# Pausing music to read stage directions



## Allsunday7 (Sep 10, 2018)

This is my first post here although I've been a lurker for quite some time. First some background and an introduction of sorts: I've been listening to classical music for some years, and talkclassical is always my first stop when I want to filter candidates to sample new recordings and stuff like that. I fell in love with choral music through Verdi's Requiem in 2017, decided it was time to finally get into opera, and it was such a good idea. I'm genuinely happy. 

It turns out music and literature are both quite important to me, and although I enjoy watching an opera (haven't been to one yet), I much prefer to listen and follow the libretto the first time. You see, I'm quite friendly with my imagination and I get all the "opera was meant to be watched" arguments but, at least for now, I'll keep enjoying it this way and watching the occasional dvd. 

So, with that out of the way, there's a little problem I didn't find a satisfying solution to yet, namely stage directions when there's almost no dialogue break. There I am in this magical land following Prince Tamino's adventure, laughing at Papageno's love for wine and watching quite a majestic figure arrive in a chariot pulled by lions. Mozart's music, courtesy of Sir Georg Solti and the Vienna Philharmonic, together with stage directions in the libretto make this a perfect experience. Only in reality it's an almost perfect experience, since there's a few times where stage directions get quite long and there's almost no pause in music (singing or talking that is). I have to keep reading but I'm still trying to get my pointers to draw a mental picture, and there it comes. The dreaded pause. The pause that is sometimes followed by going back a few seconds since I have no idea when I'll have time to read directions and when I won't. Needless to say, the flow suffers a bit from this.

I can think of different solutions but now I ask you fellow libretto readers and cd listeners: how do you deal with this?


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## Allsunday7 (Sep 10, 2018)

Anyone? Is this too stupid a question perhaps?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Do you have a plot synopsis handy? You can read over the plot first, then glance through the libretto to see if there are any long stage directions. Look them over before listening. That way you won't have to read through them while the opera is in progress.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

I don't do a lot of reading librettos along with an audio recording, but I can offer a few ideas. Some you have no doubt already thought of!

Personally, i tend to read librettos on their own. And maybe read beforehand and then read while listening, in which case you're already partially there and everything isn't new.

And many operas have built-in breaks, between acts or scenes. These scene changes are also when there's likely to be most stage direction/description. But also especially for operas before the mid-19th century many are written with build ups to big arias. In contemporary - and even modern! - practice there's often applause breaks after famous arias. You could try pausing after a big aria and reading ahead. If it makes it feel more authentic you could try clapping while reading 

But this is also one reason many people revisit operas; they can be better when you've gotten them figured out. Once you understand character motivations, and what the poetry of the words (such as it is) actually means. And once you understand what the setting is (and why!)... once you're not puzzling all of that out it can be easier to appreciate the other aspects of the work. I like to listen to operas I don't know, but I also get more out of listening to an opera I have gotten to know (via seeing it live, or on video, but studying the libretto could also work).

I guess all I'm saying here is that there's so much to opera, one approach can be to accept that perfect flow and understanding isn't going to happen the first time through. I have gotten to the point - for some favorite operas at least - where I can watch (or listen to) them without subtitles and still follow everything and be moved by the work.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

There are so many different ways for one to enjoy an opera.
Without doubt, if you really want to delve deep into the innards of opera you'll get the most out of it by following the libretto along with the music and studying the composers' meanings.
Having said that, I don't do that.
I don't care if I am not going to have a completely rounded experience listening to an opera.
More important to me is how the music and singing affect my gut. 
I much prefer to sit back, close my eyes, and enter the world of a particular production and visualize in my mind's eye what I want to believe is going on.
With me, it's all about feelings much more than an intellectual concept in the study of the composer's intent.
Bottom Line: There is no right or wrong way to love opera.
Whatever touches you the deepest is the best way (for you!)


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## KRoad (Jun 1, 2012)

I concur completely with the OP in respect of a (good) recording and libretto being the most satisfying approach to enjoying opera. Living Berlin, the opportunity to attend opera is boundless - yet a live performance seldom brings more than the occasion itself. Of course this is enjoyable for what it is, a night out, a chance to see how an opera has been staged and metaphorically choreographed (not always an uplifting or enlightening experience I may add).

However, for truly getting _into_ an opera and to appreciate the marriage of drama conceived in, for and by music, nothing beats a thorough reading of the libretto (initially separate from the music) followed by repeated listenings of a recording accompanied by a fertile imagination visually rendered through the minds eye. How some people can listen without an understanding of the libretto is completely beyond me.

The down side of this approach is the investment of time required. E.g. A typical opera by Handel or Wagner is in excess of three hours. To become familiar and comfortable with the story line can take up to three readings of the libretto, followed by at least as many listens to the recording, first reading along with said libretto then graduating to without. Finally to round off the experience, especially if I have really enjoyed the opera, a viewing of a DVD production. By this stage I have invested perhaps 18 hours or more of focused time and energy into one opera. A substantial investment of time in this secular age we live in. It is an investment however I find pays very rich dividends.


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## Allsunday7 (Sep 10, 2018)

It's interesting reading how different people's approach to opera can be. I for example could never do exactly what nina and KRoad (reading the entire libretto beforehand) do, but I'm definitely captivated by the contrast.

I'm going to try Woodduck's suggestion next.



mountmccabe said:


> one approach can be to accept that perfect flow and understanding isn't going to happen the first time through.


The perfect flow part really resonated with me.


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