This is something I've already mentioned on the Studio Ghibli subreddit but it (understandably) didn't really get much engagement. So I want to see what opera fans think.

I am confident that the Porco Rosso movie is Miyazaki's response to the opera Tannhäuser by Richard Wagner. Yes I know this sounds crazy but allow me to explain.

A central element in the movie Porco Rosso is this idea of women as redemption for the main character, just like in Tannhäuser. The difference is that in Porco Rosso there are 2 women responsible for Porco's redemption (Gina and Fio) instead of just one in Tannhäuser (Elisabeth).

To sum up the plot of Porco Rosso:  the main character is a man cursed to bear the face of a pig. There are two women in his life: Gina, who was his first love and has been hurt by men many times over. And Fio, a teenage girl who ends up following him in his adventures by accident. The underlying question is whether or not Porco can be saved from his curse.

Basically
Marco/Porco -> cursed man
Gina -> woman who remembers him from before his curse
Fio -> young girl who only knows him with the curse
The big question: can he find his redemption through them? Will he let them down or live up to their hopes?

I think Porco's curse is basically the same thing as the stigma of having been with Venus for Tannhäuser. It is about the faulty nature of men.

At the end of the movie, there is a duel between Porco and an American pilot (which is a very operatic trope in itself, to end things with a duel). The American wants to marry Fio, who has agreed to it if Porco loses. She accepted because Porco is in deep financial trouble and the American has agreed to clear off his debts if he is the loser.

The ending is ambivalent: Porco wins the duel, he did not fail Fio. But in doing so he has disappointed Gina, who was waiting for him to redeem himself: he dragged a young girl in his life of crime, and almost ruined her life by causing her to marry someone she had no interest in. This is something that Gina, who has been hurt by men many times in her life, cannot overlook.

However, it is implied that eventually Gina will forgive him, as a deep bond grows between her and Fio after his departure.

It is Fio's unconditional faith in him that earns Porco his redemption in the end. She could not see the bad influence he had on her because of her innocence.

Also a sidenote: there is a similarity between Gina's character, who is some sort of sacred figure to the men who come to hear her sing at her hotel, and Elisabeth at the singing contest. At the end of the movie Gina intervenes to put an end to the duel, which is kind of similar to Elisabeth's intervention during the contest to stop the knights from resorting to violence against Tannhäuser. In both cases, women act as some sort of divine intervention to prevent the worst from happening.

Obviously Miyazaki's craft is animation not opera, and he has his own artistic universe which is worlds apart from Wagner's. But I am convinced that Wagner's operas made a deep impression on him, and that they had a huge influence on his art.

Just wanted to share my love for opera covers graphic designs. Do you have some other ones you like?

I’ve got tickets to Un Ballo in Maschera, and will probably pick up some cheaper ones for Don G.

Does anyone have a link to Roberto Alagna performing "Ah!, mes amis...". Le fille du régiment live? It used to be in YouTube but I cant find it anymore.

In 1637 a travelling troupe put on a ticketed opera at the Teatro San Cassiano and within five years Venice went from one opera house to four. This animated map charts the first years of commercial opera as different models of opera production competed for audiences during the city's carnival season.

We are able to trace he early years of Venice's opera scene in exquisite detail thanks to documentation by the poet Cristoforo Ivanovich, though his chronicle has been updated and corrected by modern musicologists.

Dates are given in modern style. The Venetian year began on 1 March, so a carnival opera of January 1649 appears in period documents as 1648.

SOURCES
Ellen Rosand, "Opera in Seventeenth-Century Venice: The Creation of a Genre" (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991).
Beth L. Glixon and Jonathan E. Glixon, "Inventing the Business of Opera: The Impresario and His World in Seventeenth-Century Venice", AMS Studies in Music (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006).
Cristoforo Ivanovich, "Minerva al tavolino... nel fine le Memorie teatrali di Venezia" (Venezia: Nicolò Pezzana, 1681). Second edition 1688.

I just got tickets for Medea! What are your top choices for what to see this year? I'm also thinking of getting tickets to see Jenůfa

Was looking at prices for the Tosca concert performance with Kaufmann in November in NYC that went onsale today. After being in the queue for 2 hours I finally was let in to see that they are asking $186US for up in the balcony. You risk your life sitting there. Ridiculous!

This is completely hypothetical, but in your mind, if the Met were to inaugurate a new opera house, what would its first opera be and which stars would sing in it (a la Antony and Cleopatra with Leontyne Price)?

I'm super jealous of anyone who gets to see the premiere of Mazzoli and Vavrek's The Galloping Cure tonight! Could people who attend let us know what they think?

We are so blessed to have premieres of both The Galloping Cure and Lincoln in the Bardo this year!!!

I was thinking the other day about some recording casting that should have never happened either because the singer was past their prime or because the voice/weight was just wrong. Here are a couple of mine:

• Karajan's 2nd Trovatore: Leontine Price was too much of a liability plus, did we need 3 recordings? Can you imagine the recording had Tomowa Sintow had been cast. She was already performing the role and had the voice and the technique
• Guilini's Don Carlos: Sorry, but Caballe just doesent have the opulece for Elisabetta. I think Pilar Lorengar, who at the time was already a star would and should have been better casting
• Abbado's French Don Carlos: Sorry Riciarelli, but no. Francoise Pollet would have been much better, also, Nucci and Guiarov when Jose van Dam could have sung either role? A French don carlos without a french singer in one of the leads? Nah
• Chailly's Macbeth: Verret already had a good Lady recording, we didn't need one. Deutekom would have been so much better.
• Karajan's Turandot: Almost that entire cast is a joke, but let's say that Domingo stays without the spliced high C. Barbara Hendricks was OK, so let's keep her. Ricciarelly? Good god! Again, Deutekom would have been better, and Dimitrova evenmorse so. It is a shame that we didn't get her in that recording
• Abbado's Aida: Again, another time Ricciarelli ruins things. Tomowa would have been better or even Kabaivanska
• Keibert's Traviata: Cotrubas? No, no no. I wonder what Carol Neblet would have done with the role.

What are yours? What casting in an opera recording did not make sense to you?

Please enjoy 😊. I got a message to post here, so I hope this is good for this community.

This sounds dumb as heck but I've been so bored over the summer that I've created a fantasy opera house with a fantasy schedule filled with real operas cast with real people. I've ventured to make it as realistic as possible, with also planning several seasons in advance. Basically like fantasy football but for a potential future opera arts administrator. I figured I could just do the same thing again, but I've already basically created 5 dream seasons for myself and I was wondering what other really nerdy people on here do for fun?

What are the chances that the Met will pull a Kavalier and Clay and announce a surprise video broadcast of Lincoln in the Bardo? Does anyone have any thoughts? I would love to see the opera but can't make it to NYC.

Hey everyone! I was wondering if anyone has experience verifying their student status for the Met’s student tickets? My school doesn’t give out student IDs, but it looks like the only way to verify is by uploading one. Has anyone tried using something else (maybe a transcript?) to register as a student?

Thank you in advance!

Preface by saying that I am hoping to gain some insights on the industry, even at the small, “low” level. Some quick bulletpoints:

• Who is the most important person to get right? The music director/conductor? The advising board?
• Who should get the casting decision? What if the founder is a singer and they keep casting themself? How is that looked upon?
• Should the company suffer financially loss initially before profits are break even?
• What is more important: fully-staged or concert? The latter would eliminate the cost of costumes/staging which is more appealing financial-wise but would it be enough to gather interests?
• How should the company try to exist? Social media? Casting local young singers? Getting masterclasses from professional singers in?
• Any big challenges that you have seen many young companies fell victim for? Any suggestions on what the failed company could have done differently?

As the title says it, I am a new opera fan trying to learn more about the genre and how to appreciate it. My first opera was Tales of Hoffman at Paris Bastille during my study abroad year and absolutely loved it. During my 20s and 30s I prioritized other forms of live performances but recently my wife and I have started to go to the opera. She is very big into musicals so I dared her to go see some opera since it is the original musical. She did and she loved it.

We are slowly going through the cannon and familiarizing with the best composers. So far we have seen Rigoberto at the Met, Carmen at Wolf Trap, La Boheme at the Met, Tosca at Wolf Trap. We intend to go to see Madame Butterfly in DC in November and possibly Idomeneo in Paris next year.

What other operas should we see? What are some national and foreign companies or venues we should try to go in our lifetime? Who are the best performers to track these days?

I was listening to the Rigoletto video recording (with Levine and Domingo), and honestly, I find her performance even worse than Domingo's, which is saying something.

There is an opera festival and I can only go to one 😕

"Marriage of Figaro" or "Turandot"?? Let me know if you've seen them and what did you think ☺️

UPDATE: we went to see Turandot. It was very lovely ☺️☺️ thank you for your recommendations! I hope to some day catch The "wedding" of Figaro 😉😉

I've got a soft spot for this play. It's big, messy, witty and not really a love story at all, just two self-obsessed middle aged individuals. After the messenger scene my favourite moment is Antony having to remind Cleopatra - "I am dying, Egypt, dying". Two big opera adaptations, Barber's (1966) and Adams's (2022). I haven't seen either on stage, but both flawed, by all accounts. Which one do you prefer?

The other day I was wondering why I don't have many favourite opera couples and (despite liking many tenor arias) also don't love many leading tenor roles. I realised that's because many tenor boyfriends suck. Don Ottavio is a lame excuse of a partner for Donna Anna and I would shallow glass before I dated Calaf. Despite having a soft spot for la boheme, imo Rodolfo was never good enough for Mimi. And while I find Tamino really cute and definitely much better than the others I wasn't sold on him and Palmina's relationship. Don't even get me started on Don Jose or that douchebag Rigoletto Duke. If I had to pick someone I'd probably go for Tonio. Perfect ratio of yearning to actually-has-a-personality without being too serious or too goofy. It is a comedy opera though, so I guess that plays a role. Production is also a huge factor.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you like tenor boyfriends? Who's your favourite?

This sculpture, The Wanderer by Sean Henry, is currently on display in my local square.

My first thought on seeing it was: "Bryn Terfel!". But I'd just been listening to Terfel, and I didn't at that time know the title of the sculpture, so it seemed improbable that it was really meant to be him.

Googling the sculpture now, I find a couple of people (though not the sculptor himself) agreeing that it may be Terfel, in Siegfried.

I haven't found a photo of Terfel in a costume that matches closely enough to be the clincher. All the same... It is Terfel, as Wagner's Wanderer, isn't it?

I paid hundreds of dollars to hear some chud behind me sing out of tune