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Carmen entices Don José to a life of crime... [Adria Firestone, Richard Leech]
"Some say that the best part of an opera is the anticipation. House lights. Orchestra. Curtain up onto a world of wonder."

- Pam Brown
 

 

From its beginnings more than 400 years ago to today, opera has fascinated, infuriated, delighted.

It's been misunderstood, censored, banned, incited riots, even won a nation its freedom.

This complex art form - a collaboration among artists culminating in an unforgettable musical, dramatic, and visual impact - has produced artistic experiences that have the power to move the human heart and soul as nothing else.

 
Opera has lasted for all these centuries because it adapts, it changes, it thrives. It's a strange combination of an old art form and a new one, all at the same time. One thing for sure... it's not your grandpa's opera company anymore!
"Opera is about life and everything that entails - love, hate and passion."

- Lesley Garrett

 

10 WAYS TO FALL IN LOVE WITH OPERA!

THE LIST
10 Decide.

Take a deep breath - make the decision to go.
9 Choose.

Select your first opera carefully... Puccini yes! Wagner no!
8 Involve.

Tell a friend. More the merrier - join a group.
7 Investigate.

Read about the history of opera (it's wilder than you think) and the background of the time in which the opera was written - it makes a difference.
6 Read.

Tons of information available about the story behind the story - dip into some of it.
5 Listen.

Borrow a recording, or buy a used one. Listen to it and   follow along with the libretto so you know what they're saying and doing.
4 Watch.

Rent a video - what you see will not be the same as in the theatre. That's okay. That's the delight of it.
3 Attend.

All opera companies have educational and outreach programs - pre-performance lectures, recommendations for reading, information enhancement. Take advantage of them.
2 Trust.

Go to the theatre with an open mind, a willingness to believe, and a desire to be enchanted.
1 Just go!

 

 

 

"One in fifty of those who attend our operas likes it already, perhaps, but I think a good many of the other forty-nine go in order to learn to like it, and the rest in order to be able to talk knowingly about it. The latter usually hum the airs while they are being sung, so that their neighbors may perceive that they have been to operas before.

"The funerals of these do not occur often enough."

- Mark Twain

 

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EXPLORE MORE
"This is the ideal book for everyone who loves opera."

The Art of Making Opera - cover

"... a distinguished book with heart."

THE ART OF MAKING OPERA

Your invitation backstage to learn more about how opera - and art - is really made. This award-winning book is available on this website.

Find out what's inside. The OperaWest critic says:

"Hart's observations about what goes on backstage, frontstage and all around the theatre are - I can only say - truly revelatory. This is one of the best books I've ever read on the creation of opera."

 
Opera Basics - An Introduction
The Opera Project - What's It All About?
The Art of Making Opera - Inside the Book
See what people are saying about the book

Principal Singers & Singing
Invitation to the Rehearsal Hall

WORDS & MUSIC SHOP
recommended recordings and Artist Profiles of many favorite singers

INDIVIDUAL OPERAS IN PHOTOGRAPHS... AND MORE
 
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ML Hart's current opera project is "The Tenor Book" . . .

World-class tenors featured in photographs and in-depth interviews. Additional comments from dozens of conductors, directors, sopranos, baritones, teachers, writers, and yes... more tenors, all of them trying to explain just what the mystique is about.

Visit the work-in-progress pages - photographs and excerpts from the interviews reveal the most thrilling sound on stage.

PASSION & GLORY AT THE OPERA - The Tenor Book

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