I'm repeatedly told by people who know music much better than I do that opera is all about the music and can be fully appreciated as music without knowing the language. That may be for some, but for me opera is no different from musical stage plays. Opera is story-dependent as it's performed, and I can no more fully appreciate an opera in a foreign language I don't know than I can fully appreciate a foreign film without subtitles. Go ahead, judge me, but opera was originally performed for audiences who knew the language. My prejudices stated out in the open, I've been looking for videos of Italian operas that offer subtitles and have found this one at YouTube.
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Puccini to an Italian libretto adapted into Italian from a French play, and was first performed in Rome in 1900 to an audience who spoke and understood Italian. (Am I beating a dead horse here?) In this one it's performed by the Finnish National Opera, and I'd bet precious few of the audience members understand Italian, though they may all know the plot well enough to follow what's going on.
Enjoy!
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It's a big no for me for opera. I've tried, but no & I've attended 3,trying to understand the lure & ensuring before I went to know the story.
ReplyDeleteVideos with subtitles, that works for me.
Delete...Madama Butterfly is my favorite Puccini opera.
ReplyDeleteIt's on my list.
DeleteI think words really add to any story. And if you can't understand the words, then you have to miss something about the story. I don't know much about opera, so I can't really judge though. Happy Wednesday!
ReplyDeleteI don't anything about opera, either. I treat them like musical theater.
DeleteI'm with you. I can't enjoy opera unless I know the language.
ReplyDeleteNow that there's YouTube I can treat them like foreign films.
DeleteI do like the opera. I use to go often and the language wasn't a deterrent for me.
ReplyDeleteI admire that, but I'm just not wired to understand the story that way.
DeleteI STILL couldn't get the last comment to publish. I tried again right before I came to this page.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I'm not a fan of anything I don't understand, so that's why I don't care for opera and a lot of stage plays.
I'm glad subtitles are available for some of them.
DeleteI'm with you. Not an opera fan. If I can't understand the story being told I don't care if it is spoken or sung mightily.
ReplyDeleteI've saved some better-known ones to watch where I've found them with subtitles.
DeleteUnderstanding is very important! Hugs, Valerie
ReplyDeleteI know some people for whom the music really is the most important part. I'm not there ;)
DeleteSubtitles make all the difference!
ReplyDeleteThey certainly do to me! I had FB friends telling me the music itself is enough, but it isn't for me.
Delete