# How do you approach an opera for the first time?



## Eddy Rodgers K (Feb 12, 2017)

Do you prefer to watch it, either live or on video/DVD? Or perhaps you prefer to buy the album and listen to it in its entirety?


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Listen to it.

(A lot haven't been filmed, and I'm unlikely to come across them live.)

I glance at a synopsis and listen to the opera to familiarise myself with the music. (I'm bilingual in French and have reasonable passive Italian, so can understand what's being said in those languages.)

Next step is finding a libretto and a score. If the work is rare, Archive.org and IMSLP are invaluable, and some documents are up on Google. I've also found a lot of books on those sites - recently, Jouvin and Pougin's biographies of Herold, Gounod's defence of Saint-Saëns' _Henry VIII_, studies of _Ascanio_ and _Proserpine_.

For French operas: Gallica (www.gallica.bnf.fr) has digital copies of original costume and stage designs, and the Association Art Lyrique Français (www.artlyriquefr.fr) has contemporary critiques of opera, and, for some operas and musicians, dossiers and books.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Speaking of live performances, these days any opera I'm approaching for the first time is likely to be rare beast (sometimes without a current commercial recording) so anything I can get hold of is good. Sometimes it's hard enough to find a decent synopsis, let alone a recording.

If, for example, I'm lucky enough to get to a rarely-performed Donizetti opera, having some kind of audio recording and listening for leitmotifs, highlights and key arias is pleasant homework. An overture often contains key melodies from the opera, so a few listens can be beneficial.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

I like both, and reading about it also feeds the mind.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

In my mind nothing approaches seeing a live opera for the first time even if you are only basically familiar with the story.
Second comes watching a DVD and finally comes improving your new love of a magnificent art by reading librettos and listening.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Pugg said:


> I like both, and reading about it also feeds the mind.


Same for me. Listening on CD is much more enjoyable after becoming familiar through the DVD with subtitles.


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## Eddy Rodgers K (Feb 12, 2017)

My own personal preference used to be watching it first and only then buying the audio, but I will try the other approach (just listening). Salome and La fanciulla del West will be my first operas approached in this manner.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Eddy Rodgers K said:


> My own personal preference used to be watching it first and only then buying the audio, but I will try the other approach (just listening). Salome and La fanciulla del West will be my first operas approached in this manner.


I have done it both ways, but the ones that really sink in and that I keep coming back to are those I have seen on DVD.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

If I am seeing an opera live I prefer to listen to it first. I often do this even for operas I watch on DVD, or at least highlights/excerpts.

The only exceptions I can think of are new works that had not yet been recorded/broadcast.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

mountmccabe said:


> If I am seeing an opera live I prefer to listen to it first. I often do this even for operas I watch on DVD, or at least highlights/excerpts.
> 
> The only exceptions I can think of are new works that had not yet been recorded/broadcast.


Even with the Met broadcast I do listen to at least one version of the opera in that upcoming week.
( if possible due to the reason you mentioned )


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Uh, gingerly and with a long stick?


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

MarkW said:


> Uh, gingerly and with a long stick?


You don't like opera?


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## Eddy Rodgers K (Feb 12, 2017)

So far it's 11 to 4 in favor of listening to the opera. I expected the opposite to prevail (since it's what I do), but this is interesting.


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## Antiquarian (Apr 29, 2014)

If possible, I like to watch an unfamiliar opera before I buy an audio recording. Sometimes, as mentioned above, this is impossible. But when it is, then I usually seek out a DVD or Blu-Ray. This allows me to see the action of performance (and the subtitles are very helpful too!)


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## Buoso (Aug 10, 2016)

I always always with one exception aim to see a version with subtitles first on dvd. This allows for a fully engaged experience with the opera even if the staging is unconventional the story and characters can be grasped. The one exception to this was Le Villi because i could not get my hands on a video with subtitle though the libretto with translation was easily available. Fortunately the fantastical elements associated with Le Villi as well as knowing the singers in the recording allowed for a dvd in the mind so to speak . Fortunately it was also not incredibly long which was also highly beneficial. If I can see a performance on DvD however i will try.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Florestan said:


> You don't like opera?


I do but I'm an incorrigible smart aleck.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Eddy Rodgers K said:


> My own personal preference used to be watching it first and only then buying the audio, but I will try the other approach (just listening). Salome and La fanciulla del West will be my first operas approached in this manner.


Not the two most "easiest " pieces, now this two I would like to see first.


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## Eddy Rodgers K (Feb 12, 2017)

Pugg said:


> Not the two most "easiest " pieces, now this two I would like to see first.


I haven't started with either. You think I should watch them? I found Salome on YouTube but no luck with a version of Fanciulla that was subtitles in English.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Eddy Rodgers K said:


> I haven't started with either. You think I should watch them? I found Salome on YouTube but no luck with a version of Fanciulla that was subtitles in English.


I think you do know the story but seeing it makes more sense for me seeing this opera's first .
No idea what's on You Tube to be fair,I hardly use that for complete operas.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Eddy Rodgers K said:


> So far it's 11 to 4 in favor of listening to the opera. I expected the opposite to prevail (since it's what I do), but this is interesting.


I listen to music more often than I am able to watch a thing. So I can listen to an opera for the first time while doing something else.

If I'm going to take a few hours for dedicated opera time, I will generally pick watching something. I think I own one DVD (was part of a set) of an opera I haven't heard all the way through? There's certainly more on YouTube, the Opera Platform, Amazon Prime, etc., but again, if I'm thinking about watching something, I try to listen to something first so I know what I'm getting into.


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