What opera "changed your mind"?

[Tigre_Bigotes]

I used to not like the operatic style of vocals. It always came across as shrieky or stuffy to me. If something featured an operatic vocalist, I was automatically turned off. So, of course, opera itself was lost on me.

And then one day...

I saw "Doctor Atomic" by John Adams.

My mind was changed. I realized the dramatic possibilities of opera. I started to check out more contemporary, then worked my way back. I discovered Kaija Saariaho's "L'Amour d'Loin," which led me to Messiaen's "Saint Francois d'Assisi," which led me to Debussy's "Pelleas et Melisande," which led me to Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" and the Ring Cycle. Etc.

 

But I never forgot how John Adams was the one that changed my mind.

Anyone else have a similar work that "unlocked" opera for you?

 

[+ Charlie]

Not really. I was exposed to opera from the time I was a child, because my mother was a trained classical singer.  We listened to the Met performances on the radio every Saturday, so it was a familiar form of music for me from an early age, although I didn't actually see a performance till I was in my teens.

[+ BOZO T CLOWN]

To no one's surprise, Pagliacci, the tragic tale of an evil and vengeful clown who murders his wife and her lover, had an enormous impact on Bozo.
An amazing story. A great opera.

BTC
🤡
 

Edited Wednesday at 08:27 PM by BOZO T CLOWN

[jeezifonly]

If you like modern opera in English I definitely recommend Philip Glass' The Perfect American about Walt Disney. The Mr Lincoln scene 😱is on YT. 

I happen to love the repertory that is more traditional - Italian, French, German - it all works for me. Give me a beautiful soprano voice that is musically accurate, emotionally compelling, with seemingly endless breath, and I'm happy. 

Beyond that, Puccini and Strauss have the slow-building tension/release harmonic structures that mimic orgasm. (And can even serve as enhancement for yours) Don't let the foreign text get in the way of the direct-to-your-heart music. 

[Tigre_Bigotes]

2 hours ago, jeezifonly said:

If you like modern opera in English I definitely recommend Philip Glass' The Perfect American about Walt Disney. The Mr Lincoln scene 😱is on YT. 

I happen to love the repertory that is more traditional - Italian, French, German - it all works for me. Give me a beautiful soprano voice that is musically accurate, emotionally compelling, with seemingly endless breath, and I'm happy. 

Beyond that, Puccini and Strauss have the slow-building tension/release harmonic structures that mimic orgasm. (And can even serve as enhancement for yours) Don't let the foreign text get in the way of the direct-to-your-heart music. 

You're speaking my language. I love Philip Glass. My favorite operas by him are "The Witches of Venice" and "Les Enfants Terribles" and "The CIVIL warS" and "The Voyage." The man sure is prolific.

I've never heard "The Perfect American," but it's on the list

[jeezifonly]

45 minutes ago, Tigre_Bigotes said:

You're speaking my language. I love Philip Glass. My favorite operas by him are "The Witches of Venice" and "Les Enfants Terribles" and "The CIVIL warS" and "The Voyage." The man sure is prolific.

I've never heard "The Perfect American," but it's on the list

The full opera is now on YT. 

[ShortCutie7]

6 hours ago, Charlie said:

Not really. I was exposed to opera from the time I was a child, because my mother was a trained classical singer.  We listened to the Met performances on the radio every Saturday, so it was a familiar form of music for me from an early age, although I didn't actually see a performance till I was in my teens.

My story is somewhat similar- my parents were not at all interested in opera, but my father loved musical theatre and my mother enjoys it.  When I started studying singing (with a goal of pursuing musical theatre), I was inherently exposed to opera and fell in love! 

[TruHart1]

My love of opera came from quite a selfish place to begin. As a young, junior high choir and church choir tenor, I began taking solo singing lessons from my school choir director in 7th grade. I enjoyed learning about singing technique, though I was gifted with only a light tenor voice.

My dad loved to play (self-taught) guitar and sing, mainly old country music like Hank Williams, my mom enjoyed singing hymns in our church congregation, so neither liked opera. My dad got so tired when I was listening to opera once that he yelled into my room, “Isn’t she (the soprano) dead, yet?”

Anyway,  neither of my parents ever cared for opera at all. As a young singer of about 12 or 13, I decided opera had to be the ultimate “highest of the higher arts!” Really a pretty selfish reason to begin listening to the art form, for some sort of perceived or hoped for, increased social status.

 I began listening to a local college radio show which had a weekly music broadcast which played excerpts from Italian, French and German operas, one opera each week. Around the same time, my parents gave me a birthday present of a reel to reel tape recorder, so I could record these programs, and listen repeatedly to “educate” myself.

What happened, though, was that I began to love opera and certain operatic singers, especially sopranos at first. Two of those radio broadcasts especially enlightened me: excerpts from Faust, with de los Angeles, Gedda and Christoff, and excerpts from Boheme, with de los Angeles, Bjorling and Merrill.

A year or so later, I discovered the Saturday afternoon MET broadcasts, and I became a true “opera lover.” After that, there was no going back. Although I realized opera per se was not a ladder to social status, I became a lifelong follower of the art form!

TrueHart1 😎

[+ Pensant]

Like @Charlie I was exposed to opera at a young age thanks to my father, who loved Jussi Björling and Gigli. We kids hated the bellowing Fisher stereo but gradually grew to appreciate opera. My last performance was in Dresden in early 2024 at the Semper Oper. Don Giovanni.

My opera tastes diverged from my father’s. I preferred German opera and anything Verdi, whereas my father was in the Puccini, Mascagni camp.

Edited 1 hour ago by Pensant