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altamont
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Your first ever opera Mar 29, 2018 11:01:46 GMT Mr Snow likes this

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Post by altamont on Mar 29, 2018 11:01:46 GMT

A little late to the party - but our first opera has just been booked - The Marriage of Figaro, The English Touring Opera, in Exeter in May. We've talked about it for years, finally taking the plunge.

tmesis
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Your first ever opera Mar 29, 2018 12:24:51 GMT altamont and Mr Snow like this

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Post by tmesis on Mar 29, 2018 12:24:51 GMT

Mar 29, 2018 11:01:46 GMT altamont said:

A little late to the party - but our first opera has just been booked - The Marriage of Figaro, The English Touring Opera, in Exeter in May. We've talked about it for years, finally taking the plunge.

Well you're starting at the very top of operatic achievement. No matter how many times I see/listen to it My flabber is always gasted at Mozart's achievement. I hope you enjoy it.

tonyloco
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Your first ever opera Mar 29, 2018 14:05:49 GMT altamont and Mr Snow like this

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Post by tonyloco on Mar 29, 2018 14:05:49 GMT

Mar 29, 2018 12:24:51 GMT tmesis said:

Mar 29, 2018 11:01:46 GMT altamont said:

A little late to the party - but our first opera has just been booked - The Marriage of Figaro, The English Touring Opera, in Exeter in May. We've talked about it for years, finally taking the plunge.

Well you're starting at the very top of operatic achievement. No matter how many times I see/listen to it My flabber is always gasted at Mozart's achievement. I hope you enjoy it.

tmesis is absolutely right, but the complexities of the plot may be just a bit tricky on first acquaintance so may I suggest you do a little advance preparation by consulting a detailed synopsis to explain the plot and establish who the characters are (including the minor ones like Marcellina, Bartolo, Basilio and Barbarina) and perhaps checking out recordings of a few of the main arias like 'Voi che sapete', 'Non più andrai', 'Dove sono', 'Se vuol ballare', etc, although you will be hearing it sung in English (with surtitles). On the other hand, you might just go along with a totally open mind and see how it grabs you!

harrietcraig
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Your first ever opera Mar 29, 2018 14:29:08 GMT

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Post by harrietcraig on Mar 29, 2018 14:29:08 GMT

Der Fliegende Hollander, at the Metropolitan Opera on a high school field trip in 1965 (back when it was still in the opera house known as the "old Met", before the move to Lincoln Center). Unfortunately, I can't remember who was in the cast and I don't know the exact date of the performance, so I don't know if we saw George London and Leonie Rysanek. According to the Met's online archives, London sang only the first two performances in 1965 and Rysanek only the first four, before they were replaced by other singers later in the run.

Last Edit: Mar 29, 2018 14:39:42 GMT by harrietcraig

tonyloco
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Your first ever opera Mar 29, 2018 19:30:45 GMT Dawnstar, Mr Snow, and 2 more like this

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Post by tonyloco on Mar 29, 2018 19:30:45 GMT

Mar 29, 2018 14:29:08 GMT harrietcraig said:

Der Fliegende Hollander, at the Metropolitan Opera on a high school field trip in 1965 (back when it was still in the opera house known as the "old Met", before the move to Lincoln Center). Unfortunately, I can't remember who was in the cast and I don't know the exact date of the performance, so I don't know if we saw George London and Leonie Rysanek. According to the Met's online archives, London sang only the first two performances in 1965 and Rysanek only the first four, before they were replaced by other singers later in the run.

Oh harrietcraig, I love you! You have just given me a perfect cue for a tonyloco anecdote. In February 1965 I was returning from Sydney to London via North America and I stayed over in New York on February 5 & 6 to make three visits to the Met. On the Friday night I saw the Dutchman with David Ward and Leonie Rysanek, on Saturday afternoon I saw Forza with Franco Corelli and on Saturday night I saw Aida, which should have been Birgit Nilsson but she was replaced by a very nervous Martina Arroyo, making her Met debut. The conductor (somebody like Steinberg) conducted everything so fast that all the principals except Arroyo gave up trying to keep up with him but she stayed the course and was just wonderful.

I haven't yet tried to look at the online digital archive of the Met so perhaps harrietcraig you might do the honours and let us know the full casts and conductors for those three performances. I know Gabriella Tucci was the over-parted soprano in the Forza but who were the other performers?

By the way, I got back to London in time to sit in A63 in the Front Amphitheatre on Tuesday 9 February 1965 for the first night of Fonteyn and Nureyev in Macmillan's 'Romeo and Juliet'. Those were the days!

harrietcraig
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Your first ever opera Mar 29, 2018 19:38:58 GMT Dawnstar, Mr Snow, and 1 more like this

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Post by harrietcraig on Mar 29, 2018 19:38:58 GMT

Glad to be of help, tonyloco. Here you go:

Metropolitan Opera House
February 5, 1965

DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER {70}

Dutchman................David Ward
Senta...................Leonie Rysanek
Erik....................Sándor Kónya
Daland..................Ernst Wiemann
Mary....................Gladys Kriese
Steersman...............George Shirley

Conductor...............Karl Böhm

Metropolitan Opera House
February 6, 1965 Matinee Broadcast

LA FORZA DEL DESTINO {120}
Giuseppe Verdi--Francesco Maria Piave

Leonora.................Gabriella Tucci
Don Alvaro..............Franco Corelli
Don Carlo...............Ettore Bastianini
Padre Guardiano.........Giorgio Tozzi
Preziosilla.............Joann Grillo
Fra Melitone............Elfego Esparza
Marquis de Calatrava....Louis Sgarro
Curra...................Carlotta Ordassy
Trabuco.................Andrea Velis
Surgeon.................Robert Goodloe

Conductor...............Nello Santi

Metropolitan Opera House
February 6, 1965

AIDA {710}
Giuseppe Verdi--Antonio Ghislanzoni

Aida....................Martina Arroyo
Radamès.................Flaviano Labò
Amneris.................Nell Rankin
Amonasro................Mario Sereni
Ramfis..................Jerome Hines
King....................Louis Sgarro
Messenger...............Robert Nagy
Priestess...............Mary Ellen Pracht
Dance...................Katharyn Horne
Dance...................Edith Jerell
Dance...................Harry Jones
Dance...................Rhodie Jorgenson
Dance...................Donald Mahler
Dance...................Jan Mickens

Conductor...............William Steinberg

tonyloco
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Your first ever opera Mar 29, 2018 22:12:20 GMT Dawnstar likes this

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Post by tonyloco on Mar 29, 2018 22:12:20 GMT

Many thanks, harrietcraig for those Met cast lists. I am very glad I saw Bastianini, a superb singer who appeared only once at Covent Garden (Ballo in 1962) before his untimely death at 45 from cancer in 1967. Corelli was a force of nature and filled that huge house both with his voice and with his personality – what a star!

And was that really the 710th performance of Aida at the Met but only the 120th Forza? Do those numbers include performances on tour?

I will now investigate the Met online files for myself. I guess they are complete, unlike the Covent Garden online files which are selective.

harrietcraig
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Your first ever opera Mar 29, 2018 22:21:54 GMT tonyloco likes this

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Post by harrietcraig on Mar 29, 2018 22:21:54 GMT

Mar 29, 2018 22:12:20 GMT tonyloco said:

I will now investigate the Met online files for myself.

To get you started:

archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/frame.htm

tonyloco
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Your first ever opera Mar 29, 2018 22:35:09 GMT

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Post by tonyloco on Mar 29, 2018 22:35:09 GMT

Mar 29, 2018 22:21:54 GMT harrietcraig said:

To get you started:

archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/frame.htm

Many thanks. I am going to have a great time browsing through all that information.

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Your first ever opera Apr 3, 2018 17:53:54 GMT

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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2018 17:53:54 GMT

My mum is a big opera fan, especially Puccini, so I've been in the living room while she's been watching videos of Tosca and Madam Butterfly over the years. There was an Australian production of La Boheme on telly one Christmas which I watched most of. Last year we saw Tosca at the ROH though, and I was really surprised how much I liked it. I think I expected it to be very complex and Shakespearean with lots of sub plots, but I enjoyed how linear the plot was and how few characters there were. We saw Madam Butterfly too, which I enjoyed, but not as much.