Opera and Opera Singers. At 100 db, Why Should We Care?

FAMOUS OPERA SINGERS OF THE PAST

First, let’s clarify something.  Phantom Of The Opera is NOT Opera.  It’s American Broadway Music.

Ok, now that we have clarified this, let’s move on…

Some have described Opera Singing as “The Olympics of Singing” (or perhaps The Super Bowl of Singing), I’m one to subscribe to this.  Not only because I’ve been an Opera singer for over 20 years, but because, by all benchmarks of singing, it is.  It is the ultimate acoustic expression of a human voice.

OPERA ELITIST

“Ah!  There goes another Opera snob”…yada yada yada…Well, perhaps I was, at one time…when I didn’t know better…but having the experience of performing numerous styles

opera is stuffy

snobbish opera stiff

of music over the years, I’ve found that each genre of music requires skill, training and natural ability.  Some genres just require more than others.  Jennifer Rivera, a Mezzo Soprano recently wrote a wonderful article on “Five Things You Need To Know About Opera” and what it takes to be an Opera singer.  It’s a great read and I strongly urge you to check it out.

OPERA FOR THE MASSES

Did you know that Classical Music and Opera were once considered the “Rock Music” of today?  That the ladies swooned over opera singers, and men wanted to be opera singers, just like all men now (even me) want to be Rock Stars?

Have you ever seen the movie Amadeus?  This 1984 Drama features the music of Mozart and, in many ways shows what life as a famous composer was like during their time.  Although many died in obscurity and famine, some like Mozart were pretty famous during their day.  The general public couldn’t get enough of them.  They were stalked, jeered, cheered, killed and some even died as dramatically as their operas.

Amadeus The MovieTHE WORLD OF OPERA

Opera has been around since a Composer named Monteverdi.  This Italian changed everything in music to that point.  Up until the early 1600’s, there wasn’t such a thing as Opera.  I’ll leave it at that.   If you want to know more on how this happened, click on Monteverdi link or go here.

OPERA SINGERS

As mentioned earlier, Opera singers were the crème de la crème.  The most famous pubic figures of their day.  Many known for their amazing voices, artistry, beauty (not in all cases, as we all well-know) and off-stage antics which the public completely LOVED.

 Here is a list of my 10 favorite Opera singers from any period.

Maria Callas was Glamerous

Maria Callas, A Greek American Opera Singer

1. Luciano Pavarotti

2. Maria Callas

3. Franco Corelli

4. Gino Bechi (see him sing “Torna A Surriento” below)

[embedplusvideo height=”300″ width=”380″ editlink=”http://bit.ly/MCXUnB” standard=”http://www.youtube.com/v/XpCHV241frw?fs=1″ vars=”ytid=XpCHV241frw&width=380&height=300&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=&notes=” id=”ep9329″ /]

5. Renata Tebaldi

6. Kirsten Flagstad

7. Thomas Allen

8. Gösta Winbergh

9. Robert Merrill

10.Lawerence Tibbett

Putting this list to paper was much harder than it was in my mind.  There are so many others that could have made this list for me and at some point I will list a longer, more comprehensive list for those of you who really want to know, at some time in the future.

I know that this list doesn’t contain any “new crop” Opera Singers and that doesn’t mean I don’t like any that are singing right now.  I just have always favored the “old school” performers and this list is just that.

Additional factoids about Opera Singers:

Baritone, Robert Merrill sang the Star Spangled Banner at NY Yankees Games from 1969 to 2004.  He was quoted as saying, “When you do the anthem, there’s a legitimacy to it,” Merrill told Newsday in 2000. “I’m bothered by these different interpretations of it.”

OPERA TRIVIA:

Opera Singer will be at the Super Bowl in 2014

Renee Fleming will sing The Star Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl 2014

Soprano, Renee Fleming will be singing The Star Spangled Banner at the 2014 Super Bowl.  The first Opera Singer to do so in its 47 Year history.

Many Opera Singer have been on the cover of Time Magazine.  Callas, Melba, Pavarotti…

Want to impress your friends with a few Opera terms:  Go HERE.

 

Want some examples of each Operatic Voice type?  Maybe you can identify what you’d be.  Go here.  There are video examples.  Very cool!

The shortest Opera ever written?  According to The Guiness Book of Music Facts and Feats, the world’s shortest opera is Milhaud’s The Deliverance of Theseus, first performed in 1928 and lasting a mere 7 min. 27 sec. (that’s without an intermission)

The longest Opera ever written?  According to Answers.com Easily, the longest opera would be Wagner’s The Ring Cycle which was written in four parts: Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, Siegfried, and Götterdamerung. It lasts around 18 hours (with intermissions) and

German Composer, Richard Wagner

Wagner wrote the longest Operas ever written.

is normally performed in four shorter performances. By contrast, the longest single performance would be Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg which is around five and a half hours long. But then…”long” is a relative term and much depends on whether or not you’re enjoying the experience.

If I’m not mistaken, The Ring technically is considered to be a tetraolog (or trilogy, with prologue): a grouping of 4 different operas, not a single opera: it therefore would not qualify as a correct response. Also, an uncut version, usually last 15-16 hours, depending on the conductor(s) tempi.

How loud can an Opera Singer be?  For context a refrigerator’s dB level is about 50, an opera singer usually is around 100.  A jet taking off is around 140db.

A Jet Taking off is about 140db

Opera Singers max out at about 100 db.

 

 

 

 

 

The Top 10 Opera Houses (excerpted from National Geographic.com)

  1.  La Scala, Milan, Italy
  2. Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, Italy

  3. Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires, Argentina

  4. The Royal Opera House, London, England

  5. The Bolshoi, Moscow, Russia

  6. Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia

  7. Paris Opéra, Paris, France

  8. Opéra Royal, Versailles Court Theater, France

  9. Vienna Staatsoper, Vienna, Austria

  10. Lincoln Center, New York, New York

About the author:
James Anest, Co-Creator and General Director of The Amazing Waiters has been an Opera and Musical Theater Performer for over 20 years.  He continues to concertize and write about his vast experience in the Entertainment Industry.  Visit his blog for more writings, www.jamesanest.com/blog

 

 

 

 

Amazing Opera Shows

Amazing Opera Shows are now available with The Amazing Waiters!

The Amazing Tenors, parent company of The Amazing Waiters have produced another great option for Corporate and Private Party Entertainment by incorporating the Singing Waiter surprise element, The Amazing Waiters have created great Opera and Popera shows to unsuspecting guests with wild reactions.

Based in Southern California, the exclusive group contains only Broadway and Operatic stars singing specially-written shows similar to Il Divo and The Three Tenors that include made famous by Opera and Popera Artists like Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli, Mario Frangoulis, The Three Tenors, Sarah Brightman, The Irish Tenors and many others.

All of our Opera Shows are developed specifically for the event.  No two shows are alike.

AMAZING OPERA SHOWS song list includes:

OPERATIC FAVORITES

Nessun Dorma” – Puccini [Made famous by Luciano Pavarotti (The Three Tenors)]

“E lucevan le stelle” – Puccini

La Donna e Mobile” – Puccini [from the Opera, “Rigoletto”]

“Toreador Song” – Bizet [from the Opera, “Carmen”]

“Funiculi Funicula” – [a fun Italian Neapolitan Song]

“Torna a Surriento” – [Italian Neapolitan Song]

“Mattinata”  – [Leoncavallo – Composer of “Pagliacci”]

Non Piu Andrai” – [Mozart]

“Granada” – [Spanish Song]

“Largo al Factotum” – Rossini [from the Opera, “Barber of Seville”]

The Pearl Fishers Duet (Les pêcheurs de perles) [Bizet – Composer of  “Carmen”]

“Dio che nell’alma (Duet) – Verdi (from the Opera, “Don Carlo”)

 

BROADWAY CLASSICS

“The Impossible Dream” – [from the Musical, “Man of La Mancha”]

“Maria” – [from the Musical, “Westside Story”]

“Tonight” – [from the Musical, “Westside Story”]

“Some Enchanted Evening” – [from the Musical, “South Pacific”]

“Younger Than Springtime” – [from the Musical, “South Pacific”]

“This Is The Moment” – [from the Musical, “Jekyll & Hyde”]

“Music Of The Night” – [from the Musical, “Phantom of the Opera”]

“Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” – [from the Musical, “Jersey Boys”]

 

OTHER WELL-KNOWN SONGS

“Besame Mucho”

“My Way”

“Time To Say Goodbye”

“You Raise Me Up”

“Nights In White Satin”

“The Lady Is A Tramp”

“Fly Me To The Moon”

“O Sole Mio” (It’s Now Or Never)

“Meglio Stasera” (It Had Better Be Tonight)

“Never On Sunday”

“That’s Amore”

“Volare”

“Perhaps Love” [Made famous by Placido Domingo and John Denver]

“I Love Paris”

Couldn’t Love You More” [made famous by Placido Domingo]

 

The Amazing Waiter - Amazing Opera Shows

The Amazing Waiters provide live Opera Eentertainment.   Call us today!

 

This is the show you’ve been waiting for! Two-Fold Entertainment with surprise and drama.

For more information on our AMAZING OPERA SHOW or ideas on how we can develop a show specifically for your event, see our web-link, or call 888-899-7701

EVENT PLANNERS:  For a downloadable pdf flyer,  click here.

*The Amazing Waiters produce much more than singing waiter shows.  See our ever-developing website, www.amazingwaiters.com or call 888-899-7701.

 

The Amazing Waiters are a wholly-owned subsidiary of Entree Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved, 2013.

 

#TAW

The Amazing Waiters: Singing Waiter Entertainment

Customized Corporate Entertainment for around the World.

Based in Southern California, we provide live entertainment World-Wide.