# Most Ridiculous Things You've Heard People Say About Opera



## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

this can include either
1) ridiculous misconceptions people have about opera 
or
2) ridiculous assumptions people have made about you on account of listening to opera

I'll start with an example of the latter: I was accused of being a "plutocrat" and a "racist" for being an opera buff, because apparently it was an exercise of "privilege" to be able to afford to listen to opera and that I was celebrating the "superiority of white Europeans". the ironic thing is that I was listening to it via youtube (completely free) and that the singer I was listening to when the person made this comment was Shirley Verrett :lol::lol::lol:


----------



## Biffo (Mar 7, 2016)

This sort of discussion cropped up periodically in the UK Amazon forum although it was usually about classical music in general and why the audiences were so elderly. Apparently young people are intimidated by the concert hall experience. I quickly wearied of such discussions.

Even more off topic, the stupidest thing I heard in an opera house was from a woman behind me, presumably reading the synopsis in the programme - 'How can three ladies kill a giant serpent?' - it really needed a six-year old child to give her a withering look.


----------



## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

"I don't like Opera."


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Belowpar said:


> "I don't like Opera."


That is actually not a ridiculous statement but a statement of preference. I do not like caviar but I know some people do and I respect their taste buds.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

DavidA said:


> That is actually not a ridiculous statement but a statement of preference. I do not like caviar but I know some people do and I respect their taste buds.


I'm grateful that you respect my taste buds even though you don't respect my Wagnerian expertise, though I do have to say that I'd prefer it the other way around...


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Woodduck said:


> I'm grateful that you respect my taste buds even though you don't respect my Wagnerian expertise, though I do have to say that I'd prefer it the other way around...


I respect your right to have your views on Wagner. Hope you respect my right to have mine.

As to expertise I was always taught by father who was a very fine musician but a very modest man not to advertise one's own expertise but leave that to others.


----------



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

DavidA said:


> That is actually not a ridiculous statement but a statement of preference. I do not like caviar but I know some people do and I respect their taste buds.


I have a feeling that was tongue-in-cheek


----------



## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

DavidA said:


> That is actually not a ridiculous statement but a statement of preference. I do not like caviar but I know some people do and I respect their taste buds.


I've met people who say the don't like music. Poor them but its hardly a preference it must be some way they are hard wired.

For those who cliam to like music but NOT Opera when I canbe bothered I ask, Not the BA advert song, the Can Can, "Paulo di Canio..." "Hello Mother", Ride of the Valkyries? None of it?

My point being its a huge generalisation and like most similar views can be quickly punctured. Unless of course the speakers preference is to be seen as a teensy weensy bit opinionated and ....ignorant?


----------



## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

"Oh I LOVE opera! Russell Watson and Katherine Jenkins are my favourites."


----------



## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

"Oh, I like Phantom of the Opera! That's similar right?"
"How do they make the voice do the vibrato like that? It's so unnatural"
"I'm a contralto!" (coming from an obvious high soprano with a bright, youthful timbre)
"I wish I could sing a high C like Pavarotti, but my falsetto isn't good enough"
"My favorite opera piece is Handel's Messiah"


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Belowpar said:


> I've met people who say the don't like music. Poor them but its hardly a preference it must be some way they are hard wired.
> 
> For those who cliam to like music but NOT Opera when I canbe bothered I ask, Not the BA advert song, the Can Can, "Paulo di Canio..." "Hello Mother", Ride of the Valkyries? None of it?
> 
> My point being its a huge generalisation and like most similar views can be quickly punctured. Unless of course the speakers preference is to be seen as a teensy weensy bit opinionated and ....ignorant?


Yes but we are tak,ing about opera. I know plenty of people who like classical music but not opera


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Bonetan said:


> I have a feeling that was tongue-in-cheek


I know. So was my reply


----------



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

DavidA said:


> I know. So was my reply


But that doesn't make any sense!


----------



## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Don Fatale said:


> "Oh I LOVE opera! Russell Watson and Katherine Jenkins are my favourites."


You forgot the legend that is Paul Potts!:lol:


----------



## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

Been looking for this and finally remembered enough to find it......the diva life!


----------



## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Barbebleu said:


> You forgot the legend that is Paul Potts!:lol:


Indeed. Although at least Paul Potts has recently appeared in an opera. Wagner too.
http://www.operabase.com/a2list.cgi?lang=en&name=Paul+Potts


----------



## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

DavidA said:


> I respect your right to have your views on Wagner. Hope you respect my right to have mine.
> 
> As to expertise I was always taught by father who was a very fine musician but a very modest man not to advertise one's own expertise but leave that to others.


A Legend In His Own Mind


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

DavidA said:


> I respect your right to have your views on Wagner. Hope you respect my right to have mine.
> 
> As to expertise I was always taught by father who was a very fine musician but a very modest man not to advertise one's own expertise but leave that to others.


I'm sure it's comforting never to have to make that choice.


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Woodduck said:


> I'm sure it's comforting never to have to make that choice.


You would know! :lol:


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Triplets said:


> A Legend In His Own Mind


Just a very modest man. A war hero who never told of his exploits. A very fine musician who never blew his own trumpet.

A legend in my mind! Many happy memories!


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

DavidA said:


> You would know! :lol:


Poor try.

Seriously, I don't advertise. Intelligent members who understand my posts realize what they've got. It's only aggressive ignorance and stubbornness that prompt me to offer subtle suggestions that there may be some profit in listening and thinking rather than bloviating.

But sorry to interrupt the homily. Do go on boasting about modesty. It suits you.


----------



## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

Belowpar said:


> "I don't like Opera."


I said the same for many years ... until the day I saw my first opera live, and decided from then on to try to understand it, and listen more widely. Such statements are often based on ignorance or false assumptions. If someone said this after extensive listening and research, then I would completely respect it as a conclusion.


----------



## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> "I wish I could sing a high C like Pavarotti, but my falsetto isn't good enough"


If said by a baritione I'd agree it's misguided, but actually there is a point in there somewhere if said by a tenor.

N.


----------



## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Don Fatale said:


> Indeed. Although at least Paul Potts has recently appeared in an opera. Wagner too.
> http://www.operabase.com/a2list.cgi?lang=en&name=Paul+Potts


This from Wikipedia -

"In the summer of 2016 Potts took on two full length opera roles for the first time in his professional career. He played the role of Cavaradossi in Puccini's Tosca at Summer Sessions at Chiswick House June 15 and 16 before playing the role of Steuermann (Steersman) in Szeged Open Air Festivals' production of Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer on July 1 and 2."


----------



## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

The Conte said:


> If said by a baritione I'd agree it's misguided, but actually there is a point in there somewhere if said by a tenor.
> 
> N.


Could you elaborate please on the part about a tenor saying the stuff about Pavarotti's high C. 
Cheers.


----------



## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

The Conte said:


> If said by a baritione I'd agree it's misguided, but actually there is a point in there somewhere if said by a tenor.
> N.


even if they're a tenor, do you hear anything even remotely falsetto in this clip?


----------



## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Don Fatale said:


> Indeed. Although at least Paul Potts has recently appeared in an opera. Wagner too.
> http://www.operabase.com/a2list.cgi?lang=en&name=Paul+Potts


I forgot the ubiquitous Lesley Garrett.


----------



## Annied (Apr 27, 2017)

Many years ago I was at a performance of "Samson et Dalila" with José Carreras. It was a complete sell out and even the postal booking stage had been a ballot. Some friends of mine were really disappointed when they were told they'd been unlucky and hadn't been allocated any tickets.

Heading back to my seat after the interval I overheard a man saying to the person he was with, "That lead singer's pretty good isn't he?" I could have wept for my ticketless friends.


----------



## ma7730 (Jun 8, 2015)

"opera is bourgeois spectacle"

No. stop. please don't let Marx ruin _everything_
I agree that some operas are spectacle
But overall, many opera fans are not attracted to it merely for the spectacle. Why would such works as _Bluebeard's Castle_ or _Wozzeck_ have a place in the repertoire?
People like opera for the same reason they like any art form; they are moved by their beautiful, painful representations of life.


----------



## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Should Opera be an Olympic sport


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> Should Opera be an Olympic sport


Now this is meeting : Most Ridiculous Things You've Heard People Say About Opera:angel:


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

"I can't stand all that vibrato!"

Oh...right. I guess _I_ was the one who said that...


----------



## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Barbebleu said:


> I forgot the ubiquitous Lesley Garrett.


Ubiuquitous she may be but as much as I dislike crossover, I think she has some real accomplishments to celebrate.

From Wiki

"Garrett has had an extensive music career. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music and an alumna of the prestigious National Opera Studio, she won the Decca Prize of the Kathleen Ferrier Award in 1979, thereby launching her career.[5] Her professional debut, in 1979, was as Amor in Orontea at the music festival in Batignano. She subsequently sang, in 1980, Alice in Le comte Ory at the London Coliseum and Dorinda in Orlando at the Wexford Festival, in 1981, also at Wexford, the title role in Zaide, in 1982 Sophie in Werther with Opera North and in 1984 Damigella in L'incoronazione di Poppea at Glyndebourne.[6] From 1984, as principal soprano at English National Opera, she became well known for her performances in productions of the operas Serse, Le Nozze di Figaro, Così fan tutte and Die Fledermaus.[1]

Garrett has performed across the world, in countries throughout Europe, and also the United States, Australia, Russia, Brazil, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan and South Korea. She has also sung opera and pop classics with Bryan Ferry, Eurythmics and Mick Hucknall to celebrate the arrival of the new century on Millennium Eve in the grounds at the Royal Observatory and National Maritime Museum.[7]

She played the lead role of Hanna Glawari in the Welsh National Opera's production of The Merry Widow, which toured the United Kingdom in 2005. In 2006 she sang the role of Mother Abbess in Andrew Lloyd Webber's revival of The Sound of Music. In 2008, she joined the cast of Carousel as Nettie Fowler. The production toured the UK and then transferred to the West End's Savoy Theatre. In 2013 she returned to opera with the monodrama La Voix humaine for Opera North.

She created the role of Val in Pleasure, the first opera by Mark Simpson, directed by Tim Albery and premiered at the Howard Assembly Room by Opera North, in April 2016.[8]

Garrett is a member of the board of the English National Opera."

I remember her as a fine Vixen and I must have seen her many times at the ENO where she was something of a 'house star', before her 'character' took her into new things. To balance that I did not enjoy her Nettie Forbush.


----------



## Biffo (Mar 7, 2016)

Like belowpar I also heard Lesley Garrett many times at ENO, in some of the roles mentioned in the Wiki piece, as the Vixen and also Zerlina. I don't have any problem with her extending her career with crossover etc; no one forces you to buy or listen to the stuff. Possibly she is 'ubiquitous' because she is popular.


----------



## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

This is a completely different situation than people merely making silly comments about opera .
Some years ago on PBS , there was a discussion about whether there should be government support for the arts in America .
Aside from the PBS moderator , there were an operatic soprano or mezzo whose name I don't recall and a jazz critic arguing about this . The Jazz critic was an obnoxious jerk and stated that opera companies in America should not get government funding because "Opera is not an American art form " and Jazz is " because it had its origin in America . Therefore, according to this moron, our government shouldn't provide them with funding .
He went on to ignorantly declare that opera is not even a serious art form, because opera audiences are made up of rich snobs who attend "merely to "see and be seen ". 
Talk about reverse snobbism ! He also patronizingly responded to the opera singer that 
"He didn't want to deny her a career as an opera singer ". I wished I could have been there to tell him what an ignorant jerk he was !
In fact, European opera was regularly being performed in America long before Jazz existed ! ( I also have nothing against Jazz, but I was utterly disgusted by his arrogant and stupid comments . 
And remember - many Jazz musicians of the past in New Orleans were fans of opera and admired famous opera singers and listened to and studied their recordings , and there was a very old operatic tradition in that city from the 19th century .


----------



## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

I also neglected to mention the many operas by AMERICAN composers such as Gershwin, Virgil Thomson, Samuel Barber, John Adams, Philip Glass and others as something which I would have mentioned to counter his specious argument .


----------



## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> Should Opera be an Olympic sport


I liken operatic singing to Olympic sport in its intensity, but to make a sport of Opera would be absurd.


----------



## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> Should Opera be an Olympic sport


I liken operatic singing to Olympic sport in its intensity of effort, skill, and preparation. But to make a sport out of Opera would be absurd.


----------



## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

^Stereo Opera 

Just imagine Opera being sung whilst high driving or boxing


----------



## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Deleted post #239


----------



## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> ^Stereo Opera
> 
> Just imagine Opera being sung whilst *high driving* or boxing


Did you mean high *diving*, or driving while high?


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> ^Stereo Opera
> 
> Just imagine Opera being sung whilst high driving or boxing


It is occasionally sung while fencing, swinging large Norse hammers, leaping into rivers from high parapets, and riding winged horses through thunderclouds. There must be an Olympic sport in there somewhere.


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

How about going mad just after marrying , or dying from heartache or even worst ......being shot.


----------



## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Fritz Kobus said:


> Did you mean high *diving*, or driving while high?


Both I think, driving a bobsled ?


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Singer [ insert name] must be the worst singer in the world.
How pathetic if you've nothing to base that one, other then insulting people.


----------



## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

The one I hate the most: "It ain't over till the fat lady sings!" While there is some truth to this, it's just such reductionist, oversimplifying [email protected]/t that denigrates a great art form.

Kind regards,

George


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Barelytenor said:


> The one I hate the most: "It ain't over till the fat lady sings!" While there is some truth to this, it's just such reductionist, oversimplifying [email protected]/t that denigrates a great art form.
> 
> Kind regards,
> 
> George


Sadly, it was over when the fat lady had gastric bypass surgery.


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Barelytenor said:


> The one I hate the most: "It ain't over till the fat lady sings!" While there is some truth to this, it's just such reductionist, oversimplifying [email protected]/t that denigrates a great art form.
> 
> Kind regards,
> 
> George


Beside that, If Lucia for example is dead, we get another 25 minutes with a beautiful tenor aria for sure.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Pugg said:


> Beside that, If Lucia for example is dead, we get another 25 minutes with a beautiful tenor aria for sure.


So if the Edgardo is Pavarotti, the opera isn't over till the fat man sings?


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> So if the Edgardo is Pavarotti, the opera _isn't over till the fat man sin_gs?


We must remember this forever .


----------



## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)

liked peoples orders for food: 'filet mignon....what kind of fish is that/" "eggs over no snot"


----------



## gellio (Nov 7, 2013)

Belowpar said:


> "I don't like Opera."


Not necessarily. I have had people say that to me, and I want to reply "You've never f*cking heard opera!" LOL.


----------



## walkingonair (Mar 18, 2018)

Opera is for snobs. People also think I'm a snob since I like opera. Lol.


----------



## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

How about those who when they find out you are into opera, look at you strangely and change the topic.


----------



## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Fritz Kobus said:


> How about those who when they find out you are into opera, look at you strangely and change the topic.




(Oh, for goodness sake! 15 characters, why?)

N.


----------



## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Although I'm not an opera fan I totally get why so many love it. However, I used to work with a guy that opined "it's just a load of fat people warbling" and "they're just musicals for posh tw*ts".


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

The Conte said:


> (Oh, for goodness sake! 15 characters, why?)
> 
> N.


Agree. Annoying isn't it? (Let's see -- is that 15 letters? Let me count them again. 1,2,3,4....)


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> Agree. Annoying isn't it? (Let's see -- is that 15 letters? Let me count them again. 1,2,3,4....)


Has anyone offered a rationale for this peculiarity? Is it to prevent terse responses such as "@#%& you"? I can think of ways to extend that to 15 characters.


----------



## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

nina foresti said:


> Agree. Annoying isn't it? (Let's see -- is that 15 letters? Let me count them again. 1,2,3,4....)


______________


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Barelytenor said:


> The one I hate the most: "It ain't over till the fat lady sings!" While there is some truth to this, it's just such reductionist, oversimplifying [email protected]/t *that denigrates a great art form.
> *
> Kind regards,
> 
> George


Come on. We all know where the saying came from. Opera deserves to be sent up as it's a ridiculous art form with people singing instead of speaking and performing huge arias before dying. I love it myself but I can see why people send it up. We need to maintain a sense of humour.


----------



## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

Woodduck said:


> Has anyone offered a rationale for this peculiarity? Is it to prevent terse responses such as "@#%& you"? I can think of ways to extend that to 15 characters.


Me too! My favorite one was taught to me many years ago by Christa, a lovely young Bavarian baker: "Soll der Blitz dich beim scheissen treffen!"

Mit freundliche Grüßen,

Georg


----------

