Thank you, Al Gore

Quicksearch

Blog Administration

RSS Readers

Sunday, January 31. 2010

Thanks for inventing the internet. You thought of everything. It never ceases to amaze me how much stuff you managed to put on there.

I just found out that I can buy opera tickets for the Arena di Verona (a vast Roman arena) for August online, now. Looks like a fun outing, but the arena seems to big for opera.

Posted by Bird Dog in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 14:20 | Comments (8) | Trackbacks (0)

Trackbacks

Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments

Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

You and my dad. I'd rather listen to fingernails on a blackboard than suffer through an opera. I thought listening to the preliminaries for "American Idol" was bad, but there I could semi understand what they were singing about (if it was singing, I'm not sure in some cases). But opera? Nope.

But go enjoy anyway. I am sure there is culture buried in that caterwauling somewhere..........

#1 JoeC on 2010-01-31 15:02 (Reply)

Professional wrestling takes less planning, for the same entertainment.

#2 rhhardin (Link) on 2010-02-01 08:18 (Reply)

Appreciating opera hinges on how many drinks I have. The more I drink, the better it sounds.

#3 Cilla Mitchell, Galveston, Texas (Link) on 2010-02-01 08:32 (Reply)

As a classical singer, let me say "Bravo!" for opera. Try listening to some highlights from Don Giovanni or Tosca to get you started.

If you still buy CDs, try Cecilia Bartoli's "Mozart Arias" (circa 1994) or "Hadley and Hampson," opera duets for tenor and baritone recorded by the late Jerry Hadley and (the still with us) Thomas Hampson, also circa 1994-96.

#4 D on 2010-02-01 09:12 (Reply)

Music, poetry, theature, created in Italy in emulation of the ancient Greek festivals. Perhaps the highest form of western art. I wish Verona had supertitles. It helped my appreciation at the Met a great deal.

#5 Doug_S on 2010-02-01 12:10 (Reply)

I'm with you, D, on the beauties of classical singing. I've been trying to think of a way to gently suggest to JoeC that he might not be a final authority on classical music. But then, some people like mud wrestling -- or even regular wrestling.

Marianne

#6 Marianne Matthews on 2010-02-01 12:33 (Reply)

Hoffnung had a cartoon of a bass singing and adjusting a knob on his chest labelled "wobble."

Opera doesn't tend to have singers who sing actual notes.

Monteverdi's Orfeo is nice, but that's more an early music genre.

Savall's recent DVD is a good performance http://tinyurl.com/ydsop5h

That's the only decent opera.

#7 rhhardin (Link) on 2010-02-01 17:29 (Reply)

Savall on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wni1GVRlMtc

#8 rhhardin (Link) on 2010-02-01 17:34 (Reply)

Add Comment

Name
Email	(Your e-mail will not show in your comment)
Homepage
In reply to
Comment	By commenting on this site you agree to the site rules listed here. Email addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for email notifications. Quick reference guide: [i] italics [/i], [b] bold [/b], [u] underline [/u], [url] (web address) [/url]. More tips here. Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (word), underscore are made via _word_. E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications. To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly. Enter the string from the spam-prevention image above: BBCode format allowed
	Remember Information? Subscribe to this entry

Maggie's Farm

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Categories

Quicksearch

Links

Blog Administration

RSS Readers

Sunday, January 31. 2010

Thank you, Al Gore