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Sarah · 10-09-2004, 09:47 PM

*sigh* I love operas, ballets and plays. I was wondering if anyone else on here was a fan like I. I also love to go to orchestral performances. I'm going to be going to a few of them this season. This year, I'll be seeing Der Rosenkavalier, Cosi fan Tutte, Un Ballo in Maschera, Les Pecheurs des Perles. I'm dying to see Carmen. (and many, many others... including The Man From La Mancha, Don Carlos, and Aida) What are some of your favourites?

telkanuru · 10-09-2004, 09:58 PM

Anything by Gilbert and Sullivan for oper(ett)a, anything by shakespeare or tom stoppard for plays, most ballets (but especially those by Tchaikovsky), and any music by Igor Stravinsky, Dimitri Schostakovitch, Gustav Mahler, Richard Wagner, or Aaron Copeland.

cowpaste · 10-09-2004, 10:04 PM

I know a bunch of people who are bored to death by these things, but they say they like them in an attempt to look "cultured." For me, plays are okay, and I've seen the Nutcracker which I found rather torturous like its name.

They need to make an Opera with fencing and stuff.

prototoast · 10-09-2004, 10:26 PM

I don't like things based upon categories. Given that these are all of a performance nature, I'd say my enjoying of any particular opera/play/ballet/etc. would depend on a) the material being performed and b) the quality of the performance.

So, if I like a piece of work and it is performed well, then I like that particular play/ballet/opera/whatever, but that has no influence as to whether or not I care for any other ballet/opera/whatever/play.

Sarah · 10-09-2004, 10:36 PM

Prototoast- hehe, most ballet/opera/whatever/play fans can't say that they like them all. I absolutely despise The Magic Flute, it bores me into a stupor.

Cowpaste- Some people go to look 'cultured'?!? That's one of the silliest things that I've ever heard, if they don't enjoy it, then why not spend their money elsewhere? 'Tis such a waste of time, effort and money, the only people that would get anything out of it are the performers. hehe, which is good for them.

Iwant2bafencer · 10-10-2004, 12:47 AM

I love West Side Story and Children of Eden.
Carmen is really good. I've heard some music from Man of La Mancha, that's terrific.
I like a whole lot of all of them.

Inquartata · 10-10-2004, 12:56 AM

I enjoy some plays, specifically period works like Shakespeare, Moliere, Sheridan. As long as they aren't "updated" or "reinterpreted".

I like classical music performances, as long as the composers are ones I like and the musicians decent. Dissonance sets my teeth on edge, and I cannot abide most modern composers. De gustibus non disputandum est.

Opera...well, I cannot listen to most of it. I admire the perfection to which the singers have wrought their instruments, but it does not reach me emotionally or aesthetically for the most part. The music itself, sans words, is fine, and some arias are OK, but for the most part...pass.

Ballet---no.

telkanuru · 10-10-2004, 02:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inquartata

I enjoy some plays, specifically period works like Shakespeare, Moliere, Sheridan. As long as they aren't "updated" or "reinterpreted".

Ack! I agree! This is most unusual! I await the apocalypse! "Thou shalt not know the time of my coming", eh?

I hate the A.R.T. in Boston when they do shakespeare or Sophoclese. A travesty, I say! And I will not even dignify the DiCaprio version of Romeo and Juliet with my anger.

Sarah · 10-10-2004, 02:24 AM

I know! They completely ruin the storyline when they modernize it. It's a terrible, terrible thing and I won't watch new versions. I love seeing the older costumes, and accents... it's wonderful.

Agent_V · 10-10-2004, 02:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah

I know! They completely ruin the storyline when they modernize it. It's a terrible, terrible thing and I won't watch new versions. I love seeing the older costumes, and accents... it's wonderful.

have you seen the year 2000 version of hamlet? It's really good, with period language, yet set in NYC at Denmark corporation. :-)
One of Ethan Hawke's best performances.

regarding music, ballet, etc: I love the romeo and juliet ballet by prokofiev. the music is simply wonderful.

I feel sorry for Inquartata, some of the best music ever composed is very dissonant, like that of Berg, Shoenberg, some shostakovich, ligetti, and bartok especially.
however, in terms of emotional depth, nothing reaches to the same level as some bach sonatas and partitas.

carmen is my favorite opera that I've seen, but the music for la traviata is just amazing.

Alexander

telkanuru · 10-10-2004, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agent_V

have you seen the year 2000 version of hamlet? It's really good, with period language, yet set in NYC at Denmark corporation. :-)
One of Ethan Hawke's best performances.

I feel hatred welling within me! Gah, that movie was awful! Very definition of the word "travesty"! O tempora, O mores!

ebonylevin · 10-10-2004, 05:29 AM

Ballets- I LOVE Tchaikovsky! Hes one of my favourite musicians ever. I did some of my gym routines to his music. I liked Carmen and Aida but I dont have the money to go to many ballets and operas even when they are playing in town which is hardly ever.

Pointy · 10-10-2004, 09:25 AM

I do enjoy all of the categories you've enumerated with the decided exception of opera. I try to watch a few ballets a year along with a few plays. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to watch any orchestra performances in the past few years.

I did try to see (and enjoy) some musicals in the past but I found that I just couldn't stand them. I tried to see Cabaret and, while interesting, I knew it just wasn't for me. I refuse to watch any more musicals. Ok, with the exception of the Gilbert and Sullivan pieces. I've seen Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado a few years ago and thought it was quite enjoyable.

I've seen The Nutcracker but, unfortunately, the Xmas performance usually has a ton of kids in the audience. That kind of takes away from the performance.

I've also seen Onegin with Rex Harrington (well, his FINAL performance of it, if I'm not mistaken). Quite good. And I'm scheduled to see The Royal Winnipeg Ballet's performance of Carmina Burana in January. I think I'll also be seeing the Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal in November. It's not ballet but it is dance.

As for plays, I enjoy the works of Shaw, Shakespeare (of course), and some modern playwrights.

Moonitic · 10-10-2004, 09:33 AM

I love the theatre, with musical theatre as my favorite. One of these days, I'm going to NYC to go see Wicked. It's the story of the Wicked Witch of the West. Great music & a pretty good story (it's based on a book).

Although I don't enjoy the modernization of classics, I did see an exception a few years ago. A friend & his wife were doing a high school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream...as a 50's "B" movie. This theatre snob was cracking up at it. All of the fairies were aliens (their scenes were done under blacklight). The acting troupe in the show dressed as a car hop, grease monkey & more. People ran around in poodle skirts & such. It really was a clever rendition of my favorite Shakespearian play.

Nusy · 10-10-2004, 10:21 AM

My favourites? Long list, mostly operas (and some operettas - signed with an O):
Verdi: Aida
Mozart: The Magic Flute
Erkel: Bánk bán
Huszka: Prince Bob (O)
Puccini: Madama Butterfly
Kálmán: The Happy Widow (O)

Nusy · 10-10-2004, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agent_V

I feel sorry for Inquartata, some of the best music ever composed is very dissonant, like that of Berg, Shoenberg, some shostakovich, ligetti, and bartok especially.

Alexander

Wow... You like Bartók? Do you know the Castle of the Bluebearded Prince? I really like it!

Inquartata · 10-10-2004, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agent_V

I feel sorry for Inquartata, some of the best music ever composed is very dissonant, like that of Berg, Shoenberg, some shostakovich, ligetti, and bartok especially.

It may be perfectly splendid from an academic standpoint. It may hew beautifully to some recondite rules of composition. But it simply cannot be listened to as music. It's ivory tower rubbish and little more.

"The emperor has no clothes."

telkanuru · 10-10-2004, 03:41 PM

Then I suggest you listen to the "Rite of Spring" or "The Firebird Suite" by Igor Stravinsky. They are my two favourite pieces, and I'll be damned if you could keep musical time to either. Very good for footwork practice

And to note, Gilbert and Sullivan wrote Operettas, not musicals.

Sarah · 10-10-2004, 03:58 PM

I absolutely <I>ADORE</I> The Firebird Suite. It's so beautiful, I play a bit of it frequently for my bassoon practice... the only thing that bothers me about it is that it's in tenor clef so I struggle with getting the notes correct as I always assume it to be in bass. Stupid mind... but, I really love Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky and so many others... they're so much fun to play! (and listen to) I just rented the Top Ten Tenors from the library, great cd. They have Vesti La Guibba performed by Mario Del Monaco and Le Fleur Que Tu m'Avais Jetée and Va, Pour Kleinzach... Il Était Une Fois á la Cour d'Eisenach performed by Plácido Domingo. Oooh, it's so good!

HillBilly · 10-10-2004, 05:25 PM

Best Violinist EVER:

Nigel Kennedy.

Such a crazy guy... plays like the devil on coals. Website Here
Look at this: