Opera, Opera, and more Opera!

It was fun to really start dissecting and looking at some operas in class. I can admit I've NEVER seen an opera (How uncultured of me.) They were just never my cup of tea...or so I thought! I think the stories behind the operas themselves, and how politically charged they are, is absolutely fascinating.

I do appreciate that the Deus Ex Machina (practicing how to pronounce it so I don't sound like a fool anymore) was phased out. I like the drama of the operas, so why get rid of that with a lame save? I think the drama and the tragedy is what makes the opera so unique. 

I believe I'm preferring the more romanticized operas overall. Wagner's music is break taking (despite the fact that he's a big ol' racist...) and the music for Madame Butterfly still stuns me.

I think the appropriation of opera into modern TV, Film, and even commercials (both musically and story telling) is an exciting study. I think it seeps in more than we realize, and has infiltrated our culture. I recently watched Melancholia (the most depressing movie I think I've ever seen) and they use one song throughout. I loved the song, and didn't realize until recently it was the Prelude from Wagners Tristan and Isolde.

Excited to start my paper soon, now that I feel like I have an understanding on opera and won't sound like an idiot.

The Diva!

Talk about a modern interrpration! Nothin' like an alien woman singing Avia in a rad scifi film to moderinize Opera. This movie is incredible. This scene is incredible. The song itself is so heartbreaking and magical, and then it's turned into an ass-kicking jam. I don't think many versions of Opera songs can be described as "ass-kicking jams."