# "I'm only here for the..."



## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

Be honest. There are some (many?) operas you watch or listen to, only because you're interested in one or two particular things. Moments, scenes, arias, or maybe you just want to see how something is staged. The rest of it, you don't give as much of crap about. 

For me:

Aida: 1) To see how they stage the victory parade, and if the dancing is cool. 2) To see if this is the production that will make me actually like Aida.

La Traviata: 1) Act 2. 2) To see/hear how convincing Violetta's death is. 3) Maybe the Brindisi, but I don't make a special effort to listen to/see it.

Tosca: 1) Scarpia.

Guillaume Tell: 1) "Ou vas tu" 2) How are they going to stage the arrow scene? 

La Forza del Destino: 1) Don Carlo and Don Alvaro's final argument and fight scene (because it kicks ***)


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

*Don Carlo* for 'Dio, che nell'alma infondere'; 'Ella giammai m'amò' and 'Per me giunto... O Carlo, ascolta'

I'm ready to leave after Posa dies.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Generally, if I'm not interested in an opera as a whole I don't listen to or watch the whole thing at all. Life is short. But I do prefer certain scenes to the complete operas from which they come, and will listen to excerpts by themselves on recordings (meaning selections more extended than single arias, which one gets on recital albums).

"I'm only here for..."

1. The final scene of _Salome_
2. The trio to the end of Der _Rosenkavalier_
3. Act 3 of _Wozzeck_
4. Acts 4 and 5 of _Don Carlos_ (except for the "Huh?" ending)
5. The tomb scene of _Aida_
6. The revised Venusberg scene of _Tannhauser_
7. The mad scene from _I Puritani_
8. The final duet from _Andrea Chenier_
9. The prayer and orchestral dream sequence from _Hansel und Gretel_
10. The scene from _La Forza del Destino_ mentioned by graziesignore


----------



## sharik (Jan 23, 2013)

graziesignore said:


> "I'm only here for the..."


...entire opera to watch it through completely


----------



## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

sharik said:


> ...entire opera to watch it through completely


Me too, it's pretty much all or nothing!

N.


----------



## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Same here: the whole thing. I'm not that experienced with opera, although I have been listening a little bit for nearly as long as I have been listening to classical. Since opera is an aspect of classical music, I am interested in it. Like any other genre—symphonies, chamber music, etc.—I want to know a little about opera and it's development, the main composers, great works, etc. It's simply part of knowing about classical music as a whole. When I choose to explore a work, I want to hear the whole thing.


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

The Conte said:


> Me too, it's pretty much all or nothing!
> 
> N.


This, I never do highlights :cheers:


----------



## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

I'm really for the whole opera, but sometimes I listen to certain parts to hear how it's done in different recordings. Like for example the Cavalleria duet between Santuzza and Turiddu and the Ballo duet between Amelia and Riccardo. If I listen to a whole opera then I listen all of it, but if I'm just casually listening something, then I might listen to just some parts of it. If an opera has just one thing that I'm interested in (like just one aria) then probably I won't listen to it again.


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Only thing I might consider throwing out is Eboli's Veil song which becomes annoying and distracts from the story at hand in _Don Carlo._
Same is true of a couple of dance sequences in several operas, and a boring scene or two in_ La Forza del Destino_ which, without them, would make for a tighter story, but other than those, give me the whole thing please.


----------



## ma7730 (Jun 8, 2015)

Rosenkavalier — I'm excited at the overture, have a good eight and a half hour nap, and wake up in time for the final trio
Aida — Act III and IV is when the music is finally getting interesting
Die Meistersinger — the overture, and that quartet, and as much as I like Wagner, the rest is just


----------



## graziesignore (Mar 13, 2015)

Just to clarify, I don't just fast-forward to the good bits (usually). I watch the whole thing (or, in the case of Tosca, up until the point Scarpia kicks the bucket.) I'm just saying, those are the only parts I tend to be interested in any more.

I love the Veil Song (without which, Don Carlo would be 100% doom and gloom). Not sure how it distracts from the story, since what happens in the song later sort of is echoed in the plot (the bit with the masks, and Eboli and Carlo, and Carlo thinking he's talking to one woman and really talking to another).


----------



## Steatopygous (Jul 5, 2015)

As far as I'm concerned, it's fine to listen just to favourite bits now and then, provided it comes from a background of knowing, or at least having heard, the whole thing previously. No one can get to know an opera merely from bleeding chunks hewn from the body, let alone delicate morsels such as a single aria or ensemble. 
Even so, with Gotterdammerung (to pick a long one) I often find myself thinking I'll listen to a particular scene only to find myself putting on the first CD and listening through (possibly over two nights). It's all great, and it flows as it should that way.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Steatopygous said:


> No one can get to know an opera merely from bleeding chunks hewn from the body, let alone delicate morsels such as a single aria or ensemble....with Gotterdammerung (to pick a long one) I often find myself thinking I'll listen to a particular scene only to find myself putting on the first CD and listening through (possibly over two nights). It's all great, and it flows as it should that way.


I know what you mean. Wagner bleeds profusely when hacked into chunks, and I can't stand the sound of blood.


----------



## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

I do understand that some people just want to hear the songs and that's fine, but if only parts of an opera are good, then is it really a good opera? Imagine hacking up a symphony and listening to only the 'good parts'


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

brotagonist said:


> I do understand that some people just want to hear the songs and that's fine, but if only parts of an opera are good, then is it really a good opera? Imagine hacking up a symphony and listening to only the 'good parts'


Operas, which often consist of numerous separate numbers, are easier to hack up than symphonies. I suppose people disagree on what makes a good opera, depending on how they value vocal display as against dramatic integrity.


----------



## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

brotagonist said:


> I do understand that some people just want to hear the songs and that's fine, but if only parts of an opera are good, then is it really a good opera? Imagine hacking up a symphony and listening to only the 'good parts'


But symphonies are hacked up.


----------



## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Verdi: The champagne at intermission.


----------



## Autumn Leaves (Jan 3, 2014)

Well, usually if I like an opera, I like it fully and completely, but if in _Das Rheingold _Fasolt is miscast, I consider the evening wasted, even with a charming Loge and a touching Mime and harmonious Rhinemaidens and all that. Fortunately, it happened with me only once.


----------



## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

I am reminded of a cartoon I once saw in the London Evening Standard. About 30 years ago there had been a protractedstrike at the Royal Opera House that cancelled several performances.

In the Cartoon two senior Business chaps were walking by a news board showing that the strike was over.

One said to the other

"Thank goodness, I don't know how much longer I could put up with the sleep deprivation."


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Autumn Leaves said:


> Well, usually if I like an opera, I like it fully and completely, but if in _Das Rheingold _Fasolt is miscast, I consider the evening wasted, even with a charming Loge and a touching Mime and harmonious Rhinemaidens and all that. Fortunately, it happened with me only once.


Is Fasolt aware of your fan-crush?


----------



## Autumn Leaves (Jan 3, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> Is Fasolt aware of your fan-crush?


There's a possibility that at least one of singers who plays him is


----------

