Opera!

Quality Cucumber · 02-17-2015, 07:56 PM

I'm not a huge fan of opera, but what the hell, I like it sometimes. Share your favorites, discuss, etc.

I found this film interpretation of Igor Stravinsky's "Le Rossignol" a few years back. The opera's story derives from Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, "Nattergalen," or "The Nightingale" for the anglophones among us. Stravinsky began work on the opera in 1908, but put it off to work on a couple of commissions for Sergei Diaghilev. Those commissions were "Petrushka" and "Le sacre du printemps," AKA "The Rite of Spring," AKA "The most influential piece of music of the 20th century," so I think he was right for putting this little-known opera aside. For fans of Stravinsky's Russian period, this is a nice little treasure after having heard "The Firebird", "Petrushka", and "The Rite of Spring" a billion times. Another thing: the libretto is in Russian (not common in opera), and it sounds beautiful. Check out how Stravinsky rips off Debussy's "Nuages" at the beginning.

"Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal." - Igor "Slick" Stravinsky

Zyrada · 02-17-2015, 08:52 PM

I'll have to give this a listen! I'm intimately familiar with The Rite, and the other two major ballets I've listened to a fair deal as well. Outside of the Big Three though, I've always wanted to hear more of his Russian style. (As much as I do like some of his Neoclassical works.)

I'm not a huge opera connoisseur myself, but I'm extremely fond of Berg's writing for Wozzeck and Lulu. For me, it's the perfect marriage of late Romantic sensibilities and The Infamous Dodecaphony. Berg found a way to humanize twelve-tone music in a way that I really admire (which isn't to say he was the only composer to do it, of course, but he was definitely one of the first).

I'll edit some Berg opera excerpts into this post soon.

02-17-2015, 07:56 PM	#1 (permalink)
Quality Cucumber Music Addict Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 60	Opera! I'm not a huge fan of opera, but what the hell, I like it sometimes. Share your favorites, discuss, etc. I found this film interpretation of Igor Stravinsky's "Le Rossignol" a few years back. The opera's story derives from Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, "Nattergalen," or "The Nightingale" for the anglophones among us. Stravinsky began work on the opera in 1908, but put it off to work on a couple of commissions for Sergei Diaghilev. Those commissions were "Petrushka" and "Le sacre du printemps," AKA "The Rite of Spring," AKA "The most influential piece of music of the 20th century," so I think he was right for putting this little-known opera aside. For fans of Stravinsky's Russian period, this is a nice little treasure after having heard "The Firebird", "Petrushka", and "The Rite of Spring" a billion times. Another thing: the libretto is in Russian (not common in opera), and it sounds beautiful. Check out how Stravinsky rips off Debussy's "Nuages" at the beginning. "Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal." - Igor "Slick" Stravinsky __________________ http://i60.tinypic.com/b6awes.gif

02-17-2015, 08:52 PM	#2 (permalink)
Zyrada Avant-Gardener Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Inside your navel gazing back at you Posts: 163	I'll have to give this a listen! I'm intimately familiar with The Rite, and the other two major ballets I've listened to a fair deal as well. Outside of the Big Three though, I've always wanted to hear more of his Russian style. (As much as I do like some of his Neoclassical works.) I'm not a huge opera connoisseur myself, but I'm extremely fond of Berg's writing for Wozzeck and Lulu. For me, it's the perfect marriage of late Romantic sensibilities and The Infamous Dodecaphony. Berg found a way to humanize twelve-tone music in a way that I really admire (which isn't to say he was the only composer to do it, of course, but he was definitely one of the first). I'll edit some Berg opera excerpts into this post soon. __________________ dietdeathdrink.flac.fm