{"id":386,"date":"2014-01-31T08:07:29","date_gmt":"2014-01-31T08:07:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/amazingwaiters.com\/BLOG\/?p=386"},"modified":"2014-01-31T08:07:29","modified_gmt":"2014-01-31T08:07:29","slug":"will-the-super-bowl-bring-street-cred-to-opera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/amazingwaiters.com\/BLOG\/will-the-super-bowl-bring-street-cred-to-opera\/","title":{"rendered":"Opera and Opera Singers. At 100 db, Why Should We Care?"},"content":{"rendered":"

FAMOUS OPERA SINGERS OF THE PAST<\/h1>\n

First, let’s clarify something.\u00a0 Phantom Of The Opera is NOT Opera.\u00a0 It’s American Broadway Music.<\/p>\n

Ok, now that we have clarified this, let’s move on…<\/p>\n

Some have described Opera Singing as “The Olympics of Singing” (or perhaps The Super Bowl of Singing), I’m one to subscribe to this.\u00a0 Not only because I’ve been an Opera singer for over 20 years, but because, by all benchmarks of singing, it is.\u00a0 It is the ultimate acoustic expression of a human voice.<\/p>\n

OPERA ELITIST<\/a><\/h2>\n

“Ah!\u00a0 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<\/p>\n

\"opera

snobbish opera stiff<\/p><\/div>\n

of music over the years, I’ve found that each genre of music requires skill, training and natural ability.\u00a0 Some genres just require more than others.\u00a0 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<\/a>.\u00a0 It’s a great read and I strongly urge you to check it out.<\/p>\n

OPERA FOR THE MASSES<\/h2>\n

Did you know that Classical Music and Opera were once considered the “Rock Music” of today?\u00a0 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?<\/p>\n

Have you ever seen the movie Amadeus<\/a>?\u00a0 This 1984 Drama features the music of Mozart and, in many ways shows what life as a famous composer was like during their time.\u00a0 Although many died in obscurity and famine, some like Mozart were pretty famous during their day.\u00a0 The general public couldn’t get enough of them.\u00a0 They were stalked, jeered, cheered, killed and some even died<\/a> as dramatically<\/a> as their operas.<\/p>\n

\"Amadeus<\/a>THE WORLD OF OPERA<\/h1>\n

Opera has been around since a Composer named Monteverdi<\/a>.\u00a0 This Italian changed everything in music to that point.\u00a0 Up until the early 1600’s, there wasn’t such a thing as Opera.\u00a0 I’ll leave it at that.\u00a0\u00a0 If you want to know more on how this happened, click on Monteverdi link or go here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

OPERA SINGERS<\/h1>\n

As mentioned earlier, Opera singers were the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me.\u00a0 The most famous pubic figures of their day.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Here is a list of my 10 favorite Opera singers from any period.<\/h1>\n
\"Maria<\/a>

Maria Callas, A Greek American Opera Singer<\/p><\/div>\n

1. Luciano Pavarotti<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Maria Callas<\/p>\n

3. Franco Corelli<\/a><\/p>\n

4. Gino Bechi (see him sing “Torna A Surriento” below)<\/p>\n

[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″ \/]<\/div>\n

5. Renata Tebaldi<\/p>\n

6. Kirsten Flagstad<\/a><\/p>\n

7. Thomas Allen<\/a><\/p>\n

8. G\u00f6sta Winbergh<\/p>\n

9. Robert Merrill<\/p>\n

10.Lawerence Tibbett<\/a><\/p>\n

Putting this list to paper was much harder than it was in my mind.\u00a0 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.<\/em><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 I just have always favored the “old school” performers and this list is just that.<\/p>\n

Additional factoids about Opera Singers:<\/h1>\n

Baritone, Robert Merrill sang the Star Spangled Banner at NY Yankees Games from 1969 to 2004.\u00a0 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.”<\/p>\n

OPERA TRIVIA:<\/h1>\n
\"Opera<\/a>

Renee Fleming will sing The Star Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl 2014<\/p><\/div>\n

Soprano, Renee Fleming will be singing The Star Spangled Banner at the 2014 Super Bowl.\u00a0 The first Opera Singer to do so in its 47 Year history<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Many Opera Singer have been on the cover of Time Magazine.\u00a0 Callas, Melba<\/a>, Pavarotti…<\/p>\n

Want to impress your friends with a few Opera terms:\u00a0 Go HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Want some examples of each Operatic Voice type?\u00a0 Maybe you can identify what you’d be.\u00a0 Go here<\/a>.\u00a0 There are video examples.\u00a0 Very cool!<\/p>\n

The shortest Opera ever written?\u00a0<\/strong> 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)<\/p>\n

The longest Opera ever written?<\/strong>\u00a0 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 G\u00f6tterdamerung. It lasts around 18 hours (with intermissions) and<\/p>\n

\"German

Wagner wrote the longest Operas ever written.<\/p><\/div>\n

is normally performed in four shorter performances. By contrast, the longest single performance would be Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von N\u00fcrnberg 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

How loud can an Opera Singer be?\u00a0<\/strong> For context a refrigerator’s dB<\/em> level is about 50, an opera singer<\/em> usually is around 100.\u00a0 A jet taking off is around 140db.<\/p>\n

\"A

Opera Singers max out at about 100 db.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Top 10 Opera Houses\u00a0<\/strong>(excerpted from National Geographic.com)<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u00a0La Scala,\u00a0Milan, Italy<\/li>\n
  2. \n

    Teatro di San Carlo,\u00a0Naples, Italy<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  3. \n

    Teatro Colon,\u00a0Buenos Aires, Argentina<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  4. \n

    The Royal Opera House,\u00a0London, England<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  5. \n

    The Bolshoi,\u00a0Moscow, Russia<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  6. \n

    Sydney Opera House,\u00a0Sydney, Australia<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  7. \n

    Paris Op\u00e9ra,\u00a0Paris, France<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  8. \n

    Op\u00e9ra Royal,\u00a0Versailles Court Theater, France<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  9. \n

    Vienna Staatsoper,\u00a0Vienna, Austria<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  10. \n

    Lincoln Center,\u00a0New York, New York<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    About the author:
    \nJames Anest, Co-Creator and General Director of The Amazing Waiters<\/a> has been an Opera and Musical Theater Performer for over 20 years.\u00a0 He continues to concertize and write about his vast experience in the Entertainment Industry.\u00a0 Visit his blog for more writings, www.jamesanest.com\/blog<\/a><\/h3>\n

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