One disappointment that I have with a lot of introductory texts to opera (and classical music in general!) is that they usually start with something along these lines:
One disappointment that I have with a lot of introductory texts to opera (and classical music in general!) is that they usually start with something along these lines:
Opera is a rich and dynamic tradition, with roots many hundreds of years old. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, perhaps one of the most famous and popular opera composers in history, was born in 1756 …
There’s nothing wrong with thinking about opera as a cultural phenomenon, and its history is definitely both rich as well as dynamic. But I think this misses the main point of any performative art: It’s first supposed to be enjoyed, and only second to be understood.
When a friend points to a new track by a favorite artist, they don’t start with “Taylor Alison Swift was born in 1989 in the American state of Pennsylvania…“ They start with, “hey, check this out.”
Hey: Check this out. This piece gives me chills pretty much every time. Don’t worry about the story — there isn’t a narrative for you to follow here. It’s the beginning of Act 2 of Verdi’s Il Trovatore, and it’s here to get you back in the mood for tunes! Crank it. It’s good songs.
There are a few reasons why the barrier-to-entry for opera is so much higher: For one, opera was designed as well as composed. The listener is supposed to see the set design and acting, as well as hear the music and the “libretto” (the words). For another, the numbers in an opera tend to be narrative and linear: Unlike tracks on an album, there is always a “first” piece and “last” piece, and you’ll rarely (if ever) see them performed in the other order.
So unless you have three (!!!) hours to spare to watch the equivalent of — sorry, but I’ll say it: — very slow storytelling… Then you’re not getting the “full experience.”
Not to be a “full experience” elitist. But keep this in mind! When you encounter a piece that doesn’t really do it for you, consider that it’s possibly just the wrong piece, or the wrong opera, or the wrong composer. Or, possibly, you don’t care about the characters because you haven’t been journeying with them for an hour already!
Here’s a piece you may already know, from early in Bizet’s Carmen:
Operas were (still are!) designed to be an evening of entertainment, and so they were often long by design (don’t get me started on Wagner, who wrote several longer-than-three-hour productions…) and included what amounts to a “variety show” of acts. For example, it was not uncommon to include dance numbers with little to no singing, right in the middle of the opera. Here’s one favorite of mine from Shostakovich’s The Nose:
Here’s where knowing some backstory gets very interesting: Dimitri Shostakovich loved to autograph his music by putting in a D, E-flat, C, B musical pattern everywhere. In the German musical notation, that pattern of notes is written “D, Es, C, H” — Shostakovich’s initials, “D. Sch.”
In the tap-dancing sequence, there are no musical notes played at all. So…perhaps he didn’t manage to fit his signature in here?
If you know morse code, listen closer.
The audience at a Mozart opera performance would have not only spoken the language (and thus understood all the puns and jokes), but also would have been familiar with musical theory, Viennese politicians of the 1780s, and no small number were royalty whose caricatures featured in the works. So if you’re watching a performance and feel nothing at all, even though it’s a “good” opera,that’s okay! Allow yourself to feel okay turning it off and finding another. I often watch an opera in a few sittings, or in the background while I eat dinner or something. It can be a lot to take in!
There’s no reason for you to have to understand every punchline sung in another language from another time.
Indispensible tips for watching opera:
- Good speakers or headphones!
- Find a high-definition recording with beautiful set- and costume-design. It’s worth it! Remember that the visuals are not just there for fun; that’s part of the performance!
- You MUST watch with subtitles. If the version you’re watching doesn’t have them, find another. (The Met Opera streams have great captions!) If you don’t like subtitles… Suck it up..? Remember, this is more than just pretty music. There’s a story, and the “libretto” text often existed on its own before the opera was composed!
- After an act (during the intermission, perhaps), read the Wikipedia plot synopsis of what just happened. I try not to read ahead (spoilers! Everyone dies!), but it’s helpful to make sure that you’re up to date. You’re not “missing” anything, they’re just hard to follow sometimes.
- Allow yourself to be moved! If you’re starting to get into the headspace of “this is dumb, why can’t they just say the next sentence already,” then press pause, and extend the generosity to yourself of taking a break.
I recommend sampling a little of everything: Sprechgesang, a technique where the singer speaks melodically rather than performing conventional singing, is really not my thing. I kinda can’t listen to it for more than a few minutes. But it might be your thing! (And it is fascinating from a historical perspective: It arose in the atonal compositional school that mirrored post-WWII expressionism in painting and other media. Very interesting — and I still can’t stand it.)
Everyone recommends Mozart’s operas in their “getting started” guides. Franky… Generally not my thing, either. There’s nothing wrong with it, but I feel more inspired by later composers. Just because something is well-reviewed doesn’t mean you have to enjoy it! That being said… Mozart was funny. (Make sure to turn on closed-captions for that. It’s a MUST.) We often forget that Mozart was a young kid who liked poop jokes.
Wagner is considered by many to have inherited opera from Mozart and reinvented it entirely. I tend to be very hot-or-cold-but-not-in-between on Wagner’s operas (and despite myself, I tend to like more than I dislike, even though he was a nasty antisemite). You probably know a lot of Wagner’s opera music even if you don’t think you do!
I happen to really like Puccini, even though the operas are perhaps less frequently performed than some other composers’. Here are some (Spotify) links to pieces I love:
Once you find a composer you like, try other operas by them! And then try operas from the same time-period. (Sometimes this is hard: Beethoven never wrote much opera because Mozart had left such enormous shoes to fill, and he wasn’t up to the task. It made more sense to write the things he was better at: So even if you want to find a Beethoven opera really really bad, you’re out of luck.)
Note: If you are a student, you may have access to the Met Opera streams for free through your university!
This article was written during the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the Met Opera was also streaming lightly performances for free.
Four favorites to try:
Rossini’s The Barber of Seville
My personal all-time favorite, and definitely a classic. The Met Opera performance of “The Barber of Seville” is incredible, and funny! Isabel Leonard (Rosina) and Christopher Maltman (Figaro) seem like they were made for these parts.
Bizet’s Carmen
An amazing production of Carmen by The Met Opera. Some of my favorite music in all of opera!
Verdi’s Il Trovatore
I think the set design and costuming is super important here, so make sure you see a production like the Met Opera’s or the Royal Opera House’s!
Glass’s Akhnaten
This one blew my mind, even though it’s not the style of music I’d usually seek out. The costuming and sets, as well as performance and casting, were incredible. I still think about this one all the time. Don’t expect much of a plot: This is pure eye- and ear-candy.
