# How much do you prepare for going out to see an opera?



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Last night we saw English Touring Opera's production of Rameau's Dardanus at Snape.

Taggart found an on-line sound-only version and popped it on to his Facebook page. We never opened it. We did listen to a cd of it that we have in a 'boxed set' of baroque, but not all the way through. To tell the truth, without the story and characterisation and staging, it wasn't riveting.

However, Taggart did research the history of the opera and its plot and was a useful source for me to ask questions of, as I didn't even do that.

Still, we had a great time - though who knows whether the experience would have been better if we had done our research and got to know the music properly before we went.

How much do you prepare for going out to an opera?

If it's one you aren't familiar with, do you not only read up on its plot and history, but try to get to know the music, either from online services or by buying a cd?

If it's one you do know well, do you look up the singers in advance and listen to them so that you can critique their performance on the night?

Or do you think that it's best to keep the whole experience as fresh as possible by *not* preparing?

We hardly ever do go out to see operas so I'm very interested in any replies, if any, and thank you in advance for them. :tiphat:


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

I like to know the opera to the extent that I've read a plot synopsis and know the characters names and what happens. If I'm familiar with the music, all the better. But with surtitles nowadays, I'm not worried about not being able to follow the words or action. I'm not a big enough afficianado to be able to judge a difference between top flight singers. I'm more interested in the music, and how it directs or comments on the action.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

I tend to prepare a lot.

I'm seeing _Manon_ tonight. It's an opera I had heard before, and seen on DVD, but it had been a while. I listened to several different recordings of the complete opera over the last month or so. I collected performances of some of the famous (and not-so famous) arias and compared the different versions. I watched a performance on YouTube (while doing other things) as well. I found the program online and read through the synopsis in there, along with one of the short articles on the piece.

I planned to listen to my favorite arias again yesterday, but I didn't get a chance. (I as a rule don't listen to music I'm going to hear live on the day I'm going to hear it). I plan to read the synopsis again, paying attention to where the breaks are (SFO is performing this opera with two intermissions, one after act 2, the other after act 3).

Of course I don't always follow through that much. I'm seeing _Dido and Aeneas_ and _Actéon_ (Charpentier) next week and I have not done nearly as much. Though I know the former well, and have listened to the latter a couple times. I really can't recall anything about the opera, though! I will have to review.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Very rarely do I go and see something I'm not familiar with. If it's a new one I really only read the synopsis in the programme. If I like it I'll look for an available recording.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

My first live opera since the 1980s was Ariodante last april. In preparation I listened to it on CD a couple of times and of course read the synopsis. It was a new work to me than so I actually bought the CD set specifically because i was going to see it. Next April is Monteverdi's L'orfeo in concert and I do have a couple sets of that already, but again my prep will be to listen to the CDs a couple times, read the synopsis again, and perhaps watch a DVD.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

After many years of being a fan, I'm usually quite familiar with most of the usual repertoire. So I don't invest a lot of time in preparation. For instance, the next opera to be performed at Teatro Real is "Carmen", I will attend a couple of performances, and I don't plan to prepare anything.

However, I will also attend on Monday, a concert version of "La Favorite", and in this case I have reviewed the French libretto and the score, as well as listening to a couple of records.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

I will sometimes do extra prep even if it is an opera I know well. I lost track of how many _Elektra_'s I listened to, and I watched several productions as well. I also read the libretto, switching back and forth between English and German (I'm learning).

And seeing the Ring next year inspired me to listen to as many complete cycles as I could this year; I started my 23rd yesterday. I've also been reading the libretto and various commentaries.

I find the Naxos Opera Explained series to be quite helpful for understanding an opera and how it works; Spotify has many of them available. I recently listened to the one for _Falstaff_, as part of prep for seeing that opera for the first time March. I will proceed much the same as I did with _Manon_ above, except that I plan to set down and watch video of it, since that is not something I have done before.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

I have never yet seen an opera that I would not know beforehand - yes, that's because I only do Wagner opera. What I do is get to know about the cast a little and familiarize myself with the staging (find pictures etc). This way there will be no unpleasant surprises coming from that direction.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

I almost always prepare for a first time opera and take pleasure in doing so, but these days I'm pretty familiar with, let's say, the top 100 operas. However I sometimes go with friends who expect me to give an entertaining synopsis on the opera while we're having drinks beforehand, so I take a refresher on some of the finer points.

Operas I've seen in the past year, all of which were available at least listen to on YT, and in every case I enjoyed because of acquired familiarity with the music and story:

Bellini - La Straniera
Alfano - Sakuntala
Donizetti - Linda di Chamounix
Martinu - Juliette, Greek Passion
Martin - Le Vin Herbe


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

It depends on what the opera is. If it's one that I don't know well, or am only familiar with the music then I NEVER read the libretto or a synopsis beforehand (at least that way if I don't like the music or the performance is lacklustre I can sit on the edge of my seat and enjoy following the story).

If I prepare it will tend to be for an opera that I already know, but want to discover more detail. When going to see Wagner in Bayreuth I will prepare as there are no surtitles (that might be reading the libretto a week before the performance so that I can follow it more easily without a translation). When I went to see the Ring there this summer, I spent a lot of time researching the leitmotives and it was fascinating to see that the music tells the story (if you know the basic outline of the plot and a moderate smattering of German) almost better than the libretto.

Last weekend I went to see the original version of Don Carlos in French and I listened to the various different versions of the score in order to keep track of just which bits they were performing.

N.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

If it is new opera to me I like to read as much as possible, try to find small clips and then dive in. If I am going to see the Met HD I always listen to a recording from the opera ( how familiar they might be in the week before hand).


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## Annied (Apr 27, 2017)

I'm one of those people who has to listen to music several times before it makes any sense. On first hearing, it's just a jumble of disembodied notes and it takes several attempts before it begins to come together in my head and I can decide if I like it. There are some singers who make it all much easier for me, which is why I'm such a fan of Carreras, Calleja and Chernov, others who make it all but impossible, so I pick my recordings with care. (It was my misfortune that Carreras recordings often featured a baritone who had the knack of making everything he sang sound tuneless to my admittedly warped ear.)

There would be absolutely no point in me going to an opera if it was one I'd never heard before. I definitely do my homework inasmuch as I make sure I'm very familiar with the music before I buy any tickets.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

If I don't know the plot I will grab my Kobbe's and become familiar with it.
I will also seek out a CD so that I can become familiar with the score.

Assuming that I am already familiar with the above, (which, at this stage of my life is much more likely), I simply choose the majority of my operas based on the singer(s) involved rather than the story -- becoming mostly enraptured by fine singing and conducting than I am with the plot, which, by now, I know pretty much by heart.

However, one of your questions puzzles me a wee bit: "do you look up the singers in advance and listen to them so that you can critique their performance on the night?"
Yes I do look up the singers, but I do not do it because I want to critique their performance on a given night. For all I know the magnificent voice of Michael Fabiano could sound like a croak if he is somewhat indisposed. I've seen it happen plenty of times, from Domingo to Villazon, to Antonenko just a week or so ago in Turandot.
I am really not there so much to "judge" the voice as I am to enjoy the beauty of it's sound by the maker. Therefore, my choice is singer and orchestration first, plot second.

So to answer your question: I normally do relatively little in the way of preparation for an opera. I mostly let the experience simply flow through me with all its possible surprises.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> If I don't know the plot I will grab my Kobbe's and become familiar with it.
> I will also seek out a CD so that I can become familiar with the score.
> 
> Assuming that I am already familiar with the above, (which, at this stage of my life is much more likely), I simply choose the majority of my operas based on the singer(s) involved rather than the story -- becoming mostly enraptured by fine singing and conducting than I am with the plot, which, by now, I know pretty much by heart.
> ...


Ah, sorry... 
I am not really much of an opera-goer myself, and had seen all sorts of threads on TC where true opera buffs discuss the precise quality of someone's voice at every stage of someone's career, so I thought it might be a good question. But yes, it was a silly thing to say.

A few years ago I went to hear Emma Kirkby singing in our local cathedral, and was a bit disappointed, having listened to lots of recordings of her when she was younger. So a silly thing to *do*, too!

Thanks to everyone for the replies so far. :tiphat:


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Ingelou:
It is not at all a silly question. I think it is simply the way you happened to put it: "so that you can critique their performance on the night?" -- making it look like that's the only real reason one should want to go to the performance.

Are you kidding me?? You are looking at the worst, most obnoxious critic you can imagine. I can sit there and, with just the first two notes, say "uh oh!" I have been taken to task sometimes for being such a mean snob!

It's just that your sentence, as written, seemed to indicate that that was the only reason to look up who the singers were.

I love fine singers and prefer to go when they are scheduled. If they have a bad day, well. it happens.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

This reminds me that I should perhaps do some research on the singers beforehand if I haven't come across them previously.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

It's a good idea to look at a plot synopsis if you don't know the opera. Apart from that I just sit back and enjoy!


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