Seldom-Used Words

Thank you so much, Og, for posting such wonderful pictures of orrerys. I am the most fond of the one in the movie The Dark Crystal by Jim Henson.

Orpheus - noun a musician held in Greek legend to have descended to Hades after the death of his wife Eurydice and by his music to have obtained her release on condition that he not look back at her until reaching the upper world

orphic - adj 1. cap: of or relating to Orpheus or the rites or doctrines ascribed to him 2. MYSTIC, ORACULAR 3. ENTRANCING

Orphism - noun a mystic Greek religion offering initiates purification of the soul from innate evil and release from the cycle of reincarnation

Orpheus in Opera

I like two different Operas based on the legend of Orpheus:

Orpheus and Eurydiceby Gluck with its famous aria "I have lost my Eurydice", and

Orpheus in the Underworld by Offenbach. This is the whole comic operetta

Og, opera is something I have never really appreciated completely. Along with learning more about Shakespeare's works, I will have to spend some time listening to classic operas. If you have any you would like to suggest, besides the ones you posted, please direct me? I know there are numerous operas, so your favorites should make a sizeable list to begin with. I must admit, as a young woman, I did not like opera, but now that I am older, I find it very appealing. I wonder why that is?

orotund - adj 1. marked by fullness, strength, and clarity of sound: SONOROUS 2. POMPOUS, BOMBASTIC

Most opera lovers started with operetta, comic operetta, some of which are poking fun at 'serious' opera. The point about both is that they are musical dramas. The words alone are not enough. The action is the words AND the singing.

Avoid Wagner described as tuneful minutes and boring hours. The easiest Operas to start with are Mozart's.

The Magic Flute is tuneful even if the plot (like most operas) is fairly silly. For a beginner, operas in English, or with subtitles in English would be easier.

YouTube is the easy way to find opera. But if you go to Wikipedia and get the gist of the plot and action - This is the entry for the Magic Flute before trying to watch the opera, you would find it easier to understand.

This the Met's complete Magic Flute

But if that is too big a jump, try Offenbach in English. This sample has subtitles. La Belle Helene (Helen of Troy) wants her husband Menelaus out of the way. He is persuaded to go to Crete...

Menelaus is persuaded to act

oggbashan said:

Most opera lovers started with operetta, comic operetta, some of which are poking fun at 'serious' opera. The point about both is that they are musical dramas. The words alone are not enough. The action is the words AND the singing.

Avoid Wagner described as tuneful minutes and boring hours. The easiest Operas to start with are Mozart's.

The Magic Flute is tuneful even if the plot (like most operas) is fairly silly. For a beginner, operas in English, or with subtitles in English would be easier.

YouTube is the easy way to find opera. But if you go to Wikipedia and get the gist of the plot and action - This is the entry for the Magic Flute before trying to watch the opera, you would find it easier to understand.

This the Met's complete Magic Flute

But if that is too big a jump, try Offenbach in English. This sample has subtitles. La Belle Helene (Helen of Troy) wants her husband Menelaus out of the way. He is persuaded to go to Crete...

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One of my favourite arias is this one; from the Magic Flute [Lucia Popp]
Ogg, please tell me what Sarastro did to ignite the Queen's ire?
The Wiki entry makes too little sense to me.
Sorry for being a bit dim.

I think I'll have a go at Offenbach in English. Helen looks amusing.

PS. Can anyone listen to Wagner and not smile at the memory of Bugs Bunny ?
"Be vewy kwiet; I'm hunting Wabbit'"

That is very good advice, Og, and I am familiar with The Magic Flute because of the movie, Amadeus. I will take your words of wisdom, I would have avoided Wagner anyway, and start with the light stuff.

oroide - noun an alloy that resembles gold and is used in cheap jewelry

Handley_Page said:

Ogg, please tell me what Sarastro did to ignite the Queen's ire?
The Wiki entry makes too little sense to me.
Sorry for being a bit dim.

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Sarasto was the Queen's husband, but took their daughter Pamina away from her evil influence.

The Queen wants her daughter back and persuades Tamino to go to get Pamina from the Temple where the Queen cannot enter.

oggbashan said:

Sarasto was the Queen's husband, but took their daughter Pamina away from her evil influence.

The Queen wants her daughter back and persuades Tamino to go to get Pamina from the Temple where the Queen cannot enter.

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Ever get the impression there's a plot bunny there somewhere?

Handley_Page said:

Ever get the impression there's a plot bunny there somewhere?

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For Loving Wives?

Oops! I was over-influenced by This movie version which makes the plot more credible. Sarasto isn't obviously Pamina's father in the normal libretto, but is her guardian.

Although Ingmar Bergman's film is in Swedish, it is an accessible production. I would recommend the movie as a good start for Opera.

Many stage productions also alter the plot to cut out some of the extraneous material but NOT the well known musical parts. The Queen of the Night has some of Mozart's most challenging singing.

Thanks for clarifying, Og, honestly, I would not have known the difference. I will check out the links in a bit.

orography - noun a branch of physical geography that deals with mountains

AllardChardon said:

Thanks for clarifying, Og, honestly, I would not have known the difference. I will check out the links in a bit.

orography - noun a branch of physical geography that deals with mountains

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Linked to orography is glaciology - the study of glaciers that often affect the shapes of mountains.

Off-topic: This evening we went to another cultural event at our local multiplex - The Royal Ballet's production of La Fille Mal Gardée - which is one of the most accessible ballets for beginners in ballet watching. The plot is ridiculously simple, the gestures are easy to interpret, and it is a feel-good ballet. The Clog Dance and The Ribbon Duet are always popular. The hero gets the heroine - of course! At £25 total cost for tickets for both of us it was incredibly cheap for a world-class production.

trysail said:

Opera?

Carmen and Salome strike me as captivating introductions to the art form because of their comparatively simple stories and the snippets of instantly recognizable, enduring music.

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What are the differences between:

Musicals; Operetta; Opera?

Answer: 1. The audience, and (used to be) the price of the tickets. Now tickets for Musicals can cost more than tickets for Opera.

Answer: 2. The difference in suspension of disbelief. For Musicals, the audience must see nothing amiss with breaking into song and dance at random intervals. For Operetta, Ruritania must exist. For Opera, the difficulty of the singing must be appreciated and the audience must see nothing wrong with a dying heroine singing a complex aria while she dies. (As Victor Borge said "The Die Aria")

bumf n., (slang) British,
1. toilet paper
2. (derogatory) memoranda, official notices, or the like.


Origin:
1885–90; short for bumfodder.






While it may be not be seldom-used by our British contingent, I don't think I've seen the word before. The polymath, Willis Eschenbach, used the word in a open letter addressed to the incoming Editor-In-Chief of Science.

I am a bit confused. Is Carmen a musical or an opera?

Og, the ballet sounds wonderful, I wish I lived near some kind of culture! The ballet company from Eugene, Oregon, comes here once a year and always does the same production, The Nutcracker Suite. It is a nice ballet and all, but every year the same one. Oh well.

orogeny - noun the process of mountain formation, esp. by folding of the earth's crust

oggbashan said:

The Magic Flute is tuneful even if the plot (like most operas) is fairly silly. For a beginner, operas in English, or with subtitles in English would be easier.

This the Met's complete Magic Flute

Click to expand...

I almost wish I spoke German.
However, the Queen does tend to take "Hell Rages" at the gallop, I think.

AllardChardon said:

I am a bit confused. Is Carmen a musical or an opera?

...

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Bizet's Carmen is an opera. Bizet was French, writing an opera about Spain. He and his librettist got some things wrong, particularly with the Toreador. Bizet's Toreador is a Bull-Fighter, and should be a Matador. Except in Bizet's Carmen, there is no such person as a Toreador. It is as bad a mistake as calling a baseball pitcher a jug.

There is also Carmen Jones, which is a black version of Bizet's Carmen, with the same music but a different setting and words. Carmen Jones is closer to a musical, but is still really an opera.

The difference between a musical, an operetta and an opera is confusing. Basically, if those writing it call it a musical, then it is. The Phantom of the Opera is a musical, but it could equally have been called an opera.

Gilbert and Sullivan wrote comic operas, which in France or Germany would have been called operettas. But The Yeomen of the Guard is closer to an opera than the rest.

Offenbach wrote operettas, comic ones, except for The Tales of Hoffman which is an opera - because he said it was. The (edited. Not Strauss - Lehar!) operetta The Merry Widow isn't an opera. It isn't serious enough. But Richard Strauss' Rosencavalier is an opera. Sigmund Romberg's Desert Song is a musical. But it has enough serious elements to be an opera.

Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, and Rossini's The Barber of Seville are both operas, but they are comic operas and could be operettas. Other operas by them - Mozart's The Magic Flute and Rossini's Cinderella have more serious themes and are operas.

Confused? So are many people. The real difference is the complexity and technical challenge of the singing. Operatic singing requires far more sophisticated technique than operetta and musicals.

Just read the label. If the DVD, CD sleeve or programme says it is opera - it is.

That is a fine explanation of a very confusing subject, but I now understand the parameters much better, thanks to you, dear Og.

ornery - adj [alter. of ordinary] having an irritable disposition: CANTANKEROUS

Hello, everyone. I hope you are having a nice day;

ormolu - noun a brass made to imitate gold and used for decorative purposes

AllardChardon said:

Hello, everyone. I hope you are having a nice day;

ormolu - noun a brass made to imitate gold and used for decorative purposes

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Particularly in Clocks, I think

Handley_Page said:

Particularly in Clocks, I think

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Especially by the French

trysail said:

Opera?

Carmen and Salome strike me as captivating introductions to the art form because of their comparatively simple stories and the snippets of instantly recognizable, enduring music.

Click to expand...

Carmen is perfect for beginners because all the best music is in the first Act - one can then go to the bar at the intermission - and stay there!

Surely however, the operetta for Allard would have to be The Merry Widow by Franz Lehar

Og, those are wonderful pictures of French clocks, featuring ormolu. I wondered what the metal was in those ornate clocks and now I know.

Ishtat, I can be a Merry Widow at times and called myself such at my husband's memorial. After two years of my spouse battling brain cancer and me being the 24-7 nurse on duty, I actually was a relieved widow, when he passed, which is sad to say, but life goes on.

orlop deck - noun the deck below the lower deck

AllardChardon said:

Ishtat, I can be a Merry Widow at times and called myself such at my husband's memorial. After two years of my spouse battling brain cancer and me being the 24-7 nurse on duty, I actually was a relieved widow, when he passed, which is sad to say, but life goes on.

orlop deck - noun the deck below the lower deck

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The notable thing about the Orlop deck was that it was where the Surgeon and his assistants worked in the Nelsonian Navy ship.