#barber of seville overture

[cartoonshitpost]

[trexalicious]

[nerdanel01]

Emmrook at the Opera

In honor of Sylvia confirming Emmrich’s occasionally into a “bold Orlesian opera” (one of the most exciting things to ever happen to me), I wanted to put together this little post on resources for anyone who might be curious about the genre, or want to incorporate it into their fic writing.

It’s going to be a little USA-heavy because I do, unfortunately, live in the land of hamburgers and assault rifles, but the silver lining is that I also live in the country that created this:

The Metropolitan Opera House in NYC has to be one of the largest opera houses in the world, at least partially because of the fact that it was built much more recently than many of the old ones. When it’s full, it fits over four thousand people in it. I once took a tour of the backstage with one of my best friends who told me, partially in jest, “Wow, I’ve never seen you look at your boyfriend the way you’re looking at this building.” I broke up with that boyfriend like a year later, but the Met is my love for life. I love the red velvet on the walls and the seats. I love the giant Marc Chagall paintings. I love the sputnik chandelier. I love the peeling gilt gold on the ceilings, which I often have a perfect view of from my seats in the nosebleeds. The Met is my boo. 

Onto the resources!

If you just want to watch a movie that FEATURES opera but is not specifically an opera:

Moonstruck - Cher tries to invite her fiance’s brother (Nicholas Cage) to her wedding. Can you imagine what happens to Cher and Nicholas Cage next. Features the both of them on a date at the Met Opera (my beloved!) and excerpts from La Boheme. One of my all time fave movies, I identify deeply with Cher’s grandfather in the film. 

Falling for Figaro is a pretty cute romcom about a finance chick who quits her job to pursue her dream of becoming a soprano. 

And listen like the singing in Phantom of the Opera (2004) is. Not great. (I’m sorry Gerard Butler, I loved you when I was twelve.) But the opening sequence of the rolling camera pulls through the opera house as the overture plays will haunt me for the rest of my life. 

If you’ve never seen an opera before, and want to watch one (either online or in person), I recommend starting with one of these:

La Boheme - One of the most popular operas, period. Also, it’s literally RENT. Beat for beat, from ‘will you light my candle’ to ‘la vie boheme,’ it’s RENT, just sung in Italian and set in Paris. (Spoilers, the ending in the opera is more tragic.)

L’Elisir D’Amore - If you like Agnes and Emmrich because you enjoy watching two idiots who are obviously in love with each other pine for each other, this is a good one. Very sweet. One of my faves.

The Barber of Seville - I think this one is very approachable if you think of it as a comic version of Sweeney Todd, if Sweeney had no tragic backstory and Jamie was a young noble. It’s a romance, shenanigans are had, and Largo al Factotum is one of the biggest bops of all time. 

My personal favorites also include Akhaten, La Fille Du Regiment, Le Nozze di Figaro, and Turandot, but your mileage may vary with these—Akhnaten is very contemporary, productions of Turandot sometimes feature some pretty heckin’ yikes orientalism. 

If you want to listen to opera music:

WQXR is NYC’s Classical Music Station. In addition to their regular classical music stream (which is also very good) they have a separate stream of just opera music called Operavore. (I also love New Sounds, but the streams vary wildly and its definitely an acquired taste.)

The Met broadcasts a series of live Sunday radio transmissions every year starting in the spring, available online and also via WQXR.

The Chicago Lyric Opera has a bunch of their live streams archived online.

I have also made a playlist where I’ll be adding all the songs featured in my Emmrook fics. :)

If you want to watch an opera stream online:

OperaVision

There’s this incredible list from OperaWire

But there’s also this site, where you can find pretty much anything

The Met also has it’s own paid streaming service, which is SPENSIVE on the subscription model, but if there’s something you really want to see and can’t find elsewhere, they allow you to rent single titles for $4.99 each.

I do strongly recommend, if you have any interest at all and have the opportunity, to go see an opera in person. For me it makes such a difference to be there in person, and it’s not as expensive as you might think! Plus, since opera is a dying art and opera houses are desperate for new audiences (at least, in America) there are usually a number of discounted ticket programs. (Again, the list below is super USA centric, I’m so sorry—and of those below, I’ve only been to the Met myself.)

The Metropolitan Opera is the biggest opera company in the US in terms of literally the number of operas they put on a year. Other than a brief break in February, the opera is pretty much in session 5 nights a week, from October through the end of May. 

Family Circle. I love the family circle. I’ve spent so much time in the Family Circle. The acoustics ARE genuinely better up here than they are in other parts of the house, and depending on the opera, tickets in the Family Circle typically go between $26-45 dollars each.

Rush Tickets are available every day online—these are usually seats in the orchestra. I can’t remember exactly but I think these are always $25. 

If you’re feeling ~opulent and looking for a very special date night, the Met also runs a program called Fridays Under 40. It’s a special priced Orchestra ticket for people under 40. Many of the dates also include little parties where they usually have photo booths, charcuterie, etc., and opportunities to meet some of the cast.

The Detroit Opera offers student rush tickets, although it looks like you have to be at the box office in person to get them. 

The Chicago Lyric Opera has discounts for students and 50% off rush tickets.

The San Francisco Opera has a great offer for first-time opera attendees who live in the Bay Area - $20 for two great seats

The L.A. Opera also offers student rush discount tickets, and $30 tickets for attendees under 30 years of age.

I am not aware of any discounts for the Santa Fe Opera but it looks so cool and it’s on my bucket list to go one day <3

Dallas Opera offers student discounts and discounts for attendees 21-45 (although it looks like they’re aksing for a membership fee for the 21-45 program—boooo Dallas Opera)

Not super clear on the specifics, but Houston Grand Opera also offers some kind of Under 40 discount on select performances

Opera Philadelphia, which recently appointed my all-time-favorite opera singer Anthony Roth Constanzo as their director, offers $10 rush tickets and student discounts

Tips for your first time at the opera, if you do go:

A thing I did not know before I started going to the opera is that even though they are sung in foreign languages, there are almost always subtitles. At the Met, these are transmitted to the chair back in front of you and available in a variety of other languages. Other houses often project the titles above or at the side of the stage.

If you don’t want to read and listen at the same time, synopses are almost always available in your program or ahead of time.

The food and drink is expensive and almost always not worth it. When I go to the Met with my friends, I regularly bring in alcohol minis as well as little cheese/meat/fruit plates in tupperware in my purse. We eat these outside the theater at intermission. No one has every batted an eye at me. (Mileage may vary at other theaters.)

I know opera has a Reputation, and I definitely was a little worried at first that I would look out of place and people would be snide to me. I have never found this to be the case. The only reason someone will be an asshole to you is if you have your phone out or are talking during the performance—don’t do that. Keep it in your pocket until intermission and silence your notifications. 

Crawl into my dms to talk to me about opera at any time, I will happily yap your ear off

[emjee]

In honor of trying to focus on things that give joy in the next few days: would you be willing to go into what it is you love about opera & tips for things to look for that a noob might miss? I've seen a few & I've found them mildly interesting, but I also feel like maybe I'm missing context or knowledge or perspective to appreciate them more!

Yes!! Mwahahaha, yes!! Thank you for such a great ask.

The thing that I love first and foremost about opera is that it's theatre. I was lucky to grow up regularly attending plays at a university theatre, musicals at community theatres or one that came through on tour, and opera. These experiences were all of a piece in my mind, you just adjusted how much music there was!

I think, at least for me, that the key to really enjoying an opera is finding ones where you are both interested by the plot and really taken with the music. The first opera I ever loved was Carmen, and it's because every time I hear that overture I go YOOOOOO. If you're looking for a starting place, there's a lot of Best Of collections of famous pieces from famous operas, and you can always give one of those a listen and see what jumps out to you, then go check out the whole opera. When I was in college I used to always put on a playlist like that while I was getting ready to go out (rip 8tracks you are MiSSED) and when I was getting back into opera I went "hey I used to do my eyeliner while listened to the overture to Barber of Seville, maybe I should go watch the whole thing."

Something I really love about opera is that it's about feelings--just big feelings all over the place, and so I kind of let my feelings guide me when I'm engaging with a piece, if that makes sense? My appreciation of a production rests in large part on how it makes me feel. I like watching different productions of the same opera (we're not going to get into how many different productions of Marriage of Figaro I've watched in the last two weeks) because my familiarity with the plot and the music allows me to pay a little more attention to the theatrical side of things--the acting, the staging, the setting, etc. That goes back to the whole "opera's a type of theatre" mentality I had from the start.

It's early where I am and I haven't had coffee yet, so if you have questions or you're like "that's not quite the kind of rambly answer I was looking for" just drop by and say so! I'm literally always happy to talk about this.

[aporeticelenchus]

While struck down by Covid (alas, alack, etc), I’ve been watching operas on my mom’s Met Opera account. So far we’ve gotten through:

Barber of Seville (2007, Peter Mattei and Joyce DiDonato):

Charming! A delight! I want to spend more time with the music later to get a better sense of individual movements. Largo Al Factotum looms large and is as good as promised. I enjoyed Peter Mattei as Figaro and Joyce DiDonato as Rosina a lot too! Bartolo’s patter songs are fun. Looking forward to hearing those again.

Marriage of Figaro (1998; Bryn Terfel and Cecilia Bartoli as Figaro and Susanna; Renee Fleming and Dwayne Croft as Countess and Count):

Finally watched a Figaro production after listening to it a million times! Also a delight! For some reason they switched out Susanna’s two solo arias, which threw me. I saw some reviewers thought Cecilia Bartoli did a little too much physical comedy, but I really liked her. Renee Fleming was a great countess; Porgi Amor is still a dead bore to me but that’s not her fault. Cherubino was adorable, but seemed to struggle a bit with Non So Piu.

This continues to be my favorite opera, and I enjoyed this as a production. I plan to watch the other two productions available on the Met on Demand later.

Don Giovanni (2000; Bryn Terfel, Renee Fleming, Solveig Kringelborn, Hei-Kyung Hong):

I’ve now spent enough time with Don Giovanni to have an opinion: it’s good, but I don’t like it nearly as much as Figaro. The plot flow and pacing frustrate me. There are some standout musical moments, but also some parts that drag (hi act 2 Donna Anna). I do love La Ci Darem and Hei-Kyung Hong’s Zerlina was charming. Finch’Han Dal Vino and Deh Vieni A La Finestra are songs I enjoy from Don G, and of course Lepprello’s little list is fun. Donna Elivra generally has good music behind her, as does Act 1 Donna Anna.

Does Don Ottavio need to be in this opera? I’m just…not sure he does….

Every time I hear the Statue sing “Don Giovaaaaaaaannnnniiii” at the end, my brain fills in “from thy dark exile thou art suuuuuuumoned”, and it took me a bit to realize I was pulling that from Iolanthe. I like to think it’s a deliberate musical homage by Sullivan.

I definitely want to watch some more stagings of Don Giovanni; overall I enjoy the opera and I can imagine it changing a lot with different directorial choices.

Die Fledermaus (1986, Kiri Te Kanawa, Judith Blegan, Tatiana Troyanos, and some men probably)

I love an operatta. I love a dumb musical comedy. I love a catchy waltz I can’t get out of my head. Two thumbs up; great use of my time listening, bad use of my time trying to follow the details of the plot because it did not really matter. Special shout out to the Overture for being a jam. It almost renders the rest of the operetta superfluous.

A+ joke having an opera singer character who won’t stop singing during the talky bits. Love that the prince is a trouser role; that helped me through some of the dumb gender stuff elsewhere.

Total blast. I plan to listen to some more recording, including two English-language adaptations. (The POP Opera project did their English-language adaptation set in 1920s Hollywood; that’s on my short list to watch) I think I like J Strauss II!

Carmen (2014; Anita Rachvelishvili and Aleksanders Antonenko)

I’ve seen Carmen before, but it’s been awhile. My mom loves Carmen; I…struggle with it. Maybe it’s just my pro-comedy bias.

The music is very good, of course; the Habañera and Toreador song are some of the most recognizable music today for a reason. The Act 1 overture is great! Short and punchy! I think the opera might be growing on me musically as I listen to it more; I’ve found the group numbers initially overwhelming, but with a little more time i can better parse the music and find parts I really like.

But anyway, I liked most of this production! I thought the Carmen was compelling, and Don Jose was a good singer (I just hate his character a lot). The set deign (1930s Spain vibes) worked for me, which was a pleasant surprise.

Going to see La Boheme tonight! Wish me luck.

[supercantaloupe]

happy sleepover saturday! any thoughts about Beetlejuice the musical (positive/negative/etc)? I've really liked what I've seen/heard but I'd be interested to know what you think. additionally, as a guy who rarely listens to any kind of classical music because he is bad at remembering the titles 😫 what are some bangers i should put on tonight while i assemble a gerbil cage? (preferably the smaller... songs? numbers? please no longer than 10 minutes per. concerto???? idk what they're called im so sorry. last thing these are my three beautiful boys im adopting tomorrow!

OHH THREE BEAUTIFUL BABY BOYS. i like that that two of them appear to have airbender arrows on their heads

i! don't have very strong opinions on beetlejuice the musical, to be honest. i haven't seen it and it's been a few years since listening to the soundtrack. i remember it being decent, a few clever lines and composition moments here and there, there was clearly some creativity and heart put into it. it didn't seem to have like the kind of lazy cashgrab project vibes that other movie-to-stage musical adaptations sometimes, like sure the original movie here was a cult classic already but the team turning it into a musical seemed really interested in making into its own thing that adds to the creative idea. it's not really my cup of tea these days but it seems like a fun time, and you can absolutely do worse

HMM...well i am very much at heart a symphony girlie and symphonies tend to be quite a bit longer than ten minutes, But i shall try to come up with some shorter selections...

the overture to die meistersinger is genuinely a work of genius. i regret having to recommend a wagner piece because philosophically (and also at times musically) i disagree with the man intensely, and he was a massive piece of shit. but damn could he write an overture. he should have been a symphonist. and left it at that.

in that vein actually opera overtures are gonna offer a lot of great options for exciting classical music pieces that don't go on for too long. rossini has a ton of classics to choose from, many of which are very famous and also might be recognizable, like the barber of seville, la gazza ladra (the thieving magpie), l'italiana in algeri (the italian girl in algeria), la scala di seta (the silken ladder) and william tell.

some of my other personal favorite overtures are mozart's le nozze di figaro (the marriage of figaro) and the magic flute, weber's der freischütz, donizetti's la fille du régiment (the daughter of the regiment), and bernstein's candide.

also! the dance of the hours is a classic, it comes from the ballet la gioconda and also was featured in the original fantasia so it might be familiar!

finally i'll recommend some concert band music which i think is often overlooked in the classical music world. and no one does concert band better than brits and americans. holst first suite in Eb and second suite in F are both great, same for vaughan williams' english folk song suite. and william walton's crown imperial coronation march.

OH and arturo márquez's danzón no 2. okay love you bye

[ask meme]

[posttexasstressdisorder]

Thursday, 12-05-24, 7pm Pacific

'Evenin' all, Mr. Baggins here with a set of music to soothe your achin' nerves and help ease us all into a good night. I thought we might start the evening off with Wanda Landowska playing Mozart. We hear her in a number of Mozart works, playing piano instead of her usual harpsichord. First we hear Sonata K. 576, Concerto No. 6 K537, the Sonata in D, K. 311, the Concerto No. 22, the "Country Dances", the Sonata No. 13 in B-flat K.333, the Sonata in G, K. 283, and a fragment of the Sonata K. 311. All recorded on a Pleyel (French) piano, in 1938. Historic documents.

Next we turn to our survey of the Beethoven Symphonies, and tonight we hear the 5th, the one everyone knows! We hear the Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, with Lenny and the Vienna, in a live recording from September '77.

I thought this evening could use a little Ravel, and we will hear both his Ravel’s Piano Concerto For The Left Hand, Fauré's Fantaisie For Piano & Orchestra, and Ravel's Piano Concerto In G Major, all by our brilliant Spanish Pianista, Alicia de Larrocha, and the London Philharmonic, conducted by Rafael Frühbeck De Burgos, recorded in 1974.

Next let's listen to Debussy's Piano Trio in G Major, played here by The Florestan trio: Anthony Marwood (violin), Richard Lester (cello) Susan Tomes (piano)

Now we turn to the music of Carl Reinecke, his Wind Octet in B-flat, Op. 216. This is a delightful twenty-five minutes! We hear the Oslo Kammerakademi perform.

Brahms wrote two serenades, we've heard the first, and we heard Lenny do the Second. And this evening we'll hear a second Second! Brahms' Serenade No. 2 in A Major, Op. 16, for for 10 wind instruments and lower strings. Istvan Kertesz leads the London Symphony, in this Decca recording from 1967. Kertesz was an amazing conductor, and left relatively few recordings before his untimely demise.

I thought it would be nice to hear Fritz and the Band doing some of the classic Mozart and Rossini overtures. Only trouble is they only recorded one Mozart overture, and that's Don Giovanni. Here is their classic RCA Living Stereo recording from 1960.

Now it's time to sit back and get comfy for a block of Rossini Overtures. Fritz and The Band start with Barber of Seville and end with William Tell, and hit all points between. Equally as delicious as their Strauss Waltzes! Recorded in 1958. Enjoy!

We've got one more selection tonight, and this should provide us all a gentle send-off for the night. Here is Neville and The Academy with Vaughan Williams' "The Lark Ascending".

And that wraps up this evening's program, and I do hope you have enjoyed the selections for the evening, and possibly heard something new to your ear. This is Mr. Baggins, signing off for now. I will return at 8am Pacific with our Morning Coffee Music.

Until then, dream sweet dreams, babies, dream sweet dreams.

Baggins out.

[lucygold95]

POTO Korea Christine 손지수[Sohn Ji-soo]'s essay, "크리스틴을 만나다(Meeting Christine)". (+ Her '시어터플러스(THEATRE+)' interview.)

It seems like 19 years have passed already. When I was a student, I happened to see the movie <The Phantom of the Opera> (2004) (at school. *손지수 graduated 선화 Arts Middle School Department of Vocal Music and 선화 " High " ). Fascinated by the enchanting music, mysterious and thrilling stories, and the charming soprano "Christine" in the play, my photo album was filled with her pictures for a while. I even put a picture of Emmy Rossum on my mini homepage.

Living in a lot of classical music, my dream has always been to be a soprano. "Someday, I will sing on stage like Christine."

After graduating from vocal music and making my debut in Milano, I became a soprano of my dreams.

* 손지수 graduated with top honors from 서울(Seoul) National University Department of Vocal Music. After that, she graduated from the 'Conservatorio di Musicica Giuseppe Verdi di Milano'. In 2014, she made her debut in Milano as Rosina, the heroine of the opera 'Il barbiere di Siviglia(The Barber of Seville)'. According to her, a soprano who was supposed to play Rosina was sick. So 손지수, who was an understudy, suddenly made her debut as the heroine Rosina. She said that the trembling emotions of the day were imbued when she sang 'Think Of Me' as Christine.

"<The Phantom of the Opera>, which will be performed in Korean again after 13 years."

I had a chance to audition for a call(The other Christine, 송은혜[Song Eun-hye], who became a phan after watching 최현주's performance in 2009, passed a general audition and became a Christine. (송은혜 is also a fan of Sierra Boggess.) 손지수 was selected as Christine among the call audition participants. The reason why the call audition was held was because they couldn't find a satisfied applicant other than 송은혜 in the general audition. *송은혜 majored in opera, but worked as a popera singer/an ensemble in the musical Elisabeth. *손지수 is an opera singer and made her musical debut with the Phantom of the Opera.) as Christine in the musical <The Phantom of the Opera>, which reminded me of a precious (art)work in my memories that I had forgotten for a while.

I read a book, watched a musical video, and looked for the movie that I watched 19 years ago. The thrill from the overture made my heart pound once again. Over the years, I became a soprano like Christine, but I never thought I would be Christine in the work. Feeling indescribable gratitude and joy, I met Christine like fate.

...

I came to think that the face of the Phantom in the mask might be our inner self. Everyone has their own wounds, and we often hide behind masks to hide their disgrace. And we want to be comforted and loved by someone.

...

Looking at the Phantom's desperate past, I thought about how many people could overcome it alone without being affected by the difficult environment.

Christine recognized the pure soul of the Phantom in the mask, and enlightened the Phantom with the right love. The Phantom, who was not loved by anyone, received spiritual healing when he met an angel named Christine.

Meeting Christine, who is like a ray of warm sunshine in a dry society, raises great inspiration and challenges in my music life. How wonderful it would be to console someone through my life like Christine told the Phantom true love! In that sense, I am going to the theater as an angelic Christine with gratitude and happiness again today.

[behestofheaven]

lalalalala i cant hear you over my barber of seville overture lalalala

[bugstung]

Sometimes when i'm stressed i like to put on various pieces of classical music. The Can-can/march of orpheus is a good one. The william tell overture. More rossini in the barber of seville overture. Dvorak symphony number 8 mvt 3. They kind of elevate the feeling but also help work it out ur system. Otherwise i found blasting MCR also works lmao

Forgot to reply, but I'll try this next time, I often forget classical music exists

[servuscallidus]

I've been perfectly unable to study the entire day, but at least I was unable-to-study at sea and then unable-to-study while listening to The barber of Seville's Overture for half an hour straight, which is better than plain, old unable-to-study

[woodsteingirl]

the barber of seville was great and i am forever greatful to rossini for being such a great composer but did the william tell overture really need to be that long because my father is playing it obscenely fucking loud and at the moment i am genuinely miserable and in so much pain i don’t really want to hear the horse song. for the like twentieth minute

[thriftstorerecords]

Rossini: William Tell And Barber Of Seville Overtures Bizet: Carmen Prelude Austrian Symphony, Conducted by Kurt Woss Maggio Fiorentino, Conducted by Erasmo Ghiglia Paris Opera, Jean Allain Remington Records/USA (1951)

[bambi-lesbian-posts]

A new collection of records I got recently from the thrift store

(and their respective song lists, if they have them):

"Music of the World's Greatest Composers" is a collection of 12 records containing songs from the following composers:

Bach Brandenburg Concerto No.1

Handel Water Music Suite

Haydn Symphony No.94 ("Surprise")

Mozart Symphony No.40

Beethoven Symphony No.3 ("Eroica")

Rossini The Barber of Seville: Overture

Schubert Symphony No.8 ("Unfinished")

Berloiz Roman Carnival Overture

Mendelssohn Symphony No.4 ("Italian")

Chopin Les Sylphides - Excerpts

Schumann Symphony No.3 ("Rhenish")

Liszt Mephisto Waltz

Wagner Tristan and Isolde: Prelude and Liebestod

Verdi La Forza del Destino: Overture

Franck Symphony in D Minor

Johann Strauss, Jr. Waltzes: Wiener Blut and Fledermaus: Du und Du

Brahms Symphony No.3

Brizet Carmen: Prelude to Act 1

Tchaikovsky Symphony No.6 ("Pathétique")

Dvořák Carnival Overture

Grieg Peer Gynt Suite No.1

Rimsky-Korsakov Russian Easter Overture

Debussy Prelude to the Afternoon of a Fawn

Richard Strauss Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks

Sibelius Finlandia and The Swan of Tuonela

Stravinsky The Rite of Spring

[theimpossiblescheme]

In terms of “Bugs Bunny cartoons ruining opera for me”, I’m able to get through “Ride of the Valkyries” and the Tannhäuser overture just fine (mostly because Wagner can kiss my ass forever), but I did just start giggling uncontrollably listening to the Barber of Seville overture.  I’m so sorry to do this to you, Nicolai Ghiaurov, but I cannot hear that music without thinking of Elmer Fudd lost in a theater.

[supercantaloupe]

happy saturday! top 5 overtures and/or fish?

in no particular order: barber of seville, la fille du régiment, the gondoliers, la périchole, my fair lady, blacktip reef shark, garden eel, moray eel, archerfish, and figure 8 puffer

[ask meme]