# How much time do you spend watching or listening to opera?



## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Over the last year, opera has become an obsession for me the likes of which I've never had before, and I have to consciously restrain myself from driving friends and family insane with talking about it -- none are more than slight opera fans at best. So, I'm curious how my 'obsession' compares to others. I'd guess I spend 15-20 hours per week on average watching or listening to opera, which doesn't seem that extreme considering a typical American watches 3 hours of tv per night.


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## Sebastien Melmoth (Apr 14, 2010)

Always listened to various classical vocal works (cantata, lieder, oratorio, opera), but opera is now a growing interest.

During the season the MET Opera Saturday matinee live radio broadcast is wonderful.
And now PBS has been showing more MET Opera on TV.

Lately I've been trying to snap up OOP opera sets on the market before the price goes up.

Recently picked up:

Abbado, _Boris Godunov_
Karajan, _Boris Godunov_
Abbado, _Khovanshchina_ (mebbe shouda gone with Gergiev?)
Kleiber, _Tristan und Isolde_
Böhm, _Siegfried_
Haitink, _Siegfried_
Ozawa, _Les Contes d'Hoffmann_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LA Opera just finished a Niblung Ring cycle, and next year San Francisco Opera is scheduled to host a Ring.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

rgz said:


> Over the last year, opera has become an obsession for me the likes of which I've never had before, and I have to consciously restrain myself from driving friends and family insane with talking about it -- none are more than slight opera fans at best. So, I'm curious how my 'obsession' compares to others. I'd guess I spend 15-20 hours per week on average watching or listening to opera, which doesn't seem that extreme considering a typical American watches 3 hours of tv per night.




Thank goodness. I'm glad I'm not the only one. And my obsession seems to be getting worse.

I'm interested in how you reach your hours total. Do you listen more than watch or vice versa? And do you watch on Met Player? I am resisting subscribing.. so far.

I voted 5 - 10 hours per week but sometimes it's more. I walk to work every day which takes me 40 minutes & I walk back & I listen to opera on my mp3. So 1 hour 20 minutes times five = 6 hours 40 minutes listening. Then on Saturdays I watch a DVD while I do the ironing. If I don't go out on Saturday night I watch another one and same with Sundays. I don't usually watch one mid week but tonight is an exception as I'm about to watch this.










I have this on order










and I'll review & compare on the DVD thread when I've watched both.


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

sospiro said:


> Thank goodness. I'm glad I'm not the only one. And my obsession seems to be getting worse.
> 
> I'm interested in how you reach your hours total. Do you listen more than watch or vice versa? And do you watch on Met Player? I am resisting subscribing.. so far.
> 
> ...


Agreed, it's tough to determine precisely how many hours I average per week. Similarly to you, during the week I'll watch several youtube clips, highlights from various opera dvds I've ripped and encoded and stored on my NAS, and some mp3s. During the weekend I'll generally watch at least one opera all the way through. I much prefer watching to simply listening, especially for operas featuring talented actors.

No Met Player yet -- like you, I'm resisting the urge to subscribe but am hinting around at it as an ideal birthday present 

One 'advantage' I have is a surfeit of free time as I've been single since losing my wife two years ago. In a very real way, opera has essentially saved my life -- it's added something that was missing and gives me something to look forward to every day.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

rgz said:


> I much prefer watching to simply listening, especially for operas featuring talented actors..


I'm with you on that - although sometimes I like to listen as it makes me really concentrate on the words, especially if it's languages I know, and if if I don't know them that well (my German is getting very Wagnerian).



rgz said:


> No Met Player yet -- like you, I'm resisting the urge to subscribe but am hinting around at it as an ideal birthday present


Subscribing is the best thing I've done, even though they've had an Epic Fail recently when all their videos disappeared, and they are getting them back slowly - but subscribers were credited for this. I would watch everything on Classical TV first if I were you.

They have a lot audio broadcasts - it means you can listen to an opera before deciding whether you like the music enough to buy a DVD. There are also broadcasts of productions that are not available on DVD yet - the Nozze with Raimondi and Battle, the Salome with Mattila, an amazing Damnation de Faust, Pique Dame with Domingo and Hvorostovsky.



rgz said:


> One 'advantage' I have is a surfeit of free time as I've been single since losing my wife two years ago. In a very real way, opera has essentially saved my life -- it's added something that was missing and gives me something to look forward to every day.


I'm sorry to hear that rgz.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

My vote was 20-25 hours.

I don't go out in the evenings any longer and if I do it's to see a live opera or watch the Met HD cinema performances. I watch an opera DVD, or Met Player, or Classical TV every night for about 2-3 hours (There is literally nothing I would choose to watch on NZ TV as it is populated entirely by reality shows or grim forensic crime shows where the SOCOs toss their long blond hair all over the crime scenes. The only decent TV is on Maori TV and I don't speak more than about 30 words of Maori)

Then during the day I would watch Youtube clips and I listen to opera when I exercise, iron, cook .

If I'm not watching I read forums, books (currently a biography of Maria Callas) and blogs about opera.

Somehow work and family life get fitted in around that.


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## ahansen_cello (Jul 23, 2010)

My vote was 0-5 hours because I'm an cellist and am used to a more...how to put it delicately... accurate pitch in my music. The vibrato on many of the singers in opera is so wide that they actually cover several notes with any one of their notes. Don't get me wrong, some intrumentalists have too wide of a vibrato as well, and I don't enjoy that either!


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Less than 5 hours, I don't get new recordings daily, if I listen to opera I have to prepare for it by knocking the libretto into my head, getting free day, strave my ears with chamber music for couple of listening sessions so the long symphonic-vocal work won't annoy me... a lot of stuff. 

It doesn't mean I don't like opera, rather that I approach it more seriously than Donizetti fans.


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

Depends on how much time I have. Some weeks less than 5 hours, other weeks more than 10. If I had to name one genre as my favorite it would be opera, but I listen to lots of other stuff as well, so my time spend listening to music is divided between all those different genres.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

My hours on opera per week can vary from none to many tens of hours. It all depends on my mood and what I recently bought. I guess I do not actively say I must listen to at least a certain number of hours a week. I love opera. It is an important genre in my musical activities.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

rgz said:


> One 'advantage' I have is a surfeit of free time as I've been single since losing my wife two years ago. In a very real way, opera has essentially saved my life -- it's added something that was missing and gives me something to look forward to every day.


My condolences rgz.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

(Much) less than 5 hours a week. Opera is my least favoured genre. I usually prefer the highlights or compilations of arias to listening to a whole opera straight through. I listen to basically any classical music on radio, except when they have their opera night. But recently, I listened to an opera by Charpentier that was broadcast & enjoyed it quite a bit. I am trying to listen to one broadcast per month, but even that's not easy for me. I might get into borrowing opera cd's from the local library, which has an ok collection. I don't like to buy opera because it's not value for money for me - I would only listen to it say once a year...


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> I'm sorry to hear that rgz.





sospiro said:


> My condolences rgz.


Thank you for the kind words. Hope my comment wasn't interpreted as fishing for sympathy; meant it merely as an explanation as to why I have extra time to watch or listen to opera. Lots of free time, combined with the enthusiasm of someone who comes into something late at life (i.e., the most passionate anti-smokers are those who used to smoke and quit, not those who never smoked).


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

I do listen to opera regularly, but I love all kinds of classical music,orchestral,chamber,whatever,so I don't want to confine myself to it,as much as I love it.
There's so much wonderful classical music of all kinds out there ! It's frustrating not to get to hear it all. I've heard a heck of a lot of it over the years, but there are still so many interesting things available on CD and DVD etc I haven't heard yet.
I've heard hundreds of operas on CD,LP and tape since I was a teenager,and that doesn't count the individual operas I've heard multiple recordings of,but so many I haven't heard yet.
I'm curious to hear,among other things, the operas of Siegfried Wagner which have recently been revived, and so many other composers.
Is it a blessing or a curse to have such an incredible variety available to us?


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## jhansen_violin (Jul 23, 2010)

I voted for less than 5 because I have always found that I prefer listening/watching opera live rather than on a cd (and I really don't have time to watch an opera at home... my sons keep me way too busy for that!)
I feel like it is not meant to be "listened" to. So much is left out, and it just isn't as enjoyable for me.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

superhorn said:


> I'm curious to hear,among other things, the operas of Siegfried Wagner which have recently been revived, and so many other composers.?


Yes, after reading this excellent and fascinating book...










...I would like to hear, or better see, these works too.



superhorn said:


> Is it a blessing or a curse to have such an incredible variety available to us?


A blessing to everything but one's wallet. Although there is a lot of free stuff around...


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

I think the enormopus variety can be something of a curse because it's hard to know where to begin in deciding what to hear. You never know if you might miss hear something really great you haven't heard before. It's an embarassment of riches.


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## Sebastien Melmoth (Apr 14, 2010)

This Wed (8/4) PBS will broadcast last season's _Carmen_ from the MET.

Heard the live matinee over the radio last fall: it's a good performance, but *quite brisk in tempi*.

http://www.pbs.org/tvschedules/sate...=PBS&zipcode=&transport=&provider=&supersite=


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

I like to listen to the Saturday afternoon broadcast from the Met during their season.


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## Poppin' Fresh (Oct 24, 2009)

mamascarlatti said:


> Yes, after reading this excellent and fascinating book...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Overall, I wasn't a big fan of the book personally.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Poppin' Fresh said:


> Overall, I wasn't a big fan of the book personally.


I thought it took a pretty balanced approach to the "problems" of Wagner's antisemitism, the family's relationship with Hitler and so on.


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## Poppin' Fresh (Oct 24, 2009)

mamascarlatti said:


> I thought it took a pretty balanced approach to the "problems" of Wagner's antisemitism, the family's relationship with Hitler and so on.


Yeah he did a decent job with those topics in general. However, at one point I remember Carr just matter of factly stating something like "Wagner hated having to allow the Jewish conductor Hermann Levi to conduct _Parsifal_, but if he dismissed the conductor he would have upset King Ludwig and lost access to the Munich orchestra." Which is actually completely false. Wagner willingly gave Levi complete authority over the performances and was uncommonly thrilled with his work.

Overall, my biggest issue with the book was that I grew tired of the way he seemed to sensationalize every detail to make them "juicier" for the reader. Perhaps Cosima and Houston Stewart Chamberlin had a sexual attraction and she saw him as a soulmate...ooo, the drama! Of course its complete conjecture, but its food for thought! Blah.

Where Wagner was concerned, there were no attempts to contextualize his actions, no attempts to explain his sexual liaisons, just attempts to make them more titillating than they actually were. After having read books by that conduct a much more thorough exploration of Wagner's personality, I frankly found Carr's account disappointing.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Well I came from a position of complete ignorance so all that pretty much washed over me. I'll pay attention if I read any more about Wagner - what do you recommend?


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## Poppin' Fresh (Oct 24, 2009)

Milton E. Brener's _Richard Wagner and the Jews_ and Father M. Owen Lee's _Wagner: The Terrible Man and His Truthful Art_ are great investigations into Wagner's character that seek to explain the discrepancy between the man and his music. Bryan Magee's _Wagner and Philosophy_ is another one of my favorites, discussing the intellectual and cultural context of the society Wagner lived in and explores the influence of philosophy in his dramas. It's a great one for gaining a greater understanding and appreciation of Wagner's music.


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## JMJ (Jul 9, 2010)

I've spent the last 2 years or so taking in Stockhausen's _Licht_ opera cycle - 7 in all, one for each day of the week.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Poppin' Fresh said:


> Bryan Magee's _Wagner and Philosophy_ is another one of my favorites, discussing the intellectual and cultural context of the society Wagner lived in and explores the influence of philosophy in his dramas. It's a great one for gaining a greater understanding and appreciation of Wagner's music.


Thanks for the recommendations. None of these are in our local library but I've put in a request for them to purchase this. Fingers crossed...


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## Siegmund (Aug 9, 2010)

Hehe i seem to be the champion here for the moment, i voted 30+ hours. This goes for listening only though because I rarely ever watch opera's. I've been listening more and more to opera the last year, because of my discovery of the enormous genius of Wagner. I own several recordings of all his works and listened to them countless, countless of times. Nowadays I listen to him so much that you could call it an addiction  (Better be addicted to Wagner than to drugs dont ya think lol)


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## Boccherini (Mar 29, 2010)

Siegmund said:


> (Better be addicted to Wagner than to drugs dont ya think lol)


I'm not sure


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## Siegmund (Aug 9, 2010)

Lol as far as i know opera aint got any negative by-effects other than increasing the artistic and musical awareness and knowledge of the listener


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Siegmund said:


> Lol as far as i know opera aint got any negative by-effects other than increasing the artistic and musical awareness and knowledge of the listener


Are you sure? Ask your neightbours HO HO HO WHAT A JOKE


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Siegmund said:


> Lol as far as i know opera aint got any negative by-effects other than increasing the artistic and musical awareness and knowledge of the listener


My obsession with opera seriously damages the health of my credit card. 

I dare not think about how much I've spent on CDs & DVDs, not to mention seeing Don Pasquale, La fille du régiment, Rigoletto, Simon Boccanegra so far this year. Two of these at ROH which means a hotel in London. Seeing another Rigoletto in November as well.


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## Siegmund (Aug 9, 2010)

Lol so in fact it increases their awareness and knowledge as well


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

Probably listened several hours over the last couple weeks....but I always do when I delve into an unfamiliar genre of music. This trend may continue for another month or so, but I'll probably settle into no more than an hour per week.

I understand that one doesn't garner the full experience by simply listening, but my schedule these days doesn't really allow for watching much TV these days. So I'll mostly take what I can get for now and just listen. I'm definitely enjoying opera. But I am a music lover and I have too much wonderful music in my collection to spend tens of hours of listening to just one genre.

RGZ: Though I don't share your obsession with opera, I can understand, as my music obsession in general is bad. I cringe to think about how much money I've spent on music the past three months. It would not be an exaggeration to say that my ballpark estimate is 30-40 albums in that time. Now, I don't do that all the time. Once or twice a year I kind of have a buying/music exploration frenzy, then spend the rest of the year listening to my finds.


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## Siegmund (Aug 9, 2010)

sospiro said:


> My obsession with opera seriously damages the health of my credit card.
> 
> I dare not think about how much I've spent on CDs & DVDs, not to mention seeing Don Pasquale, La fille du régiment, Rigoletto, Simon Boccanegra so far this year. Two of these at ROH which means a hotel in London. Seeing another Rigoletto in November as well.


Lol but Music is more fun than money  - maybe you should let your credit card listen to some opera as well, so it can cheer up a bit 

Btw have fun with the next Rigoletto 
In 2 weeks i'm going to all rehearsals and concerts of a performance of Die Walkure


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Siegmund said:


> In 2 weeks i'm going to all rehearsals and concerts of a performance of Die Walkure


Wow

Bayreuth?


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## Siegmund (Aug 9, 2010)

Argh I wish... 
Alas... lol it's of the Dutch Opera (wich is actually much better than you'd expect )


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

*I watch/listen between 10 and 15 hours per week at least*

... and sometimes, 15 to 20 hours. I've been maintaining a steady pace of at least 3 full operas per week every week for the last several weeks, plus if I count my commute which lasts 35 minutes and I always drive in both directions listening to opera, that gives me another 5-6 hours per week, plus I listen to YouTube and CDs and ipod in other occasions, making for the additional hours. There are weekends that I really overdo, when friends are not in town and I have no other pressing matters to attend. My record was watching 6 operas between Friday night and Sunday night one of these weekends.


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## ozradio (Oct 23, 2008)

The number of hours varies but I estimate about a quarter of my listening is devoted to opera, more if you count "focused" listening. I don't put opera on as background. Mainly I've listened to Wagner, Puccini, and Mozart, but have Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Handel as well. It's all good, Handel's oratorios, too. I love taking a Friday or Saturday night, putting the kids to bed, and listening to an opera all the way through. Doesn't happen every week unfortunately.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> ... My record was watching 6 operas between Friday night and Sunday night one of these weekends.


:tiphat: !!!


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

*Thanks, but what I didn't tell you is that...*



sospiro said:


> :tiphat: !!!


... at the end there was smoke coming out of my ears and I was mixing them all up.:lol:


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## Adam Hegg (Mar 23, 2016)

I listened exclusively to opera from December-Feburary but have recently allowed some concert music back into my life and I am the better for it. 

I would certainly say I hear 15-30 hours of opera a week but I only listen to 5. The distinction being I have somethings just playing in the background all the time but really only get an 60-90 minutes to sit in the dark with headpones every other day or so. When I do it is sometimes purely instrumental.

However, since December (for the first time in my life) if anybody asked me what my favorite type of music I would say Opera without a moment's hesitation. I come from a nearly exclusive rock background but for whatever reason Opera floats my proverbial boat like mad right now.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Match 20 hours easily


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## alan davis (Oct 16, 2013)

Wife and daughter home.....no hours a week.
Wife and daughter out for the day or evening......4-6 hours or more depending.
Wife and daughter away on hollies......endless hours.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

How many hours? Not enough sadly.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

I tend to listen to one opera per week, but not because I feel any particular appeal to the genre. It's just that I'm not going to avoid some of my favorite composers' music.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

In my college/graduate school years -- the years of my first infatuation with opera -- it was 5 to 10 hours per week, easily; I would listen in the school library and at home. At this point in time it's about 3 hours per week, with most of those hours spent listening to recordings while driving to and from work. However, the number will probably increase the next time I get very "into" a specific opera. At this time last year I was obsessed with SALOME and had to hear at least some of it every single day. 

I can listen to complete opera recordings in a single sitting, more or less; the last time I did this was on Easter Sunday afternoon, with TANNHAUSER (the Sinopoli recording with Domingo and Studer). With singers' recital discs I like to focus on two or maybe three tracks at a time, because the variety of repertoire on most of them can get overwhelming, IMO.


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

I regard opera as any other form of music and when it comes to music, I am not interested in visuals.

I've been listening to Parsifal (Kubelik) for the last couple of days and I am absolutely in love with it.


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## Scopitone (Nov 22, 2015)

I chose 10-15 hrs a week. That averages out to about 2 hours a day. 

I think that's about right. There are days when I don't listen or watch any. Then there are days when it's all I am listening to or watching. 

Ex: This past Saturday, I watched approx 3 hours of master class videos on youtube and then later that night watch MetPlayer for about an hour before bed.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I listened more when I had Sirius XM Met Opera Channel. I only listen while driving at my job during the day. I am partial to Wagner and Joan Sutherland. I take it by spells. I used to listen to recordings more. Now mostly Youtube. I don't enjoy Seattle Opera like I used to when Speight Jenkins was at the helm, so I don't go to live opera as much as I used to..I do listen lots when I am planning an opera speech for Toastmasters. I listen to lots of audibooks and lots of disco for the energy while driving. Don't ban me.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I am an opera nut, opera addict, or similar term. I voted for over 30 hours because most everything I listen to anymore is opera and I am wearing an earbud all evening every day and all day on my days off, mainly Saturday and Sunday. Much of the time it is more of a background music but it is on. I do like watching opera even more than listening but do not find a lot of time to watch. Some of that watching time is taken by this site (opera forums and other) and searching for more opera sets online.


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## Metairie Road (Apr 30, 2014)

I'm chronic - 15 to 20 hours.

Also have OCD. Is listening to sixteen versions of the same opera in on day to find 'Just the right one' a sign of madness?

Don't touch my Opera CD's










Best wishes
Metairie Road


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Metairie Road said:


> I'm chronic - 15 to 20 hours.
> 
> Also have OCD. Is listening to sixteen versions of the same opera in on day to find 'Just the right one' a sign of madness?
> 
> ...


I am guessing you are from the Big Easy. I would be surprised if they still have opera there. Nilsson sang there when I was a teenager and it took me 30 years to forgive my father for not letting me go hear her.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

I listen to about one opera a week, so I voted less than 5 hours. When I do listen to an opera, it will likely be one by Handel, Mozart, Haydn or Weber.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I'd get shot by Pugg if I said it's a shame there's not a 'less than 5 hours a year' option. :-D


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## Metairie Road (Apr 30, 2014)

*Seattleoperafan*



> I am guessing you are from the Big Easy. I would be surprised if they still have opera there. Nilsson sang there when I was a teenager and it took me 30 years to forgive my father for not letting me go hear her.


Actually Noo Orlins is quite well served as far as opera goes. The 'New Orleans Opera Company' generally stages four or five big production operas per season, well attended, even sold out on occaisions. International artists on recital tours - saw Max Cencic quite recently.

The local universities - Tulane, Loyola, UNO, have excellent music departments and regularly stage operatic productions of a very high standard.

There's something to see every night if you have the stamina (or the cash).

On top of all that we have the best food and the best football team.

And we have our own 'Opera Guy' to help us through the off season.






Best wishes
Metairie Road


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

As this poll doesn't include options for the time spent thinking about, talking about, or travelling to operas I can't fully answer this. As it's not my full time job I can't claim the higher number, but it is certainly the onething that defines me, apart from being an opinionated know-it-all. Everybody who knows anything about me will know about my love of opera.


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## Birmanbass (Jun 1, 2021)

Would like to go to Opera more but there is obvious reasons why that is difficult but listening is the next best alternative. I recently purchased a "once in a lifetime" sound/theatre system so finally I am able to indulge myself in an art form that in an other life or incarnation would be my first, last and only choice. Got the bug doing musicals etc as a teenager and then took singing lessons and auditioned for Guildhall school of music and drama in London. Woefully under-prepared wasn't offered a position but I did get a job at the Royal Opera house in the men's opera wardrobe where I was lucky enough to get up close to some wonderful performers and see up close some great opera and ballet. Ever since then I dipped in and out of Opera as time, money and circumstances allowed but it was always there, rooted in my soul, waiting to be released. Now retired, its beginning a long delayed resurgence. Looking forward to finally spending hours listening, watching and breathing the greatest art form one could ever imagine. Two or three  hours per day but my guess that will rising rapidly..:lol:


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet (Aug 31, 2011)

Less than 5 hours per year.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

probably a mean average of around an hour a day, but it can be anywhere from 0-7 hours


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

A lot more these days - probably around 6-7 hours a week depending on busy-ness. It demands a lot more attention and I need to read the libretto (or at least, follow with a plot summary) if the opera is new to me, but I love the involving listening experience of creating the story in my head as it unfolds, and I think that watching it would ruin that individual experience. Currently I’m alternating Italian, French, and German operas until I become familiar with all of the core repertoire. So this week, Werther, Don Carlo, and Lohengrin


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## annaw (May 4, 2019)

Allegro Con Brio said:


> A lot more these days - probably around 6-7 hours a week depending on busy-ness. It demands a lot more attention and I need to read the libretto (or at least, follow with a plot summary) if the opera is new to me, but I love the involving listening experience of creating the story in my head as it unfolds, and I think that watching it would ruin that individual experience. Currently I'm alternating Italian, French, and German operas until I become familiar with all of the core repertoire. *So this week, Werther, Don Carlo, and Lohengrin*


Ahh, wonderful operas to focus on!

I've been listening to less opera recently - for as similar reason as you already mentioned - I usually want to listen with libretto (especially Wagner), which makes it a lot more time-consuming. But my opera listening time seems to be increasing again!


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## khalan (Jun 4, 2021)

Have a very big opera and classical music playlist of which some picks can be pretty random like Rach's Aleko, Dvorak's Rusalka, Gomes' Fosca, Kraus' Proserpin, etc. I am lately listening to various minor Operas of Mozart and some lesser known Donizetti.


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## khalan (Jun 4, 2021)

And sorry about the time about 2-3 hours per day of opera and a lot more time during work in listening to classical music randomly


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## ThaNotoriousNIC (Jun 29, 2020)

I would say that I listen to at least 10-15 hours of opera in a given week on average. As I get closer to summer, I usually listen to less opera and pay more attention to more mainstream genres of music like rock or rap. In contrast, I tend to listen to opera the most from late fall to early Spring (maybe it is the weather haha). In the end, I think 10-15 hours is a pretty rough estimate of the average for a typical year.

My main method of listening to opera is via Spotify while I am working. Sometimes I can catch an old recording of an opera produced by the Met on public television where I can watch with the libretto, but that might only be once every month or two. Hoping that we will have live opera again in the fall and I can start going to the Met again for performances!


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## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

I generally listen to one opera per week and most operas are shorter than 5 hours...BUT if I'm listening to a Ring cycle...

I can't just leave Brunnhilde stranded on top of that mountain. It's too cruel.


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## BrunoSchindler (Nov 13, 2021)

It is an obsession with me and I listen to about 2 or more full operas and or operetta daily...it is my vitamin. I listen while working.


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## BrunoSchindler (Nov 13, 2021)

Opera isn't mainstream? For me it is, I suppose that it just depends on one's paradigm.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I don't count the hours, and the watching is at a rather low ratio, but opera has become my main classical genre lately. Although this week I've gotten back to some symphony listening as well. But my wife and I have been listening to many Verdi operas over the past month and I've been mixing in some other works by Puccini, Wagner, Britten, Strauss, and Mussorgsky. And Rossini's Guillaume Tell. It's really too much all at once but life is short so I'm just plowing away. I do desire to know more about each and every work so I picked the Charles Osbourne book on Verdi's operas and I'm doing some reading online.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I must spend 6 hours an evening listening mostly to opera. On weekends listen more. It is a single earbud so i just wear it all the time except when I am at work. For music on video, I try to watch a bit of opera every evening before bed, and that may be as little as 10 minutes or sometimes 30 minutes or more, so it can take one to two weeks to get through an opera DVD.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Hard to say, one day more then another, I will try keep track of time listening / watching opera.


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## BrunoSchindler (Nov 13, 2021)

Hard to beat Wagner, for a little humor now and again an Offenbach operetta is great for a break...Now and again Mozart's Zaide...especially with Wunderlich...


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