IS OPERA STILL RELEVANT IN 2020？？ ｜｜ There's more to it than you think...
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Summary
In this episode, I talk about why opera is still relevant in 2020, and why you should definitely give it a chance, even in 2020. I give you some tips and tricks on how to get into the swing of it, and how to make the most of it.
Transcript
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Hello, beautiful ladies, and welcome to today's video where we're going to be
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talking about why opera is still relevant in 2020.
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So I know that opera is really something that I think most people think is out of their realm
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and just isn't relevant to them in today's day and age. Most people haven't
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listened to classical music at all, so why would opera be relevant to them? And I
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know that it's so different that so many people think it's kind of silly sounding
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and they pretty much only associate it with Bugs Bunny and that kind of thing.
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Well, I'm here to tell you why you should definitely give opera a chance, even in 2020.
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I want to preface everything I'm about to say with one thing, and that is that opera was never
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meant to simply be listened to. People listen to opera on the radio and they think that that's
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really all opera is, but opera was always meant to be performed on the stage, so seeing it is so
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much more important than just listening to it. There's a whole other aspect of opera than just
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the music. There's plot, there's staging, there's costumes, and if you're not actually giving yourself
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the chance to experience opera in its entirety, then you're not really giving yourself the opportunity
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to love opera. Listening to opera is great, but if you have the opportunity to rent a performance
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or see Met in HD or go to a performance in person, that's what you should be doing because that's
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always how opera was meant to be enjoyed. So reason number one that opera is still relevant today
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is that opera has the most glorious music. I know it's really hard to get used to if you're someone
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who's never listened to opera before at all, but let me give you a little trick for how you may be
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able to kind of ease your way into it. Parotti is one of the greatest opera singers of all time,
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and if you listen to his rendition of Ness and Dorma, I'm pretty sure you'll understand
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why opera is so beautiful. But before you just go straight in and listen to it, first look up the
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lyrics and see the translation, look up the context for why it's being sung, and then listen to it.
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And after listening to it with the lyrics in front of you translated, try just listening to it with
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your eyes closed. This is a trick my dad did on my mom when they were young, and I think it's a really
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smart one, because the music itself has so much meaning, but if you don't give it a chance to
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actually tell you what's happening in the story, it may not give you the same amount of meaning as
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you would expect. So going through those steps will really make all the difference. But there are a
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few reasons that opera is so intense. So the first is that operatic singing is done without a microphone,
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and actually singing through a microphone can be difficult to do as an opera singer, because
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you are used to creating so much sound and using something called formants, which are certain
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registers and things like that to help your voice carry in large halls. So we actually sing in these
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giant houses over an orchestra with no amplification. And getting an opportunity to just hear a voice
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without any kind of electronic barrier between you, meaning you're hearing them through a speaker
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or whatever it is, is a really raw experience. And opera gives you that opportunity. As well, opera
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is done with a full orchestra. Now full orchestra means something different for every composer, because
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a composer like Mozart had a much smaller orchestra as compared to Wagner. Wagner's was enormous. But in any
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case, you're getting to hear a full orchestra with a singer, and that is just glorious. Getting to experience
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opera is really fascinating as well. Because the reason that opera takes a little bit longer, I've
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always thought, is that it gives you time to experience an emotional turn of events at the same
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time that the character is. Because it's not happening super quickly, and you just have to kind of follow
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along as the character changes. Rather, you're in the character's head with them a lot of the time. And that
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is so cool. So you're getting to see them go through an emotional shift and hear them going through that
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emotional shift. You get to experience it too. So going to the opera is an incredible experience
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just for the musical aspect alone. Getting used to the way that opera singers sing might take you a couple
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of times. But really, what you have to remember is that the way that we sing allows us to be heard
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without any microphones. So that's why we sound the way that we do. Also, when you hear the kind of acrobatic
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feats of the voice, and also just the beautiful length of notes that we sing, that kind of stuff
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can end up being really impressive. So if you sort of look at opera at the beginning when you're just
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getting used to it, if you sort of look at opera like an Olympic feat, and then you can kind of
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develop your love for the singing in and of itself, that might be the way to do it. Because opera kind of
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is a feat if you think about it. We're singing for a very long time without any microphones, and over this
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enormous orchestra. So getting to hear that, think of it as an Olympic competition, maybe the first
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couple of times, and then you'll end up being able to appreciate it on its own. The second reason that
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opera is still relevant in 2020 is the stories. Now of course there are some stories that are outdated,
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that don't really work, that may not take some great stances in our political climate, but a vast
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majority of opera stories are actually really, really relevant. And you can know that because a
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bunch of musicals are actually based on the same stories that operas are written about. So you know
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it's not just something crazy and out of left field. But most of the stories in opera really revolve around
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human interactions and emotions and things that we go through today that they went through 300 years
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ago. Love triangles. Wanting to marry someone and your parents not approving. Loving someone who
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might not be right for you. Shakespeare stories. I mean everything across the gamut has been covered
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by opera. If there is a story that you love, it may have already been made into an opera.
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And there are also fairy tales. There are things that are appropriate for children. There are things
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that are appropriate for adults. There are so many different options of stories, and I'm sure you can find
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one that will appeal to you. And they all have this dramatic passion that you know people are already
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longing for if you think about soap operas or any drama that you see on stage or in movies. And there's
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just so much there that you will be able to dig through as a viewer. Number three is the experience.
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Going to the opera is so cool. You get to dress up if you want to. You get to see a lot of other people
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dressed up. You get to see live theater. And the sets and the clothing are usually so beautiful to
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look at. It's an experience that you won't get anywhere else. It's so in a way elevated, but it's
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really welcome to anybody. So I don't mean it in the way that only people who are fancier can go,
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but more in the sense of you get this experience that's just so unique. And it's so worth doing.
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So I mean one of the things that I think is great about the opera is that we have intermissions.
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So the first half, you get to sit and just watch. And then you have a break. And during that break,
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this is a great time to go on a date. You experience the first half. And then during the intermission,
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you and your partner can just go out and talk about it. Then you sit through the second half.
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And then afterwards, you get a drink. I mean, it's the perfect evening. Plus, you have an excuse
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to put on a gown. Who doesn't want that? And just to answer any questions about why opera and not
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musical theater and why opera and not a play. First of all, opera is an experience that is
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entirely different from any other. So it wouldn't replace either one. Musical theater is really fun.
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And I love it. It's just much more modern. And I don't think that it explores emotions in the same
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way. It does explore emotions. Don't get me wrong. But it's a little bit more surface level sometimes,
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depending on the show. And with opera, you have a sung through performance where people are literally
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throwing their voice on the stage. It's just a different experience. Plus, like I said,
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that raw emotional connection when somebody doesn't have a microphone on, you'll only get in an opera
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house. Plus, in musical theater, you're not getting a full orchestra. And you do definitely get that
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in an opera. And the stories are just very different. The stories in opera have really heightened emotions,
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whereas in musical theater, I think it's more similar to what we experience
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in our day-to-day lives. The reason that opera has so much more of a heightened, dramatic,
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emotional experience is because seeing someone else experience the height of their emotions on stage,
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I think, breaks the barrier between you and the performer and allows you to go through your own
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experience as well while they are going through theirs. It reminds you of your own because watching
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someone else go through it and to that level of really feeling how they're feeling, it kind of
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breaks down that wall for you. Now, why is opera different than a play? There's something so special
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about having music and the story tied together. Music, I think, amplifies everything that happens in a
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play. I love straight theater, so that is not to put straight theater down at all. I just think it's worth
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doing all three. Plays have a place, musicals have a place, and opera has a place. And you should be
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able to enjoy all of them, but don't replace any of them with the other. Have you ever been to an
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opera? If you have, what was one that you absolutely loved? And if you've listened to an opera but not
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seen one, would you agree that it wasn't necessarily the best experience and that you would like to go see
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one instead? Let me know in the comments below. Thank you guys so much for watching today's video.
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Please subscribe to my channel and vlog if you haven't already. Head over to my Twitter,
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Instagram, and Facebook, and follow me there, and I'll see you guys in my next video. Bye!