I found this list of categories on a friend’s Facebook page and feel moved to add my own contribution. I suspect I will have to duck as people read it. It runs as follows:<\/p>\n
Opera I hate: Arabella<\/i>
\nOpera I think is overrated: Cosi fan Tutte<\/i>, followed by Parsifal<\/i>. Actually I feel this way about much of bel canto – lovely sound, but I can’t take all the women going mad when they get into a tight spot.
\nOpera I think is underrated: Mazeppa<\/i>
\nOpera I Love: Either of Berg’s
\nOpera I Cherish: I don’t really distinguish between loving and cherishing
\nGuilty Pleasure: Andrea Chénier<\/i>
\nOpera I want to see revived: Von Heute auf Morgen<\/i>, if only to find out what a one-act comic opera by serial-period Schoenberg could possibly be like.
\nOpera that I first performed in: None, though I’ve done a lot of opera choruses in concert
\nOpera that I first saw: Tosca<\/i>
\nOpera I saw most recently: Le vin herbé<\/i> (Frank Martin)
\nGreatest Opening: Otello<\/i>, followed by Die Walküre<\/i>. Can’t beat a good storm to get you going.
\nGreatest Ending: Other than the obvious Götterdämmerung<\/i>, it would be the Dutchman<\/i> or Traviata<\/i>, with an honourable mention to Andrea Chénier<\/i> again.
\nWorst middle of an otherwise Great Opera: Siegfried<\/i>. I mean, what else could it possibly be?
\nGreatest Opera of all time: Boris Godunov<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I found this list of categories on a friend’s Facebook page and feel moved to add my own contribution. I suspect I will have to duck as people read it. It runs as follows: Opera I hate: Arabella Opera I … Continue reading