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.

[kimeepower.livejournal.com]

I am seeing the opera next Tuesday with LJ=fibrowitch & can't wait. I've never been to any opera/musical/theater anything before so I can't wait. Was this your first time too? I've just seen the movie recently in the theater (Hollywood Hits, Danvers). The movie was amazing. So amazing I went to see it several times :) There were freaks there that were going to watch the movie twice a day for weeks. OK sure I was enthrawled with the movie too, but they were insane. So I finally talked to them & asked them what they found so appealing about the movie. Well check this out... http://kimee.blog-city.com/read/1151438.htm Yes I guess I am a bad influence :)

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

*snuggles you just because*

[cutieperson]

that pizza sounds divine.

A non-opera buff's guide to opera ...

[redjo.livejournal.com]

Back home, I went to the opera for 10 years ... and I don't consider myself appreciative of the genre at all. Actually, to this day I find it parts of it really annoying. A friend asked me to keep her company, the student discounts were amazing (they somehow never realized I had graduated :), and I just kept going.

The visual spectacle is key, I really went for the staging, sets and acting. What made it a great experience was when I recognized the music, filtered as it's become through mass culture and advertising. (I can't *tell* you how funny it was to discover that most of the music in Carmen was known to me from an episode of Gilligan's Island ... and Warner Brothers/Bugs Bunny cartoons are another topic entirely.)

It all depends on who's in it and who's directing it of course, but I think you'd rarely go wrong with anything by Verdi or Mozart. La Traviata is a good one, and you won't be able to stop humming "The Drinking Song." You need to be careful with Wagner, it can be great or a real dud. And there's always Gilbert and Sullivan for a good time, depending on whether or not you consider it opera. (I don't care, it's always funny. :)

In Edmonton the opera had a great sub-titling system. You could hear the rhythms of the original language, and read just enough to keep up with the story. I don't know if they have the same system here, but I hope so. Really juicy melodramatic opera sounds dignified when sung in the original, but kinda silly when translated into English.

If you ever need an opera buddy, you know who to call! :)

[chienne-folle.livejournal.com]

I've been discovering classical music but am still a pygmy when it comes to knowledge. So maybe we can do some of our discoveries together?

I went to the BSO for Norman's birthday, and the Hayden symphony was okay, and the Shubert symphony was okay, and the Mozart concerto made me go, "Wow!" Norman sometimes plays classical piano, and the Bach pieces he plays are very pretty, and the Mozart piece he plays makes me go "Wow!" I've concluded that Mozart is a good guy. Hundreds of years after the rest of the world figured this out, of course. :-) So if you decide to go to a Mozart opera, I'm up for it.

Oh, and if your friend comes up with that list of essential classical music for the muscially untutored, would you share it with me?

Norman and I have a book by the NPR folks on essential classical music that lists not just which pieces they recommend but also which recordings of those pieces. But it's a whole book's worth -- hundreds of pages -- so it's not exactly the ten pieces to start with or anything like that. It is at least divided into chapters on symphonic music, chamber music, solo pieces, and opera, so if you know what kind of music you're most interested in, it can steer you to those. You can take a look at the book if it interests you.

Hugs,

Cory