"Bad acting, but good singing."

  I think that quite aptly describes opera. :P

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote:
> "Bad acting, but good singing."
>
>   I think that quite aptly describes opera. :P

never really digged Opera, except for a few arias and orchestral passages.  I
feel very much the same as when watching some of the old Hollywood musicals:
actors suddenly stopping what they are doing and beggining to sing and dance
out of nowhere give me the creeps... it's out of context but are very enjoyable
out of the context of the work itself... :)

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nemesis wrote:
> never really digged Opera, except for a few arias and orchestral passages.  I
> feel very much the same as when watching some of the old Hollywood musicals:
> actors suddenly stopping what they are doing and beggining to sing and dance
> out of nowhere give me the creeps... it's out of context but are very enjoyable
> out of the context of the work itself... :)

Oddly I don't like musicals for exactly this reason.  I suppose maybe I 
like opera because I seems more in context to me since they never really 
stop singing.  Perhaps I just like the music more though.

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I love opera, and I still have to agree with this.  I think some operas 
probably lend themselves a bit more to good (or less-bad) acting than 
others though.


Warp wrote:
>   "Bad acting, but good singing."
> 
>   I think that quite aptly describes opera. :P
>

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"Warp" <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote in message 
news:472be699@news.povray.org...
>  "Bad acting, but good singing."
>
>  I think that quite aptly describes opera. :P
>

I was never able to enjoy opera, though I did give it a go.

I don't understand Italian or German, and they don't translate to English 
well.  So if I haven't read up on the story first, it's just a wash of 
sound.

"Recitative" style leaves me cold.  Why not just speak the words if you're 
already using ordinary prose for the language and seemingly-random notes to 
deliver them?

There is a popular (and I think egotistical) deliberate habit among some 
bel-canto (spelling?) singers to sing only "pure" sounds.  They'll sing only 
open vowels, seeking-and-destroying all consonants, and all intelligibility 
with them.  The only way to know what they're singing is to already know the 
opera before turning up.  I actually believed something was wrong with MY 
ears when I'd heard quite a few opera sung that way.  I was prepared to hear 
a foreign language and not understand it.  But I strained my ears and all I 
heard for the entire performance was "ooooooo-eeeeeeee-aaaaaaaa-awwwwww". 
Then I perchance heard a radio interview with an opera singer, and she 
explained it all.  It comes from an attitude that stooping to singing dirty 
consonants prevents them from showing off with their wonderful voices.  I 
don't like it when a theatre-person decides they are more important than the 
language, their role, the show, the rest of the cast, the original writer, 
and not least: the audience.

Because of the particular vocal exercise used to deepen and strengthen their 
vocal power, the majority of males all sound identical to me.  If I close my 
eyes, it could well be just one man on stage singing all the male roles.

The women's voices -- aargh sorry, but the head-piercing character of many 
literally make me so ill with severe headaches, that within a half-hour of 
starting, I have had to leave to go lie down.


Just my personal experience.  I'm not declaring opera to be rubbish, nor 
denigrating anyone's taste, who finds real pleasure in it -- as many do. 
I'm just not built for Opera, is all.

-- 
Brian

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nemesis wrote:
> Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote:
>> "Bad acting, but good singing."
>>
>>   I think that quite aptly describes opera. :P

Add to that, "and funny facial expressions." Or does that go with bad 
acting?

I fear that if I were to attend an Opera recital in person, my ability 
to stifle my own laughter would indeed be compromised by my running for 
the door. Don't get me wrong; I think Opera singers have wonderful 
voices and I do enjoy Opera music from time-to-time. The facial 
expressions, however, are quite comical!

> never really digged Opera, except for a few arias and orchestral passages.  I
> feel very much the same as when watching some of the old Hollywood musicals:
> actors suddenly stopping what they are doing and beggining to sing and dance
> out of nowhere give me the creeps... it's out of context but are very enjoyable
> out of the context of the work itself... :)

I do that occasionally..... Break out in song. It's never a serious 
event, and usually involves a bastardized version of another song. A 
recent one, for instance, was a take on "Small Town" by John Mellencamp. 
  "Well I live in a small house, can barely fit in my small house, my 
only friend is a small mouse, but that's good enough for meee"

Okay, so I'm strange....

Sam

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Warp wrote:
>   "Bad acting, but good singing."
> 
>   I think that quite aptly describes opera. :P
> 
I think it is a somewhat outdated remark. I wouldn't be surprised if 
that quote is at least 20 years old. From a time where there was a good 
change that the leading female role was sung by the canonical fat lady. 
I am a regular at the opera and in my experience nowadays the acting is 
just as important as the singing. Not only for the production but also 
for the audience (not necessary in that order). If you are not able to 
perform a convincing role either because you can not act or because you 
are 50 kilos too heavy or 20 years to old to play a young lover, you 
have a problem.
I have experienced that an actor was booed at because he was totally 
unconvincing as a Siegmund (Walkure, Richard Wagner), and that is a real 
rarity for an european opera audience. At another occasion we had a slim 
young girl singing the part of brunhilde in another Walkure. Then in the 
Siegfried (the 3rd part of Wagner's ring cycle, Walkure is the second) 
we were to have a famous opera diva of the old style as brunhilde. 
Before the start of the opera they announced that she could not come 
because she was ill (again? you could here many people think) and that 
at such short notice it was hard to find a replacement, but that 
although the role is somewhat too heavy for a young singer the brunhilde 
from the Walkure would be our brunhilde for this night too. This 
resulted in a big round of applause, expressing that we had every 
confidence that she could do it (she did) and that we are sick and tired 
of that Diva attitude.
As you may recall (probably not ;) ) one of my cousins is an opera 
singer. I have seen him at several performances and I can only say that 
he not only has a fantastic voice, he is a good actor too. But I might 
be a little biased.
So to summarize: I disagree.

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andrel <a_l### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:
> Warp wrote:
> >   "Bad acting, but good singing."
> > 
> >   I think that quite aptly describes opera. :P
> > 
> I think it is a somewhat outdated remark.

  It was humor. Don't take it too seriously.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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Warp wrote:
> andrel <a_l### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:
>> Warp wrote:
>>>   "Bad acting, but good singing."
>>>
>>>   I think that quite aptly describes opera. :P
>>>
>> I think it is a somewhat outdated remark.
> 
>   It was humor. Don't take it too seriously.
> 
Might be, but still a common misconception.

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On Fri, 02 Nov 2007 21:08:05 -0700, Kevin Wampler wrote:

> I love opera, and I still have to agree with this.  I think some operas
> probably lend themselves a bit more to good (or less-bad) acting than
> others though.

Agreed. :-)

They also tend to require the use of a fair bit of imagination; I like 
Wagner's Ring cycle, but the versions I've seen performed it was clear, 
for example, that Fafner was just a few people manipulating a big puppet.

It would be cool, I think, if someone adapted some of the classic operas 
to film format - there are some pretty good (and some pretty awful) 
stories.

Jim

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