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infinitelytheheartexpands · 11 months

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Any opera recs for a musical theater nerd who keeps wanting to check opera out and hasn’t gotten around to it yet?

ooh!!! as a lover of both opera and musical theater, YES!!!

so here are some basics:

-any operetta or light opera basically ever. some of the best: gilbert and sullivan. johann strauss’ die fledermaus (the bat). franz lehar’s die lustige witwe (the merry widow). any jacques offenbach operetta, ESPECIALLY orphée aux enfers (orpheus in the underworld, aka the one with the famous can-can) or la vie parisienne (the parisian life). leonard bernstein’s genre-defying candide.

-speaking of which, there are a LOT of good, reasonably short american operas out there. george gershwin’s porgy and bess (the source of MANY standards, most notably “summertime”) premiered on broadway, actually. so did gian carlo menotti’s the saint of bleecker street. others i’d recommend: menotti’s the medium, carlisle floyd’s susannah, kurt weill’s street scene. all of these are pretty intense/tragic though. my fave in a lighter vein is bernstein’s trouble in tahiti, which i saw live once and it was DELISH.

-giacomo puccini and his contemporaries are a GOLD mine for musical-loving opera newbies. they’re reasonably short operas, they’re INTENSE, they’ve got amazing scores. so:

puccini’s la bohème: yeah, rent is based on it. however: VERY MUCH NOT THE SAME. (bohème is better imo.)

puccini’s tosca: you want an intense night at the opera? this one has EVERYTHING. it’s a straight up thriller. basically everyone dies. the music is glorious.

i’m not a huge fan of puccini’s madama butterfly but miss saigon is based on it, so there’s that i guess.

puccini’s il trittico: three short (1 hour) operas with three wildly different moods: il tabarro (the cloak) is a thriller, suor angelica is about a nun Going Through Some Shit and is DEVASTATING, gianni schicchi is a side-busting comedy and also has that iconic aria “o mio babbino caro”.

pietro mascagni’s cavalleria rusticana (rustic chivalry) and ruggero leoncavallo’s pagliacci (clowns) are a frequent double bill. they’re both INTENSE short operas about infidelity and passion and revenge and murder. and they both have tunes you will recognize.

-other recommendations:

-wolfgang amadeus mozart’s die zauberflöte (the magic flute), which has lots of spoken dialogue and hit tunes. MAJOR caveat however: you’re better off picking a production that plays much more fast and loose with the dialogue and lyrics because the original is uh…HUGELY racist and sexist! look up the pacific opera project’s nintendo-themed production on youtube.

-gioachino rossini’s il barbiere di siviglia (the barber of seville). hilarious as shit. so many shenanigans. can be a little long for a newbie but yeah. plus: TUNES.

-gaetano donizetti’s l’elisir d’amore (the elixir of love), don pasquale, la fille du régiment (the daughter of the regiment), and lucia di lammermoor. the first three are hilarious comedies, the last one is a tragedy of bloody murder with an ICONIC mad scene for the soprano.

-giuseppe verdi’s rigoletto and la traviata. both pretty short (~2 hours or so). both have iconic tunes and great stories. the latter is more or less the basis of both pretty woman and moulin rouge.

-georges bizet’s carmen. SO MANY HIT TUNES YOU WILL RECOGNIZE. also the basis of carmen jones.

-maurice ravel’s l’heure espagnole (the spanish hour). it’s a short opera about a woman who juggles three lovers by hiding two of them inside clocks in her husband’s clock shop. it’s risqué and funny and fun and does not get done enough.

-if you like WEIRD german stuff: richard strauss’ salome (which i love, but it’s disturbing as fuck) and elektra (which i don’t love but respect people who do) and alban berg’s wozzeck (SUPER weird and disturbing) are all in the 1.5-2 hour range and have been known to make unexpected fans of newbies. but do not attempt these unless you’re willing to experience a total mindfuck.

i hope that helps some! fellow operablr members pls feel free to add anything i may have overlooked 💗

#opera tag #opera #opera asks #asks #opera for musical theater people

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brookston · 1 year

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Holidays 2.17

Holidays

Analog to Digital TV Day

Daisy Gatson Bates Day (Arkansas)

Day of Cancelled Expectations

International Juggle Day

Inventor’s Day (Mexico)

League of United Latin American Citizens Day

Minimum Wage Day

My Way Day

National Champion Crab Races Day

National PTA Founders’ Day

National Public Science Day

National Tennis Pro Day

Perfume Day

Practice Your Free Throws Day

Random Acts of Kindness Day

Revolution Day (Libya)

Tanis Diena (Pig Celebration; Latvia)

When You Grow Up Day

Who Shall I Be Day

World Cat Day (Italy)

World Community Arts Day

World Human Spirit Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Cafe au Lait Day

Indian Pudding Day

International Crumpet Day

National Cabbage Day

Snow Ice Cream Day

3rd Friday in February

Care Day (UK) [3rd Friday]

Carnival Friday [Friday before Ash Wednesday]

Global Divestment Day (UK) [Friday of Go Green Week]

Heritage Day (Yukon Territory, Canada) [3rd Friday]

National Caregivers Day [3rd Friday]

National Woman’s Heart Day [3rd Friday]

World Porter Day [3rd Friday]

Independence Days

Great Lawl Reich (Declared; 2014) [unrecognized]

Greenia (Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

Kosovo (from Serbia, 2008)

Sildavia (Declared; 2020) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Alexis Falconieri (Christian; Saint)

Constabilis (Christian; Saint)

Donatus, Romulus, Secundian, and Companions (Christian; Martyrs)

Feast of Shezmu (Egyptian God of the Wine Press)

Festival of Quirinus (God of War, Storms & Thunder; Ancient Rome)

Fornacalia (Old Roman Bread Festival)

Fintan of Clonenagh (Christian; Saint)

Flavian, Archbishop of Constantinople (Christian; Saint)

The Flutebird (Muppetism)

Fortchern of Trim (Christian; Saint)

Hachinohe Enburi Matsuri (Festival for a Good Harvest; Japan)

Hopping Day Day (Pastafarian)

Isaac Asimov Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Janani Luwum (Anglican Communion)

Lommán of Trim (a.k.a. Leman or Luman; Christian; Saint)

Lucian (Positivist; Saint)

The Quirinalia (Feast of Fools; Ancient Rome)

Saidai-ji Eyo Hadaka Matsuri (Naked Festival; Japan)

Seven Founders of the Servite Order (Christian; Saint)

Silvia of Auchy (Christian; Saint)

Theodulus and Julian, in Palestine (Christian; Martyrs)

Toshigoi (For a Bountiful Rice Harvest; Shinto)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Lucky Day (Philippines) [10 of 71]

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Tycho Brahe Unlucky Day (Scandinavia) [9 of 37]

Unfortunate Day (Pagan) [12 of 57]

Unglückstage (Unlucky Day; Pennsylvania Dutch) [9 of 30]

Very Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [11 of 60]

Premieres

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (Film; 1989)

The Brady Bunch Movie (Film; 1995)

Camping Out (Disney Cartoon; 1934)

Destiny’s Child, by Destiny’s Child (Album; 1998)

Eagle: Their Greatest Hits (Compilation Album; 1976)

Footloose (Film; 1984)

Gunga Din (Film; 1939)

Hey, Het, It’s the Monkees (TV Special; 1997)

High Voltage, by AC/DC (Album; 1975)

The Kick Inside, by Kate Bush (Album; 1978)

Madame Butterfly, by Giacomo Puccini (Opera; 1904)

The Marvels (Film; 2023)

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (Film; 2023)

The Right Stuff (Film; 1984)

The Secret World Arrietty (Animated Studio Ghibli Film; 2012)

This Means War (Film; 2012)

Valleri, by The Monks (Song; 1968)

Today’s Name Days

Alexius, Benignus, Bonosus (Austria)

Bartol, Benedikt, Flavije (Croatia)

Miloslava (Czech Republic)

Findanus (Denmark)

Salmo, Väino, Väinu (Estonia)

Karita, Rita, Väinämö, Väinö (Finland)

Alexis (France)

Alexis, Benignus (Germany)

Theodoros (Greece)

Donát (Hungary)

Donato, Marianna, Patrizia (Italy)

Auce, Donāts, Konstance (Latvia)

Donata, Donatas, Vaišvilas, Viltė (Lithuania)

Aleksandra, Sandra, Sondre (Norway)

Donat, Donata, Franciszek, Izydor, Julian, Konstanty, Łukasz, Niegomir, Sylwin, Zbigniew, Zbyszko (Poland)

Teodor (Romania)

Miloslava (Slovakia)

Alejo, Alexis, Teodoro (Spain)

Alexandra, Sandra (Sweden)

Jordan, Jordana, Jordanne, Jorden, Jordon, Jordyn, Leroy, Reggie, Reginald, Regis, Rex, Rexanna, Rexford, Rexine, Roy, Royce (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 48 of 2023; 317 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 5 of week 7 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Luis (Rowan) [Day 27 of 28]

Chinese: Month 1 (Jia-Yin), Day 27 (Bing-Wu)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 26 Shevat 5783

Islamic: 26 Rajab II 1444

J Cal: 18 Xin; Foursday [18 of 30]

Julian: 4 February 2023

Moon: 10%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 20 Homer (2nd Month) [Lucian]

Runic Half Month: Sigel (Sun) [Day 9 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 59 of 90)

Zodiac: Aquarius (Day 28 of 30)

#calendar #Holidays

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brookstonalmanac · 1 year