Guest Post: You like Opera, you just don't know it...

By Alanna Gluck

At a recent gathering, I overheard two friends with respected and varied musical taste discussing opera. They agreed that though the general spectacle of opera production was impressive, the emotional affectation of it was hard to relate to as an audience member.

I see their point, but had to add my two cents. 

It seems to me that many first timers choose to see operas that are a little hard to relate to. Wagner's horned diva-goddesses singing about Germanic majesty for hours? SNOOZE-FEST.

I believe in "gateway" operas: operas which are more easily accessible to the inexperienced audience member because of

1) The categorical humanity of  the topic

             - in my opinion, this is any opera in which the plot line highlights the irony of the human condition; for example, The Marriage of Figaro is a comic opera about unhappy adults trying to find someone better looking or wealthier than their current lover, only to realize that love itself is the most attractive thing ever and has been available to them all along.  Man, couldn't we all learn from this one? And get a good laugh from it?

or

2) a pre-existing musical context 

               - do you realize how many operas you know from a childhood of watching cartoons and pasta sauce commercials? 

So next time you feel like grabbing some culture, take a moment and think, WWBBD (What Would Bugs Bunny Do)?

Trivia Time!!!!

For 20 P&P Points: Who is the Barber of Seville?