World Opera Day 2023

Cafe Society
1

So it’s World Opera Day 2023, and it has me wondering - are there any opera fans on The Dope these days? Any singers? Any conductors, coach/repetiteurs or pit musicians? Any stage managers or technicians?

I’ve been a professional singer since September of 1982 - in that time, I’ve been a king, a prince, a marquis, a count, a baron, and a lieutenant governor. I’ve been every kind of servant possible, from a lackey to a gardener to a valet to a major domo.

I’ve been a doctor, a lawyer, a philosopher, a poet, and a judge. I’ve been a cop, a detective, a prison warden, a homeless person, a smuggler, a landlord, a crooked businessman, a torturer, and a murderer.

I’ve been a drunk, a stoner, and a teetotaller. I’ve been every possible point on the spectrum from sane to bat-shit crazy.

I’ve been a god, a demon, a ghost, a vampire, and a mad scientist.

I’ve died on stage, been killed onstage, and I’ve been born onstage!

There are shows I’ve done so often that I’ve done every role that it’s possible for me to do! There are some roles/shows I’ve never done (yet)!

And after 41 years in the business, I still love it! It’s a damned silly way to make a living, but Happy World Opera Day 2023 to everyone!

2

I’m an opera fan. I’ve been to the San Francisco Opera many times, among other organizations. Of the classics, I guess Turandot and Madame Butterfly are my favorites.

A few years ago I saw the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Akhnaten by Philip Glass and was blown away.

But I like a lot of genres of music. I love disco and EDM, and lately I’ve been listening to a lot of K-pop.

3

Oh, I LOOOOVE The Met’s current ‘Akhnaten’, with Sean Gandini directing/choreographing the ‘ritual juggling’!

4

I enjoy Wagner. My favorite is the Ring cycle.

5

I sang in the chorus of a traveling production of Faust many years ago when it came to my city. I was a burgher, a demon, and a wounded soldier.

I was in the chorus again, as a slave and a priest with a few spoken lines in a local production of The Magic Flute.

I think Herb Haufrecht considered his piece “A Pot of Broth” to be a (short) opera–I played the beggar in that.

I was in a singing group for a while which specialized in opera and operetta. And I’ve performed various roles, from chorus up to leads, in community productions of operettas like Fledermaus and Gilbert and Sullivan.

I don’t listen to opera as often as I probably should.
Happy World Opera Day to you!

6

Hoo-wee! That’s some hardcore stuff right there! I’ve done chorus in ‘Lohengrin’ in 1983, and chorus in ‘Meistersinger’ in 1986. I had the honour to play Donner in ‘Das Rheingold’ in 2014.

An interesting bit of trivia - there are only two opera companies in history to open a new opera house with a full production of the Ring cycle. One was the Canadian Opera Company at the Four Seasons’ Centre for the Performing Arts in 2006. The other was the Bayreuther Festspielhaus, under the direction of the composer, in 1876.

7

Zu mir, du Gedüft! Ihr Dünste zu mir!
Donner, der Herr, ruft euch zu Heer!

8

I have very little knowledge or experience of opera.

I just know that this duet is one of the most sublime pieces for human voices ever:

Attributed to Karl Barth:

“When the angels praise God in Heaven I am sure they play Bach. However, en famille they play Mozart, and then God the Lord is especially delighted to listen to them.”

9

I don’t see much opera, but I always wanted to see a Wagner performance, and I got my wish earlier this year when I got to see Rheingold in Seattle. Greer Grimsley is an absolute powerhouse as Wotan.

10

I’ve never heard him in Wagner - I had the honour to be Judge Turpin when he did his first Sweeney Todd.

11

I like lots of opera music, but haven’t seen nearly as many in full as I would like. Favourites include Don Giovanni, Barber of Seville, Tosca, and Butterfly. Most recently I went to see a new production by the WNO called Blaze of Glory. It’s all about Welsh miners and their singing, and includes am excellent mixture of traditional and new music - I enjoyed it immensely.

As a semi-professional (i.e. I often get paid small amounts for solo work local to me, but I couldn’t make it my career) baritone, in truth I don’t quite have the voice for grand opera, but I’ve enjoyed performing Der Vogelfanger, Il Catalogo, Non Piu Andrai, Toreador, Vi Ravviso, and Il Lacerato Spirito at various local festivals and recitals. But I’m probably better suited to oratorio and light opera, I began my singing career playing the sentry in Iolanthe and have done several other G&S roles and arias ever since.

Belated happy opera day to everyone!

12

A question; how exactly does one become a professional opera singer in this day and age? It certainly doesn’t seem like an occupation one ends up in on accident, and I assume there’s probably a lot of very specific physical training that goes into being able to project your voice clearly and with proper intonation. Is it something you decide on when you’re a kid, or is that a decision that gets made later on? Is there a college major in opera performance, or certain types of schools that specialize in opera? What’s the audition process like? Are you expected to be fluent or semi-fluent with the languages you sing? Are there certain performers who are considered to be like the rock stars of the opera world who can sell tickets to a show because their name is on the bill?

Just something I thought about when I caught Rheingold last month and the first scene was dragging on way too long without anything exciting happening.

13

Quip attributed to many people:
“Wagner’s operas contain wonderful moments but terrible half hours.”

14

On the other hand, IMHO the third act of Tannhäuser is the most perfect hour of music ever written - from start to finish, even though on its face not much is happening.

Having missed the opportunity yesterday on actual World Opera Day, I just wanted to chime in that I’m a sound engineer at the opera, which means that very often I get to watch pretty cool productions, on some of the best seats in the house, and I get paid for it, too. That’s pretty neat, if you like opera. If you have any questions, ask away!

15

Also widely attributed:
“Wagner’s music is better than it sounds.”

16

Hopefully the OP will come back with more details, but I believe the traditional (and by far the most common) route is to have voice lessons as a child, then go to music college for further voice training (performing all the while), then hope you’re good enough to get hired. It’s highly competitive and very few people get rich from it. But yes, there are a few names big enough to sell tickets on that alone. The best current example I can think of is Bryn Terfel, in the past you had names like Pavarotti, Callas et al.

I don’t think it’s required to be able to speak all the languages you sing in, but you certainly need to understand the meaning of every word you sing (and pronounce it correctly of course).

17

Makes sense, except that the voice you have as a child isn’t the same voice you’ll have as an adult. Is it possible to tell whether a child will have an opera-quality voice as an adult?

18

@Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela which opera has a character born onstage?

And looking back, I realize that the last time I went to the opera was 9 years ago. Time to go again.

19

Not always, no - you’re right of course that the voice changes, especially for men, and during and after this some retraining is needed. But the training taken as a child will still be helpful. Having said that, it’s certainly not uncommon for beautiful child voices to not become beautiful adult ones.

20

They used to have a way of addressing that, but I think it’s frowned upon these days.