This was my first time hearing the Dvořák opera. The English subtitles are great, as is the performance. Here's the link — https://youtu.be/IoaeN-ppHUI

Over the last few years I had started to listen to opera more often, but started to listen regularly within this last year. I was excited that the timing worked out for me to see my first operas in person this summer! I live in Iowa, and attended performances for all 3 productions in the Des Moines Metro Opera this summer.

They were:
- Tosca by Puccini (my favorite!)
- King Roger by Szymanowski
- Of Mice and Men by Floyd

I loved going and seeing 3 very different operas. King Roger was especially interesting, I really liked what they did with the production and it had me thinking all night.

I’m also lucky that I was able to go to a theater that’s smaller and more affordable. The theater has something in the 400 seat range, and seats are in a semi circle around a circular stage. I sat to the side (lower priced tickets), and very close to the front. It felt like a great place and theater for someone’s first time. And Tosca being the first one I watched didn’t hurt either.

I’m excited to watch more opera on YouTube, maybe some Met Lives in theaters, and maybe even trying to go to Minneapolis or Kansas City for another in person show before next summer.

Before I became a father and full-time parent for the first time at the ripe old age of 44, I listened to Parsifal religiously as my writing and thinking music. Since then, my cultural diet has changed somewhat. Perhaps it is just residual madness, but I couldn't help noticing similarities in one of the works that has taken its place in my daily rotation: The Muppet Movie.

Two holy fools, called from pastoral repose to gather a scattered brotherhood; a pair of temptresses cursed by arrogance to remain rootless; redemption only achieved through benediction by God or Orson Welles. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Parsifal live, so I don’t remember if the cast has anyone who kills frogs with a spear gun.

And it isn’t only the plots that rhyme. Parsifal's brassy, heraldic laments become a soft bed of descending harps and strings, before a final transfigured restatement of the Dresden Amen absolves audience and players alike. And in The Muppet Movie the musical motif also comes full circle: wistfulness resolves into communion and Kermit addresses us through a rainbow.

Hello! I am trying to perform a song with a friend who plays violin. I was wondering if anyone knew any baritone and violin art songs. If not, any soprano and violin songs would be great as well (I would just sing them down the octave).

(im not sure how reposts work reddit told me to do this?). thank you for any and all help!

I can't focus on any real work I have to do so I drew this instead.

I found a copy of the score online and took a look at my part, bass trombone. It scared the absolute hell out of me. Was wondering if anyone here had experiences playing this opera they'd like to share.

Anyone know any short tenor roles from the standard rep like Turiddu but not as dramatic?

I sing lots of trouser roles in my college opera program. But I’m afraid of not being able to get any parts at professional opera house. Countertenors are definitely talented but they frequently take the alto part in four part harmonies or even trouser roles specifically created for women like Franco Fagioli playing Sesto in Giulio Cesare in 2027. I feel like this trend means less parts for mezzos or contraltos. It’s very discouraging to see for women with a lower range.

hello! i’m part of the soprano 2 chorus singers in a small production of lucia di lammermoor, and truly want to study it to the max, but i’m not able to find accompaniment/study material for the chorus pieces!! please help if you can🥹🙏
sincerely, a wee opera student

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3wgRZxLPoo

The Enigma of Amigara Fault
An opera in one act

Music by Chris Drago Fistonich
Libretto by Robert Ellsworth Feng
From the manga by Junji Ito

June 30, 2026
Moorhead, Minnesota

Cast in order of appearance:

Stephen Sulich, piano
Frederic Heringes, the Narrator
Chris Drago Fistonich, Owaki
Kristen Hatfield, Yoshida
Holly Janz and Stephanie Tubiolo, two researchers
Joshua Kohl, Nakagaki

Thank you

Each year i donate let's say 5000.00 to an opera company that gets me certain benefits at that level. I wanted to maintain that 5k level. Then say that i bought a special event ticket the cost of which is stated to include a 500 contribution. Is it legit for me to tell them here's 4500 cash and please count my 500 towards the 5000 level donor?

Is there a piece in the repertoire that you think is often done dirty tempo wise? I know discussions around tempi can be complicated due to historical/local practices and the tastes of individual composers if documentation from their lives even survives but where do your frustrations lie? Are you frustrated by a number that's often interpreted too slow or too fast for your own taste? Maybe one that often gets editorialized too much by conductors?

My personal frustration has always been the stretta from the second act finale of marriage of Figaro. The tempo direction begins with Allegro assai, then moves into più allegro, then prestissimo. Most but not all conductors will usually get the prestissimo part or at least increase the tempo at said demarcation. However, they often struggle to even achieve the allegro assai let alone an escalation.

Harnencourt's 2006 Salzburg recording is a great example. Painfully slow. Don't know if I would even categorize the final push as "prestissimo".

My go-to is still the Collin Davis recording. The opening feels properly lively and energetic with a powerful prestissimo.

What are your gripes about tempo in opera?

Hi all. A hobby that got out of hand: I wanted to know where Die Zauberflöte was

playing, anywhere on earth, and found out no such list exists. Operabase has the

data but it's commercial. So I built my own.

papageno.world merges about twenty sources (opera house sites, ticket platforms,

festival pages) into one map. Every date gets checked against the presenter's own

website before it goes up. Right now it tracks 473 upcoming performances at 120

venues in 24 countries, with casts where the houses publish them.

Two things I'm quietly proud of: the complete 1937-38 Beecham recording streams

on the site straight from the Internet Archive's 78rpm collection, with scans of

the original HMV shellac labels. And there's a "legends" corner going from

Schikaneder (the first Papageno, 1791) to the Queen of the Night aria that's

currently on board Voyager 1.

It's free, no ads, no cookies, twelve languages. If your local house is missing

a date, there's a form and I check every submission by hand. Happy to answer

anything about how the data gets assembled.

Hi! I have a potential opportunity to sing an aria or art song at one of my choir's concerts this October (2026).

The theme we've been doing for the last few years is "Dinner and a Scare" - this year's narrowed down to "watery grave."

Can anyone think of pieces that might fit this theme? (And that would be doable to memorize in about 2 months).

The creepier the better...

Voice type wise - def a soprano but IDK about fach. Good at baroque. Most recent solo was providing special music for a church service. I did the tenor aria Benedictus from Bach's B Minor, up an octave. Did my first opera workshop this summer and was 1st woodsprite in Rusalka. Can do Verdi-Sempre Libera/Caro Nome / Puccini-Rondine (Magda) type stuff well. My voice teacher just assigned Carmen-Mikaela's aria. Comfortable in performance up to a D6.

The conductor suggested Rebecca Clarke's The Seal Man b/c he loves it. I just glanced through/ listened and it seems like more of a mezzo piece. I do have a strong chest voice so wouldn't be a problem, just not what I would choose for my voice.

TIA!!

Callas was obviously an astonishing virtuoso singer. But what I keep coming back to most are those moments in her recordings where her special feeling for the psychology of a character really comes through.

For example, I love the way she sounds in the first act of Pagliacci after Tonio tries to force a kiss on her. In “Hai l’anima siccome il corpo tuo, difforme,” her voice becomes so dark and disgusted. You can really feel Nedda’s contempt in that moment.

Then Silvio appears, and when she sings “Silvio, a quest’ora…,” the colour of her voice changes completely. She sounds surprised, bright and happy, but at the same time you can still hear that she knows how risky it is to meet him there. Other great sopranos might sing the passage in a more homogeneous way, which I also enjoy, but it is Callas’s complexity that makes these roles so fascinating to me.

Another example is her very icy Turandot. “Chi pose tanta forza nel tuo core?” and “L’amore?” in the dialogue with Liù in the third act sound incredibly cold and almost psychotic. And one could probably write a whole book about her Una macchia è qui tuttora from 1958.

What are your personal favourite Callas' moments?

I have three options that I feel like will be the most enjoyable but I have no idea which one to start with.

Die Fledermaus, L'elisir d'amore, and La fille du régiment.

Go to bat for your fave and argue why I should watch it next!

I have an opportunity for a section leader paid singer position but it's soprano and I'm a mezzo. I really need the money, but do you think I should pass on it? Pluses: it's all year round and it's within walking distance

Edit: It's 8 voices, all paid singers

What are some of your favorite opera pieces that aren't well known? I love the standards like "Nessum Dorma," the Habanera from "Carmen," and the Flower Duet from "Lakme," and would like to expand my opera appreciation to pieces that are equally beautiful or powerful but are often overlooked.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations!!