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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 221 responses total. |
srw
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response 13 of 221:
| 
Feb 15 20:21 UTC 1997 |
Second Carmen. I got started in opera with Mozart's Magic Flute.
I think that's also a good one to start with.
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mary
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response 14 of 221:
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Feb 16 00:40 UTC 1997 |
Michael is back! I've been wondering and asking and downright
fretting over your absence. Don't you *ever* do that again.
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rcurl
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response 15 of 221:
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Feb 16 06:24 UTC 1997 |
Yes, Carmen is good. I got started with Rigoletto. It was at a time when I
was also indulging myself in Greek tragedy, so the impact was enormous.
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jiffer
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response 16 of 221:
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Feb 16 14:41 UTC 1997 |
Krj: SUpertitles?> uhm... not that i am aware of. I enjoy opera but don't
usually get a chance to be educated or see it often. I started with _Mdme.
Butterfly_ and then saw a fw others. Mainly listen to the CDs and yearn to
actually get to go to more!
Carmen is good.
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krj
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response 17 of 221:
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Feb 18 00:21 UTC 1997 |
Supertitles are a translation of the libretto which are projected
above the stage. They function like subtitles in a foreign film.
They were invented by Toronto Opera in the early 1980s, if I remember
correctly. They were quite controversial -- musicians and directors
felt that they distracted from the stage experience, and James
Levine was quoted as saying, "Over my dead body," when asked if the
Metropolitan Opera would adopt titles.
But audiences loved titles, and they have rapidly spread to become
standard in North American opera productions. The Met capitulated to
titles about two years ago, and at last report Maestro Levine was
still breathing. I think that Santa Fe is the last major holdout
against titles.
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rcurl
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response 18 of 221:
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Feb 18 06:51 UTC 1997 |
I don't like them, and put them out of my visual perception. The next
generation of opera goers will acquire a head-nod - sort of a vertical
tennis match syndrome. If they could be projected so it required special
glasses to see them, then everyone could enjoy themselves.
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davel
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response 19 of 221:
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Feb 18 12:52 UTC 1997 |
Except those of us who *already* wear glasses?
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rcurl
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response 20 of 221:
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Feb 18 20:16 UTC 1997 |
Clip-ons.....
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jradio
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response 21 of 221:
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Feb 18 20:18 UTC 1997 |
Is th4ere anyone out there who could tell me where I might get a biography
of James[A Levine. I have heard some things that he has conducted on the
radio, and I would like to know more about him. Thanks in advance.
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krj
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response 22 of 221:
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Feb 19 04:58 UTC 1997 |
Ack! Puccini's LA BOHEME, presented by the New York City Opera
National Company, opens Wednesday February 19 at the Power Center
in Ann Arbor. (That will be, um, today, for many readers.)
It runs through Saturday. In response #2 I discussed LA BOHEME's
attractiveness as an introductory opera.
U.Mich's School of Music presents Mozart's MARRIAGE OF FIGARO
beginning Wednesday March 26. This will be in the small
Lydia Mendellsohn Theatre; Mozart at Mendellsohn is a guaranteed
sellout. In the past, this has usually meant that the school will
sell tickets to the dress rehearsal at a very low price.
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davel
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response 23 of 221:
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Feb 19 18:02 UTC 1997 |
I've never found clipons tolerable (*any* kind). The racks of clipon
sunglasses you find in drugstores shows that some do, but I suspect I'm in
the majority.
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srw
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response 24 of 221:
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Feb 19 18:37 UTC 1997 |
In answer to John Tisinger, there is a James levine (unofficial) home
page at http://www.opera.it/FreeWeb/Domingo/Levine/HOME.HTM
They plan to have a biography posted there, but it is currently just
marked as under construction (don't you just hate that?).
There is a videotape you can buy on his life. It was done as a TV
documentary. See
http://www.unitel.classicalmusic.com/ucatalog/portrait/173_5.htm
There are short pages about Levine at:
http://www.hqe.com/SHOWS/3tenors/levine.htm
http://www.unitel.classicalmusic.com/uhilites/061596.htm
but they may not have information you don't already know.
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jradio
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response 25 of 221:
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Feb 22 20:35 UTC 1997 |
Thanks for the help Steve. I'll look into those. By the way, I amalso
interested in some info on Robert Shaw, (since I do live near Atlanta). Feel
free to respond here, or send me E-mail to jdtstu@westga.edu.
By the way, what do sunglasses have to do with classical music?
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krj
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response 26 of 221:
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Feb 23 05:09 UTC 1997 |
The idea is that one could use flip-up sunglasses to block out
one's view of the titles projected over the stage.
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rcurl
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response 27 of 221:
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Feb 23 06:45 UTC 1997 |
We went to the Friday evening performance of La Boheme at Power Theatre.
It was fabulous. One thing that made it extra enjoyable was that we
changed dates at the last minute, and could only get seats in the 2nd row,
orchestra. I've always been a cheapskate and sat in the middle-price
sections. What a difference! Everything was much more 'immediate'. The
two roomies, Corrine and Schaunauer (sp?), suddenly came across as great
parts (from a greater distance, one concentrated on the principles). The
small orchestra was just below us, and the conductor just to our right. The
direct interactions between the conductor and performers could be seen.
And, in final scene, Mimi seemed to be singing directly to *me* - I was
tempted to leap upon the stage to try to comfort her. We think we will
always get front row seats hereafter (may see fewer operas, but enjoy those
we see more).
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srw
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response 28 of 221:
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Feb 23 19:14 UTC 1997 |
I would encourage you to look for relevant web sites either at
http://yahoo.com/ for a topical hierarchy o organized data, or
http://altavista.digital.com/ for a search engine.
I scanned altavista for Robert Shaw, and got a number of false hits, which
is common for search engines, but these two appear to be relevant:
http://kennedy-center.org/explore/honors/html/1991/shaw.html
http://www.musicfan.com/ecd/details/134.html
Learning how to do reasearch on the internet is easy and fun, and a useful
skill. You can do it all from grex with lynx, even if you do not have access
to a browser.
(now back to the topic)
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remmers
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response 29 of 221:
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Feb 23 19:46 UTC 1997 |
(I think lynx *is* a browser. Perhaps you meant "graphical
browser"?)
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srw
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response 30 of 221:
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Feb 23 21:47 UTC 1997 |
I meant that even if you think you do not have access to a browser, you have
access to lynx on Grex, so you should be able to do all this searching
yourself. Graphical is irrelevant, as it adds nothing to the process of
finding useful things on the net this way.
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davel
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response 31 of 221:
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Feb 24 02:52 UTC 1997 |
(Except when lynx shows you only a page consisting of something like this:
[image][image][image][image][image][image][image][image][image][image][image][
image][image][image][image][image][image][image][image][image][image][image]
)
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rcurl
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response 32 of 221:
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Feb 24 08:12 UTC 1997 |
Use your imagination....
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davel
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response 33 of 221:
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Feb 24 12:51 UTC 1997 |
(I've tried that. I've also tried "clicking" at random. At least once that
got me somewhere more useful. At least once each choice brought me back,
apparently, to exactly the same page. Wonder what things would have looked
like with a graphical browser ...)
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rcurl
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response 34 of 221:
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Feb 24 17:49 UTC 1997 |
I'd say, a montage....
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krj
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response 35 of 221:
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Feb 25 16:54 UTC 1997 |
The Michigan Opera Theatre has a web page at:
http://www.detnews.com/mot/
Perhaps someone would like to tell us how it looks with lynx?
I'll agree with Rane on how wonderful opera is from a close-in
seat. For Rane, this has the added advantage of putting those pesky
projected titles out of the field of view.
One of my favorite opera experiences was a UM student production of
LA BOHEME, in Power Center, in English. I had a seat in the second row.
Yes, it's a very immediate connection to the drama.
We found that close-in seats could generally be had at the Masonic
Theatre for $40-$50. Once, for CARMEN, we found ourselves almost
a part of the orchestra. The augmented bass section had spilled out
of the pit, and the last three bass players were to our immediate left.
I'm not yet sure, but I think that the close-in seats at the new
Detroit Opera House are the one priced up in the $95 category, so
we're unlikely to be sitting in those anytime soon.
The UM student opera tickets have just one price, so you can get your
ticket early and sit as close as you want. Or, you can wait and maybe
get lucky. A lot of patrons don't like to sit way up in the front, and
we have often gotten front-row seats when we buy tickets at the last
minute.
However, as I think I mentioned already, I do *not* recommend waiting
until the last minute to get tickets for the spring production of
MARRIAGE OF FIGARO. The Mendellsohn Theatre is very intimate, and
for a popular opera like this one a sellout is almost guaranteed.
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rcurl
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response 36 of 221:
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Feb 25 18:06 UTC 1997 |
Yes, it was rather difficult to look at the projected "super-titles"
(I admit to having tested them a couple of times - but mostly not. I
was glad that they were not in my field of view, to distract attention by
flashing from one image to another.)
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jiffer
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response 37 of 221:
|
Mar 2 05:16 UTC 1997 |
who wants front row seats? singers' spit? i rather have middle row... far
enough not to be shouted at and spitted on, but close enough to apprecate the
scenery and costumes!
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