# Operas with long duration - is it a problem for you?



## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Usually the young have short attention span and little patience to sit for several hours watching some sort of entertainment. As I grow older, however, I think that my attention span is paradoxically shortening.

Lately I've been frustrated by operas with long running times. In the past, I wouldn't mind sitting through the biggies like Siegfried or Les Troyens. Lately, however, my unwatched pile is getting a disproportionate number of long operas, because I tend to dig out first the ones that are shortish.

For example, I just got my unwatched DVD of Die Frau ohne Schatten out of the pile, but balked at popping it into the player when I saw that the running time is 203 minutes. It's too long for a Saturday afternoon, especially because I'm planning an early dine out with my wife (we want to get to a restaurant that is located some 45 minutes away from our home at about 5 PM when they open so that we can score a table, and it's 1:40 now so no time to take on a 203-minute project). 

I have just recently suffered through a 3-hour long Billy Budd (complete version with the original 4 acts instead of the revised version with 2 acts), another 3-hour long Semiramide, and was relieved to watch the 80 minutes of Król Roger, and even more thrilled with the 53 minutes of Oedipus Rex. 

Meanwhile, the 3-hour group is lagging behind on my UWP, including stuff like Ruslan and Lyudmila and Admeto.

Puccini was onto something with his Trittico, and other shorties like Le Rossignol, L'Heure Espagnole, and L'Enfant et les Sortilèges are also very enjoyable, not to forget Pagliacci and Cavalleria Rusticana.

Does anybody else here suffer of the same problem?


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## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

The only problem I have with that is scheduling, and in todays busy lifestyle it is becoming increasingly hard to set apart more than 4 hours to enjoy an opera. Not to mention the necessary late night making the next early morning much harder.


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## ozradio (Oct 23, 2008)

When I listen to opera I generally can only listen to one cd at a time. I don't have any on dvd.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

I do have problem and I think everyone has.

Listening to opera longer than 2 hours takes whole day. I must prepare it to be sure I will have time and mood for it (yes, I even plan my mood  don't ask me how, it's weird) and what's even more important, when I have a lot of new music to hear, it's discouraging to know that if I will decide to listen to that opera I will be drained and won't be able to listen anything more that day or maybe even tomorrow. And the libretto! More music = more reading and *remembering*, because I don't listen and read along.

As for matter of enjoyment... like captain obvious would say: I'll enjoy even ten hours long opera if it would consists ten hours of really good music.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I have to watch half at a time. And for CDs it's even more disjointed, I listen for as long as the duration of the walk (or sometimes the ironing). I think even when these babies were written, society people pitched up for just one or two acts until Wagner made this more difficult for them.

In London when I used to go after work once a week to live opera I sometimes found myself falling asleep during the long ones. Now of course a visit to live opera is so rare I stay resolutely awake during the whole lot.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> I have to watch half at a time. And for CDs it's even more disjointed, I listen for as long as the duration of the walk (or sometimes the ironing). I think even when these babies were written, society people pitched up for just one or two acts until Wagner made this more difficult for them.
> 
> In London when I used to go after work once a week to live opera I sometimes found myself falling asleep during the long ones. Now of course a visit to live opera is so rare I stay resolutely awake during the whole lot.


It's reassuring to know that you and Aramis have the same problem.


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## Lipatti (Oct 9, 2010)

I'm relatively new to opera, so I don't have many experiences on that level, but I used to watch a LOT of movies before, and I had the same sort of problem there. I remember when I first got into guys like Fellini, Visconti or Tarkovsky, I would approach their films (the long ones) with lots of enthusiasm and endurance. After a time, however, I had to literally drag myself through movies that lasted longer than two hours, and that's when I started to explore Bergman and the French nouvelle vague-directors, with films that usually last less 90 minutes. I usually believe in what my instincts tell me at a particular time, and let my mood dictate what I watch (or listen to, when it comes to classical music).

As for opera - I'm very enthusiastic about it nowadays, so I usually watch anything I can come across, without caring so much about "issues" like running time or compositional style


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## Gualtier Malde (Nov 14, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> Usually the young have short attention span and little patience to sit for several hours watching some sort of entertainment. As I grow older, however, I think that my attention span is paradoxically shortening.


I'm not sure about my attention span, but my staying awake span has definitely suffered with age and this has become a problem with longer operas.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Interesting. It seems I'm going the other way. Operas that really captivated me, I could happily sit through it in one session (on DVD) and conclude at the end what a masterpiece that was. But I always have a domestic intermission/break anyway - 10, 20, 30 or 60 minutes, but I try not to break over more than a day, as I deliberately schedule time to watch the DVD or CD etc.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

I have a problem with timing it's something on the order of Tristan und Isolde (or if it's around just 2-3 hours, something on the order of Berg or Saariaho ). How's that for a cop-out?


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

HarpsichordConcerto said:


> Interesting. It seems I'm going the other way. Operas that really captivated me, I could happily sit through it in one session (on DVD) and conclude at the end what a masterpiece that was. But I always have a domestic intermission/break anyway - 10, 20, 30 or 60 minutes, but I try not to break over more than a day, as I deliberately schedule time to watch the DVD or CD etc.


I take quick snack/hydration/bathroom breaks. I don't take a day break because I think it stops the immersion. So I tend to watch ALL operas in one sitting - the only exception, of course, was the Ring. This is one of the reasons why I've been suffering lately with the long ones. Like I said, today I have considered Die Frau ohne Schatten but balked at the 3:25 hours running time. I considered watching one act or one and a half, but decided against it, and though I'll watch it when I'm sure to have the time to complete it in one sitting (with a couple of short breaks).

But then, tomorrow it's the NFL conference finals. Yep, I do like sports as well... so, there are small chances that I'll be watching such a long opera tomorrow.


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## karenpat (Jan 16, 2009)

My best advice is to take breaks between each act. I sometimes watch act 1 one day and act 2 the next day. If I watch in youtube (at least before they allowed 3 hour long video clips) it's even easier because each part is usually 15 mins long and I can watch one clip here and one clip there.


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

*Opera?*

The longer the better. I love Wagner very much. For me Tristan and Isolde lasts the time of a sigh...

Nibelungen the same...But I can watch two operas in a row!

Martin


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

*oops!*

correction: I cannot watch two operas in a row (anyways nobody will read me, I can say any atrocity I want)....LOL

Martin


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Definitely plays a role in what operas I'll watch, particularly in person or for Met Live in HD productions. Decided to pass on the upcoming Nixon in China because 4 hours is just too long, especially for an opera of music I'm completely unfamiliar with. 3 hours is about my max, and I much prefer sub 2h30m runtimes when possible.

Of course, the problem is that most of the popular operas hail from a time before tv and movies, where an opera would not only be a night's entertainment, it might be the only entertainment for a family for a week or more, so I'd guess it was important for it to be a grand and lengthy spectacle.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

rgz said:


> Definitely plays a role in what operas I'll watch, particularly in person or for Met Live in HD productions. Decided to pass on the upcoming Nixon in China because 4 hours is just too long, especially for an opera of music I'm completely unfamiliar with. 3 hours is about my max, and I much prefer sub 2h30m runtimes when possible.
> 
> Of course, the problem is that most of the popular operas hail from a time before tv and movies, where an opera would not only be a night's entertainment, it might be the only entertainment for a family for a week or more, so I'd guess it was important for it to be a grand and lengthy spectacle.


Nixon in China is four hours long? Uhoh, I have tickets for the Met in HD... I'm a little apprehensive. Will I like it?


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

*Nixon*

I didn't like Nixon in China...a question of tastes....

Martin


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