) @ Opera by Candlelight, protected by the creative commons here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
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