The Phantom of the Opera and good company

[beowabbit]

Got to see The Phantom of the Opera tonight with a bunch of good people, preceded by spectacularly yummy pear, gorgonzola, and greens pizza at California Pizza Kitchen. Very good company: cathijosephine, mrpet, docorion, cathijosephine’s LJ-bereft friend C. who actually got us the tickets for cheap, C.’s sweetie D., and eisa and buxom_bey, which latter two met us at the theater after dinner.

I didn’t feel all that excited about the performance itself, but it was a wonderful experience all the same. The Opera House is physically, visually impressive in its ornate beauty; I’m glad places like that still exist and are still being maintained. The play also had a lot of ornate beauty and pageantry to it.

I definitely want to see more theater. And this made me want to see a more classical opera. I don’t like recorded opera music, but I think I’d enjoy it live.

I feel like I’ve got lots more to say, but I also feel like I should have been in bed hours ago. :-)

Comments

[spwebdesign.livejournal.com]

If you want some recommendations on opera, let me know.

Recorded opera is often difficult to get into. Opera was meant to be seen and heard, not just heard. And the language barrier is less when you actors communicate through the movement and expressions a lot of what is going on.

I'm sorry I haven't answered your "must have classical recordings" question yet. That really was not an easy question. But I have been thinking about it on and off and will attempt to put together a short list of essential recordings.

[beowabbit]

If you want some recommendations on opera, let me know.

Well, I think my technique is going to be to take opportunities to buy cheap tickets to operas playing in Boston that I think I might enjoy, so I don’t know how much choice I’m going to have. :-) (I’d love to see Carmen sometime.) But if you have suggestions for stuff I’m likely to encounter, sure, I’d love to hear them.

Recorded opera is often difficult to get into. Opera was meant to be seen and heard, not just heard.

Yeah. Honestly, I don’t much like the way the voices of people singing opera sound. In opera movies (a couple of which I’ve seen), there’s enough visually going on and I can get into the plot enough that I can deal with the voices. I’m sure this is shocking sacrilege to an opera singer. :-)

And the language barrier is less when you actors communicate through the movement and expressions a lot of what is going on.

Actually, I felt like there was a significant “language barrier” for me in The Phantom of the Opera, insofar as I had to spend so much energy on picking out the lyrics that I didn’t have as much as I’d have liked left over for aesthetic appreciation. That might have had something to do with where we were sitting, but I think a lot of it just has to do with me having trouble with the register things are sung in.

I'm sorry I haven't answered your "must have classical recordings" question yet. That really was not an easy question. But I have been thinking about it on and off and will attempt to put together a short list of essential recordings.

Oh, not a problem at all! Don’t feel like you need to put too much effort into it, I’m mostly just looking for a little nudge towards stuff I might otherwise not stumble across. And if you don’t get around to it, that’s fine too.

[spwebdesign.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I don’t much like the way the voices of people singing opera sound. ... I’m sure this is shocking sacrilege to an opera singer.

Not really. Operatic singing was developed for carrying over an orchestra in an acoustically large space. It was not meant for the intimacy of the microphone.