My wife caught me last night...

[Muffin]

@ChiefScott

“WHAT are you WATCHING?!!” my wife sheiked as she physically turned my 14-year-old boy around and bodily pushed him back into the dining room so he wouldn’t see. “Aren’t you embarrassed?!!” she screamed.

@Dinsdale

Just this a.m. my wife asked me if I wanted to go see Tosca.
I promptly responded “No.”

The obvious solution is a wife swap.

[Baldwin]

I like opera unless it’s in English. Then I want to yell, “Just say it already!”

[JohnT]

@ChiefScott

I was actually tearing up when Mimi died at the end of the second act.

Thanks for spoiling it for me, dude.

[Giles]

@Baldwin

I like opera unless it’s in English. Then I want to yell, “Just say it already!”

Have you tried any of Britten’s operas – originally written in English – such as Peter Grimes?

[fachverwirrt]

@Baldwin

I like opera unless it’s in English. Then I want to yell, “Just say it already!”

Do you mean opera written in English, or opera translate into English? The former is much better. In addition to the aforementioned Britten, there’s quite a bit of very good (IMO) modern American opera. It tends to be quite a bit more straightforward than some of the more traditional operas.

Even in Italian (or whatever), some traditional operas can get me a little worked up

Gilda: Addio!
Duke: Addio!
Gilda: Addio!
Duke: Addio!
.
.
.
.
.
.
(Four minutes later)
Gilda: Addio!
Duke: Addio!
Gilda: Addio!
Duke: Addio!
Both: Addio!
Gilda: Addio!
Duke: Addio!
Me: Dear lord, just get off the fucking stage!

[Figaro]

@fachverwirrt

Me: Dear lord, just get off the fucking stage!

Heh, yes. My own favorite is the “now that we’ve drawn our swords for a duel to the death, let’s stop for a 6-minute piece of drawn-out ensemble singing” moment in Lucia. Gotta love opera time.

ChiefScott – glad to hear you’ve got the bug, and I heartily second the recommendation for any opera that has my username in the title

Another good comedy recommendation is Donizetti’s* L’elisir d’amore * (The Elixir of Love). It has one of the most famous arias for tenor (Una furtiva lagrima) in it and lots of great comedic scenes. It’s also a very sweet story.

[Muffin]

The Met’s opera season overlaps with ski season.

The bad thing is that it cuts down on ski time.

The good thing is that skiing is a lot more fun when you sing-along down the slopes. Wagner is particularly appropriate for Super-G. :eek:

[Thudlow_Boink]

@JohnT

Thanks for spoiling it for me, dude.

“Well, what did you expect in an opera? A happy ending?” -Bugs Bunny

[Wile_E]

I like it when the fat lady sings.
Not sure I could sit through a whole opera but I do admire the vocal ability needed to sing opera. I have seen clips of the aria “Un bel dì vedremo” from Madam Butterfly that had me in tears. So I downloaded an MP3 of that aria, I think it’s Maria Callas singing it. And yes, I do know the story of Madam Butterfly and the criticisms of it as well.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@ChiefScott

I’m not sure how you say it in Italian, but it was The Barber of Seville.

Il barbiere di Siviglia

[carnivorousplant]

I have often wondered what Janis Joplin would have sounded like if she had trained to sing opera. It would, of course popularized the Wagnerian aria from Die Walkure, “It’s All the Same F–king Thing, Man!”

[MoodIndigo1]

@Mr Bus Guy

I’m not a big opera fan, but one night one of the HD channels I flipped by was showing a performance of whichever that one is with the clown - Pagliaci? (See, told you I knew nothing).

I was captivated and couldn’t turn the channel.

I love Pagliacci, it was my first opera, and I still get tears in my eyes when I hear “Vesti la giubba”. That was a long time ago, but I still go and see/hear that one whenever it’s playing at the Opera in town. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky271W94VHA

[Figaro]

@Wile E

I like it when the fat lady sings.
Not sure I could sit through a whole opera but I do admire the vocal ability needed to sing opera. I have seen clips of the aria “Un bel dì vedremo” from Madam Butterfly that had me in tears. So I downloaded an MP3 of that aria, I think it’s Maria Callas singing it. And yes, I do know the story of Madam Butterfly and the criticisms of it as well.

Butterfly is the magic Puccini opera for me. Tosca moves me, especially the second act, and La bohème is close to perfect, but the nobility and innocence of Cio-Cio San (Butterfly), and especially that aria, pretty much ruins me every time. I need a stiff drink and a rainy day after hearing it, just to keep the sad buzz going.

Oh, and my girlfriend sings the bejeezus out of that aria. That might have something to do with it too

[Baldwin]

@Giles

Have you tried any of Britten’s operas – originally written in English – such as Peter Grimes?

Not sure. Thanks; I’ll check it out.

[Kizarvexius]

@ChiefScott

So there it is. Out in the open. For all to point at and laugh at. Go ahead mock the Deadhead who likes opera.

Mockery? Fie! Classical aficionados certainly do not have a monopoly on musical snobbery, and you have simply succeeded in crossing a bridge that many others would, in their aggressive and self-defeating ignorance, disdain. Not that a lot classical snobs go out of their way to lure folks over that bridge, mind you.

[Fish]

@carnivorousplant

Die Fledermaus is funny; I’ve not heard it. Gilbert and Sullivan have a lot of comic opera.

I saw that at the Seattle Opera with Werner Klemperer and, believe it or not, Buddy Hackett.

[lobotomyboy63]

It sounds like la forza del destino has caught up with you, OP!

[chrissysissystar]

The first / only opera I’ve ever watched all the way through is the Peter Sellars version of Don Giovanni with Herbert and Eugene Perry trading off the lead role. If you can get a hold of a copy (it’s another from Great Performances), it really is quite good.

[ChiefScott]

I always get the TV on father’s day. If’n Tiger and Lefty are out of the hunt, I may take a swing by the local video store to see what they have. Now that I’m thinking of it, I do have a new 6-channel home theater system that I’ve only used for Dead shows so far.

Hmmm… now that I’ve typed it I seem to have mentally committed to doing it.

Now I’m all hoping they have Der Fliedermaus or Tosca or one of Wagner’s rings…

[JThunder]

If it doesn’t involve Elmer Fudd in a viking hat, then I’m not interested.