Welcome to Tuning in to Opera!
In the eighth year of this U3A Nillumbik course, we start our term with... a garden party lunch! Details sent to the email list.
Opera Group Garden Party Lunch,
Friday 9th February, from 12 noon.
And then? Our first Zoom meeting for the year is on Friday 16th Feb, from 10.30am to 1.00pm.
Following a new year's resolution, we're planning to open the year with a first term on (shock!) the perennially favourite operas. We've dodged those as much as possible during past years, but it's time to ask what makes an opera apparently immortal.
The image at the top of this post is from a 2014 ranking of the most popular. Current rankings show little change.
So why are just a few operas regularly the most popular ones, audience-guaranteeing, so most produced by cash-strapped opera houses, while 'true' operagoers roll their eyes at schedules featuring yet more 'favourites'?
Is this a particularly opera thing? You know which these top pop operas are - or if you don't, just Google 'most produced operas'! This list is pretty typical. Or get the full stats here! Here's a version of the 10 best. And here's a list of the 'most beautiful'. Or Google 'most popular opera arias', and you'll hit, e.g. in this recording, many (but not all ) of those perennial favourite operas. (Perhaps it's the hummable song that gifts the popular favourite status?) Here's 'the 25 best opera arias'...
Is this a permanent opera problem? Importantly (especially for those frustrated 'true' operagoers rolling their eyes), what will allow less known operas into the repertoire? Here's an optimistic comment from the director of a current new production of Puccini's Il Tabarro for Sydney festival, "Audiences have seen La Bohème 4 billion times and companies are realising that there’s more work by these composers that is equally as exciting and beautiful.”
Or, even more importantly, how can modern and very different operas make it into the favoured repertoire? Our aim is to tackle this question in Term 2, when we focus on some modern candidates for favourite future status. (So those wanting the strange or the modern need not worry!)
And ultimately, we will find ourselves asking, what is it about opera, and why is opera a persistent art form? Here are some opinions from those well qualified to comment - the directors who create productions for us. David Pountney, for example, says;
Opera is the embodiment of an essential human instinct: telling stories through music.
It links modern, liberal intellectual and artistic culture with our primitive ritualistic origins.
Towards Term 1
Our call to our group members for their votes among the recognised opera 'favourites' produced an interesting sample of composers and a clearly restricted segment of operatic history.
Our first term will be devoted not just to playing some of these favs, but to looking into the story, structure, music, meanings and all the aspects that may have made each an immortal opera.
Our first Zoom session for the year, by popular vote, is devoted to Bizet's Carmen. Blog post coming...
We meet on Zoom on Friday 16th Feb, from 10.30am to 1pm.
The nice new 2024 Zoom link will be sent to members via the email list.
Lyn, 4/1/24
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