# You Can Write on Opera...



## Zofia (Jan 24, 2019)

If you could write one opera based on a mythological story/legends or work of fiction. What would you it be? 

Personally I think Miltons Paradise Lost or Dante’s Inferno scream Wagnerain Opera. Maybe even Shakespare’s Tempest... 

Regardless of your musical talent IRL this will be a phenomenon and be added to the “cannon” so think carefully. No joke posts please first I see to say Harry Potter I will have Taggart shoot you like wild Haggis...

Apologies for the typo in the thread title I am on my cellphone.


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

I was actually just thinking about writing a symphony/opera surrounding the Story of Socrates the other day. I think it was listening to a bunch of Richard Strauss that put me in this mindset.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

MatthewWeflen said:


> I was actually just thinking about writing a symphony/opera surrounding the Story of Socrates the other day. I think it was listening to a bunch of Richard Strauss that put me in this mindset.


Satie beat you to it (in a way).


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## R3PL4Y (Jan 21, 2016)

There is an opera on Paradise Lost by Penderecki. Not a specific topic, but I think it would be interesting to see more operas based on myths from other cultures than just our Western one (such as Native American mythology, Chinese mythology, etc.)


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## Zofia (Jan 24, 2019)

R3PL4Y said:


> There is an opera on Paradise Lost by Penderecki. Not a specific topic, but I think it would be interesting to see more operas based on myths from other cultures than just our Western one (such as Native American mythology, Chinese mythology, etc.)


I am honest here I like Penderecki very much but I have never heard if it and seen it preformed anywhere. Thank you feels good to learn. =)


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

New opera libretto: Man starts a classical music forum and all the people on it get to sing arias and dance in cyberspace until he gets tired of it and finally shoots them all. It alternates between C major and C minor with a chorus of singing angels in the grand finale: :angel: :angel::angel: :angel: :angel: ....


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

_The Lord of the Rings_, with music by Wagner. Or Howard Shore.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

R3PL4Y said:


> There is an opera on Paradise Lost by Penderecki. Not a specific topic, but I think it would be interesting to see more operas based on myths from other cultures than just our Western one (such as Native American mythology, Chinese mythology, etc.)


Native American _is_ 'western' right? In any case it probably should come from the composers within the cultures. There has always been something a bit ... paternalistic when Western culture takes on other cultures. If there is no great opera on Chinese mythology (there is actually within traditional Chinese opera) then I'd leave it to the Chinese.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

The east European folk lore of *Krampus* deserves a bloodcurdling, horrifying opera - just the antidote for Christmastime sugary favorites Hansel & Gretel and The Nutcracker.


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## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

An opera based on the life of John Wayne Gacy: *'A Clown can get away with Murder'*

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

mbhaub said:


> The east European folk lore of *Krampus* deserves a bloodcurdling, horrifying opera - just the antidote for Christmastime sugary favorites Hansel & Gretel and The Nutcracker.


Theresa Is already such an opera - Čert a Káča.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

I can write an opera? Well … I'm on it, right away! Or as soon as I can find some manuscript paper. I'll probably need several dozen sheets, right?

I've long been interested in the story of 17th century Japanese dancer Okuni, credited with inventing Kabuki. I first heard references to her in my first theatre class as an undergraduate. That was the spark. Then I read Ariyoshi Sawako's novel _Izumo no Okuni _(1969; English translation _Kabuki Dancer_), an imagined biography of Okuni providing a look at 16th- and 17th-century Japanese culture. Sawako was a first class writer interested in women's social issues and she introduces some fine ideas in her book. But because so much is not known, a creative artist has a lot of leeway in plotting any story about Okuni, and that intrigues me as a writer.









Here's what Encylopaedia Britannica on-line says:

"Okuni, also called Izumo no Okuni, (flourished 17th century), Japanese dancer who is credited as being the founder of the Kabuki art form. Although many extant contemporary sources such as paintings, drawings, and diaries have shed light on Okuni's life, the accuracy of such primary sources has been difficult to establish. Very little is known about her life for certain."

I've long thought her story would make for a good musical, if not opera, and though I've actually composed one song for what was to be my own musical drama on the subject, that project never got off the ground. Sometimes things just don't work out or a "block" sets in. Maybe one of these days I'll get back to that project. (And to the other two dozen or so.) The story would work well as an opera-like ballet, I think. Anyhow, this reader of Greek tragedies, Dante and Milton, and fairy-tales and myths of all sorts has long been fond of a Japanese legend of a woman named Okuni, and that's the story I would tackle in an opera were I to write one.

Now, where did I put my blank manuscript paper? It must be under something around here....


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## Zofia (Jan 24, 2019)

SONNET CLV said:


> Sonnet CLV


I think you would like Shōwa Genroku Rakugo...


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Hugin & Munin could maybe be a topic for an opera. Odin's 2 ravens that fly out every morning and listen to the world of humans and gods, then come back and whisper what they have heard in his ear...or maybe not


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

mbhaub said:


> The east European folk lore of *Krampus* deserves a bloodcurdling, horrifying opera - just the antidote for Christmastime sugary favorites Hansel & Gretel and The Nutcracker.


Hansel and Gretel? Two juveniles burn an old lady to death at her home in the forest. "Sugary" indeed!


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

KenOC said:


> Hansel and Gretel? Two juveniles burn an old lady to death at her home in the forest. "Sugary" indeed!


And are initially abandoned in the woods to die from starvation.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

KenOC said:


> Hansel and Gretel? Two juveniles burn an old lady to death at her home in the forest. "Sugary" indeed!


It's that happy ending that always gets me...and some modern productions that eschew the evil witch - too sexist and intolerant.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Jacck said:


> Theresa Is already such an opera - Čert a Káča.


The Devil and Kate? Bloodcurdling horror to be sure, and evil characters galore, but no Krampus. Too bad it's in Czech - so hard for the rest of the world to put on. Dvorak at his best!


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Never mind this one, it's been done…


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

I will go with Tom Holt's _Expecting Someone Taller_...

Act 1, Scene 1...

_After a particularly unrewarding interview with his beloved, Malcolm was driving home along a dark, winding country lane when he ran over a badger. He stopped the car and got out to inspect the damage to his paintwork and (largely from curiosity) to the badger. It was, he decided, all he needed, for there was a small but noticeable dent in his wing, and he had been hoping to sell the car.
'Damn,' he said aloud.
'So how do you think I feel?' said the badger.
Malcolm felt rather embarrassed. His social equipment did not include formulae for talking to people he had just mortally wounded, or badgers, let alone a combination of the two. Nevertheless, he felt it incumbent upon him to say something, and his mind hit upon the word designed for unfamiliar situations.
'Sorry,' he said.
'You're sorry,' said the badger. 'The hell with you.'
'Anyway,' said the badger, 'what's your name?'
'Malcolm,' said Malcolm. 'Malcolm Fisher.'
'Say that again,' said the badger. 'Slowly.'
'Mal-colm Fi-sher.'
The badger was silent for a moment. 'Are you sure?' it said, sounding rather puzzled.
'Yes,' said Malcolm. 'Sorry.'
'Well, Malcolm Fisher, let's have a look at you.'
The badger twisted its head painfully round, and looked at him in silence for a while. 'You know,' it said at last, 'I was expecting someone rather taller.'
'Oh,' said Malcolm.
'Fair-haired, tall, muscular, athletic, without spectacles,' went on the badger. 'Younger, but also more mature, if you see what I mean. Someone with presence. Someone you'd notice if you walked into a room full of strangers. In fact, you're a bit of a disappointment.'
There was no answer to that, except Sorry again, and that would be a stupid thing to say. Nevertheless, it was irritating to have one's physical shortcomings pointed out quite so plainly twice in one evening, once by a beautiful girl and once by a dying badger. 'So what?' said Malcolm, uppishly.
'Don't let's play games,' said the badger. 'You've killed me, you needn't mess me around as well. Take the Ring and the Tarnhelm and **** off.'
'Come on,' said Malcolm, 'there's a casualty department in Taunton. We can get there in forty minutes.'
The Giant ignored him. 'Since you are totally ignorant of even basic theogony,' he said, 'I will explain. My name is Ingolf, and I am the last of the Frost-Giants of the Elder Age.'
'Pleased to meet you,' said Malcolm instinctively.
'Are you hell as like. I am the youngest brother of Fasolt and Fafner the castle-builders. Does that ring a bell? No?'
'No.'
'You didn't even see the opera?' said Ingolf despairingly.
'I'm afraid I'm not a great fan of opera,' said Malcolm, 'so it's unlikely.'_

Read the book if you want to know what happens next 

...or wait for the premier of my opera ... after I have a new opera house custom built to my specifications specifically to stage it.


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## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

I conceived an opera , and thought of it day after day and all about town . Street names became character names : there were intersections . And there came a day it was performed , and I don't know how . Seemed a miracle of voices . And I listened true . The scene had from it's origin had been the Wilderness of France , of a woman and the bones of her child . Surprisingly , the voices were all men in chorus and solo , and then it's finality was a silent faerie in flight . I'll remember this always . I perhaps do not compose according to my will , and super-reality is sufficient for ego .

I did or did not write an opera .

Music does not dictate reality , and this is peaceful .

The music as I recall it is stately , unadorned , certain and strong , of the mountains . Yes , I may write it . It may be just right for Sante Fe Opera commune scene when I arrive there in the spring . All seems simple at the moment . I do not need myth , nor such authority .


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

King Lear would be my first choice, followed by Dracula, Beowulf, and Snow White. I like those archetypes. I also think an opera about the Iliad from Briseis's point of view would be a good idea.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

When I was young, I conceived a desire to write an opera based on the then-popular diet book _Calories Don't Count_. It was to open with the male lead singing the title aria hanging upside-down by his knees from a swinging chandelier.

Fortunately, I didn't carry through with this. But I must have had an inkling of the value of the libretto, since the book is currently going for $198.99 and up, used.


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Becca said:


> I will go with Tom Holt's _Expecting Someone Taller_...
> 
> Act 1, Scene 1...
> 
> ...


Well, Holt's a great fan of opera (especially German). He does The Flying Dutchman in one book.

"Marco made an effort and marshalled his thoughts, which was a bit like trying to produce Die Frau Ohne Schatten with a cast of five-year-olds."


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

First I was going to say Mikhail Bulgakov's _Heart of a Dog_, but then I discovered it's already been done:






Someone should do another version, with better music and using a human in a dog suit rather than the puppet-thing in that clip.

Then I though of Dylan Thomas's play for voices, _Under Milk Wood_. Someone did this too! Here is the opening, which has really piqued my interest. The words are a lyric marvel:






An opera based on scenes from John Crowley's modern fairy tale, _Little, Big,_ could be interesting.

Fun thread - I found two operas I now need to listen to in full.


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

EdwardBast said:


> First I was going to say Mikhail Bulgakov's _Heart of a Dog_, but then I discovered it's already been done.


I wish Schnittke had done the opera. His music for the Master and Margarita (also by Bulgakov) is really great


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

Jacck said:


> I wish Schnittke had done the opera. His music for the Master and Margarita (also by Bulgakov) is really great


One of my favorite novels. I would have suggested it but I thought it impractical as an opera. Yes, Schnittke would have been perfect for Heart of a Dog.


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

EdwardBast said:


> One of my favorite novels. I would have suggested it but I thought it impractical as an opera. Yes, Schnittke would have been perfect for Heart of a Dog.


great novel, in my top10 for sure. According to wikipedia, 15 composers already attempted an opera
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Master_and_Margarita#Opera_and_musical_theatre


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## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

EdwardBast said:


> One of my favorite novels. I would have suggested it but I thought it impractical as an opera. Yes, Schnittke would have been perfect for Heart of a Dog.


It would make a great film, not sure about an opera.

'The Painted Bird' by Kosinski might make a good opera, but it would take a very talented composer.


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

I love science fiction, so I would like to set to music some great book of the genre (I would need an experienced libretist). Isaac Asimov's _The Gods Themselves_ would be perfect for an opera, I think: it has a timeless, significant subject (human greed vs human existance), it is quite original, it is not old and was not already used for any operas (not that I know), it has an structure proper for an opera (three parts - so, three acts). Also, it's Asimov's favorite science fiction novel, and it's title and development are based on a quote from none other than Friedrich Schiller, the author of the now famous _Ode to Joy_: "Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain."


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

I was just thinking about this yesterday, but if such a thing doesn't already exist, there needs to be an opera about the life of Dmitri Shostakovich. The guy was such a character and lived a storied life. And it should be called "Shostakovich!" because he had such an awesome name :lol: It could sample quotes from his music in the context of his life.

I know it's not fiction, but that needs to happen. Maybe I'm alone here, is this actually a stupid idea?


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

flamencosketches said:


> I was just thinking about this yesterday, but if such a thing doesn't already exist, there needs to be an opera about the life of Dmitri Shostakovich. The guy was such a character and lived a storied life. And it should be called "Shostakovich!" because he had such an awesome name :lol: It could sample quotes from his music in the context of his life.
> 
> *I know it's not fiction*, but that needs to happen. Maybe I'm alone here, is this actually a stupid idea?


Actually, that depends on which sources one used!

It might work if one based it on themes by Shostakovich.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

There's a short story by Roberto Bolano. I think it is called _Last Evenings of Earth_ (and that is also the name of the collection it is part of). It is a conventional enough story but slowly things begin to unwind in a crazy and violent way. You hardly reaslise it is happening except that _you feel _it (almost as with music) in the writing. If I could I would make it a short opera. Bolano was a poet and so much of his writing has you feeling things that he has barely told you.


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## Torkelburger (Jan 14, 2014)

As a composer and fan of fantasy, I would like to write a cycle of operas based on Lord Dunsany's _Five Plays._ Such as _The Golden Doom, The Gods of the Mountain, _ and _The Glittering Gate._ And as a fan of horror, H.P. Lovecraft's _The Case of Charles Dexter Ward_ might be fun.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Scenes (just scenes) from Moby Dick.


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