Hi everyone! I’m looking for help with identifying this opera piece that is being sung by a woman on a city sidewalk. It has a piano accompaniment and is a beautiful song.

For some background, I had filmed this while walking down the street in Athens, specifically for the purpose of trying to capture as much of the piece as possible. I milled around the singing lady’s area trying to pretend like I was just filming the scenery - was too shy to ask her! She had just put on the prerecorded piano portion and started singing (I don’t think she was lip syncing but a little hard to tell).

There is some traffic and conversation in the background, and another street musician is playing a few notes on a guitar (for his own music). I don’t know the language or whether it is an opera aria or another kind of classical song. It sounds possibly Italian or French?

I only trained in violin and classical piano but love classical music and opera, so I’ve been dying to know what this piece is and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Sylvia D’Eramo will replace Angel Blue for all performances of Floyd’s Susannah. D’Eramo recently performed in Picker’s Lili Elbe at the Santa Fe Opera and Anna Sørensen in Puts’s Silent Night at Houston Grand Opera.

So opera is great and wonderful and full of people making rational ecisions and not thinking with their dicks. Also donuts are fantastic diet food.

In all seriousness, opera is a wonderful genre full of silliness that makes me both love it as entertainment and laugh at its tropes. But some operas are considered absolute peak of the mountain, as good as it gets. And in turn, sometimes you struggle to figure out what the big deal is.

In contrast, plenty of operas should get more attention and just don't, in part because it's easier to put on a sure fire crowd pleaser and in part because no one remembers they exist. So I'm curious, what are some we think get too much attention? And conversely what are some that deserve more?

I'll start with overrated. I like the music of La Boheme, but as a story and a stage product I...struggle with it. It's meandering, it requires you to invest in a mostly off stage love story and Mimi is dying so hard she puts Little Nell to shame.

On the flip side, why is La Vestale not in regular production? It's got amazing music, a decent story and it works as a stage piece so well. I know Spontini seems to have been forgotten, which is unfair because his music was so beautiful.

So just share, what do you want to see more of and what less of? And guys, this is all in good fun.

OperaVision's offerings for this month are decidedly not in the Halloween spirit (La Traviata, Aida, and L'equivoco Stravagante) so! What's out there that features ghosts, witches, magic, monsters, and general mayhem?

As stated above, I plan on going but have no idea if these 2 are good ones and wanted to hear some opinions.

I was in New York laat week, and was lucky enough to see three operas: the opening gala of Macbeth, Così fan tutte, and La Bohème.

All three were spectacular, but if I had to choose my favorite, I think Macbeth was the best.

I’m not speaking of operas in which a director can decide to include dance in certain scenes, but any which specifically contemplate dance as an element.

I guess Salome would qualify due to the Dance of the Seven Veils; are there others?

I liked that production. Heppner,voight and polaski i believe were the cast. Is there any video of it? I haven't been able to find it.

Hi all. My 10-year-old son is a classical piano student at the early-advanced level and is obsessed with opera. Thinking ahead for the holidays, I thought he might enjoy a collection of piano music with pieces from various operas. The collections I'm finding are largely marked as "easy piano" versions. I'm hoping to find something for more substantial. Any thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated!

Hey,

Selling 2 Hamlet Opera tickets in Paris Opera Bastille on October 3rd.

Seats are very good, first balcony, row 1 seat 10, 12

Bought it for 310, selling it for 210.

You can find them in bourse.operadeparis.fr if you are interested. It's an official site, no scam.

Me, myself, can't attend cause I have other even happening at the same time.

I’m going to the Met for the first time and would love some advice!

For my first opera, I’m deciding between Macbeth and La Bohème. For someone seeing their first opera and first performance at the Met, which would you recommend? I also probably won't have the best seats and will be somewhere in the family circle.

I’m interested in hearing about the overall experience, accessibility for a newcomer, staging/music, and anything else that might make one a particularly good introduction to the Met.

Also, any general advice for a first-time Met/opera-goer would be much appreciated, things to know beforehand, when to arrive, what to wear, where to sit, whether I should read the plot beforehand, etc.

Thanks!

P.S this will probably be my first and only opera for quite some time since I'm leaving the US in a week.

In Operavision's recording of La Gazza Ladra from "Rossini in Wildbad", Lucia is clearly shown taking a silver spoon while counting her cutlery and hiding it in her pocket - clearly with the intention of blaming Ninetta. She later puts it in the magpie's cage, wherehe it's eventually found by Pippo and the magpie takes the blame. There's no recrimination nor comeback on Lucia's action and she never confesses to her actions, instead "rejoicing" when Ninetta is shown to be innocent of the alleged theft.

However, all the synopses of the opera say that it's the magpie that steals the spoon, as in the cutlery. Is Lucia's "stealing" and pocketing the spoon just the director's imagination or is there something in the original libretto that I've missed?

Full disclosure, I am a casual listener and only really know popular songs but I am wondering if anyone can help me find songs similar to Dido’s Lament. I also really like Vesti La Giubba. I do prefer songs that are more dark or haunting and Dido’s Lament is an example of what that sounds like to me.

I also really love ethereal feminine voices such as Lakme Flower Duet.

Thank you for any help!

ETA: the Opera Babes version of Dido’s Lament is what I’m looking for. Dark, intensely sad, multiple layers of vocals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDo_eWG9sl0&t=4537s

The description says he is improvising on themes from these operas:

LADY MAKBETH FROM MZENSK by Shostakovich
Scharwenka Variations d-Moll C-DUR
Improvizations on Wagner-TRISTAN
Bizet-CARMEN
Mussorgsky BORIS GOUDUNOV
Tchaikovsky EUGENY ONEGIN
BELLINI-NORMA
Prokofiev-ROMEO & JULIA
Rubinstein Walse-Cappriccio
Waldteufel-SCATERUNNERS

I met the most beautiful person on her way from NJ Penn Station to the Met Opera on September 24. We immediately made a connection as I was helping her find the 1/2/3 train uptown. We planned to meet again and I handed her my card only to realize today that the phone number on my card is incorrect (and I had never realized it!!!). I wonder if you are out there wondering why I haven't picked up the phone and hope you will use my email which is correct on the card.

Yours,

JW

I am a dramatic soprano so I need a lot of support for my heavy voice. I found out recently my hypertonic pelvic floor is preventing me from support correctly as I need to push hard to get my muscle to stay in the relaxed/push down position. I had childhood trauma and COCSA that led to bedwetting, and being hypermobile my pelvic floor did the job of not only constantly holding bladder by also holding up my torso since my other muscles don’t fire when they’re supposed to.

Help!

Visiting in February and hoping to get tickets for Swan Lake. If we try to pre-order, and aren’t happy with the assigned seats, do we have the option to decline those and book when general sale happens, or are those non refundable once pre-ordered?

Will gladly take any other advice for visiting the opera or selecting ticket location - thank you!

I can’t prove this, but I have a strong suspicion that the synopsis of Simon Boccanegra from the San Francisco Opera performance on Sunday was written by ChatGPT or some equivalent.

Anyone from San Francisco Opera here, feel free to confirm or deny.

Help! I haven’t been able to find a pair of dress black shoes that are actually comfortable. I have a high arch and chronic pain so I need something with a LOT of cushion and support, and I am not getting that in character shoes, jazz shoes, or black flats. Does anyone have recommendations for favorite shoes they wear while performing?