opera

1. Il Barbiere di Siviglia

EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A CD INTO THE SLOT. ITS IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE IM SINGING THE ARIAS ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, FIGARO. I SING EVERY NOTE AND I SING EVERY NOTE HARD. MAKIN WHOOSHING SOUNDS WHEN I SHAVE SOME BOUGIE BASTARDS OR EVEN WHEN I MESS UP VIBRATO. NOT MANY CAN SAY THEY TRICKED SEVILLES MOST DANGEROUS DON. I CAN. I SAY IT AND I SAY IT OUTLOUD EVERYDAY TO PEOPLE IN MY COLLEGE CLASS AND ALL THEY DO IS PROVE PEOPLE IN COLLEGE CLASS CAN STILL BE IMMATURE JERKS. AND IVE LEARNED ALL THE LINES AND IVE LEARNED HOW TO MAKE MYSELF AND MY APARTMENT LESS LONELY BY SHOUTING EM ALL. 3 HOURS INCLUDING WIND DOWN EVERY MORNIng

2. Pagliacci



3. A Midsummer Night's Dream

Benjamin Britten's 1960 opera adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream is full of enchanting modern music. A few of its stylistic choices that stood out to me were: Oberon's vocal part being countertenor, allowing for beautiful melding with Titania in their duets; Puck's lines being entirely spoken; the centering of the action within the forest; and Britten's wonderful setting of words to music, which I have found consistently more listenable and less jarring than other English-language operas. Below are some links for your listening/watching pleasure.

4. Akhnaten

I fell in love with Philip Glass' Akhnaten during quarantine.

The MET Opera did daily opera streams from their back catalogue for well over a year and I was a frequent viewer. I've watched their production of Akhnaten from the '19-'20 season three or four times now; the visuals are stunning (daddy ORB is everpresent), the staging is engaging (jugglers!), and the singers/actors are thrilling to watch. Glass' music is repetitive in a brain-tickling way and there are several arias featuring beautiful meldings of three different voices. I can certify that this opera pairs very well with weed.

I've also enjoyed this recording of the opera from The Stuttgart State Opera Orchestra & Chorus. I haven't yet taken in other versions of the opera besides these, but even with just the two it's fun to compare the differences in feeling that they evoke just from tempo interpretations.

Below are some screenshots from one of my watch sessions.

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