Classical Music Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Forums

How long is too long for opera ?

Jump to Latest
21 - 40 of 115 Posts
#22 ·
schigolch said:
Depends on the composer. For Wagner, 6 minutes. For Philip Glass, 6hours.
Click to expand...
Right there with you.

I dream of the day an opera company performs the trilogy of Einstein, Satyagraha and Akhenaten on consecutive days.

Sometimes I am puzzled by the response of the members of this site to Philip Glass. 🙂
 
#23 · (Edited)
The length of an opera is an issue only for my aging body. I can't sit still for hours, but since I don't go to the theater at all any more operas can last as long as the music interests me. Sitting, standing, moving around - mere length isn't the question. I can be completely absorbed by Parsifal (about 4 1/4 hours) at home with only short intermissions to rest the mind, but I have trouble sticking with Le Nozze di Figaro (about 3 hours) past Act 2, with the consequence that I know the music of the first half of the opera better than that of the second half! (When I was in my twenties I saw Figaro in the theater and was thus able to enjoy the whole thing.)
 
#24 ·
erudite said:
Sometimes I am puzzled by the response of the members of this site to Philip Glass. 🙂
Click to expand...
It isn't puzzling. For some of us his music - and minimalist stuff in general - wears out its welcome rather quickly. I had some difficulty getting through Akhnaten, even at home where I could get up and move around. Not enough musical invention for my brain.
 
#27 ·
erudite said:
Sometimes I am puzzled by the response of the members of this site to Philip Glass. 🙂
Click to expand...
If you think that's puzzling, try-
(The Simpsons)
 
#29 ·
Woodduck said:
Evidently I need the jokes, since my attempts to conquer Palestrina (two attempts, I believe) have been unsuccessful.
Click to expand...
I enjoy some of the music, and I was curious enough to attend a performance when the ROH exported their production to the Met one summer a couple of decades ago, with a pretty impressive cast. The second act seems to take FOREVER.
 
#30 ·
wkasimer said:
I enjoy some of the music, and I was curious enough to attend a performance when the ROH exported their production to the Met one summer a couple of decades ago, with a pretty impressive cast. The second act seems to take FOREVER.
Click to expand...
I can't remember whether I ever got to the second act on a recording. My lingering memory is of a few lovely moments amid lots and lots - and lots - of talk.

I haven't been greatly impressed with Pfitzner, but I seem to recall enjoying a violin sonata.
 
#31 ·
Woodduck said:
The length of an opera is an issue only for my aging body. I can't sit still for hours, but since I don't go to the theater at all any more operas can last as long as the music interests me. Sitting, standing, moving around - mere length isn't the question. I can be completely absorbed by Parsifal (about 4 1/4 hours) at home with only short intermissions to rest the mind, but I have trouble sticking with Le Nozze di Figaro (about 3 hours) past Act 2, with the consequence that I know the music of the first half of the opera better than that of the second half! (When I was in my twenties I saw Figaro in the theater and was thus able to enjoy the whole thing.)
Click to expand...
Nozze can be deadly in the theater; with recordings, I can skip the tedious secco recitatives and go on to the music. Recitatives help explain the story, but if you’ve hear them once, basta!
 
#32 ·
erudite said:
Sometimes I am puzzled by the response of the members of this site to Philip Glass. 🙂
Click to expand...
Okay, you enjoy Philip Glass, I suppose more than Wagner. I understand the appeal of his music, or I should say the idea of his music. Again and again I have tried to listen to his music and enjoy it, but it just doesn't grab me.

So it should not be surprising that traditional classical music listeners are not big fans of Glass.

I'll keep an open mind, and open ears, to Glass. And some of his music I have found interesting.: the symphonies, the string quartets ... I remember buying Einstein on the Beach and Nixon in China (I know, by Adams not Glass) on the same day and going home and listening to both of them. I don't remember a thing about them.
 
Discussion starter · #33 ·
Woodduck said:
The length of an opera is an issue only for my aging body. I can't sit still for hours, but since I don't go to the theater at all any more operas can last as long as the music interests me. Sitting, standing, moving around - mere length isn't the question. I can be completely absorbed by Parsifal (about 4 1/4 hours) at home with only short intermissions to rest the mind, but I have trouble sticking with Le Nozze di Figaro (about 3 hours) past Act 2, with the consequence that I know the music of the first half of the opera better than that of the second half! (When I was in my twenties I saw Figaro in the theater and was thus able to enjoy the whole thing.)
Click to expand...
You are the second (edit: third) person on TC who admits being bored by Le Nozze di Figaro, or at least 3 hours of it being too much. So why is Mozart so sacro-sanct ?
 
#35 ·
BBSVK said:
You are the second (edit: third) person on TC who admits being bored by Le Nozze di Figaro, or at least 3 hours of it being too much. So why is Mozart so sacro-sanct ?
Click to expand...
Well, I don't think it's odd that a highly regarded opera should be relatively uninteresting to some people. Not even the greatest works of art are universally loved. I've never leveled any serious criticism at Figaro. On the contrary, I judge it to be one of the great operas of one of the great composers. I confess to not understanding why some people have called it the most perfect work of art ever produced by mankind, or something like that, and I think skepticism and humor - as well as challenges - are appropriate reactions to such extravagant claims. In any event no one should feel bad for failing to venerate any work of art or artist, even one whose quality they can appreciate more objectively.
 
#36 ·
BBSVK said:
You are the second (edit: third) person on TC who admits being bored by Le Nozze di Figaro, or at least 3 hours of it being too much. So why is Mozart so sacro-sanct ?
Click to expand...
I personally don't consider any composer sacrosanct (in another thread composers like Mozart were referred to as a "saints") but he is a composer who has been acknowledged for a long time as one of the great composers.

Any individual who admits to being bored by one of his operas is stating a perfectly valid personal opinion. Nothing more nothing less.
 
#37 ·
There's no limit. I plan on writing an infinitely-long opera based on Marienbad, My Love. 😁

But seriously, I think any opera that needs more than one intermission is pushing it. If it's going to hold my attention, I agree that the ideal performance should be under 3 hours.
 
#39 · (Edited)
BBSVK said:
So why is Mozart so sacro-sanct ?
Click to expand...
(I'm not saying Mozart is overrated, but) I feel people should be given more variety of alternatives and discouraged from forming a religion around a single composer of that era. Haydn's Andromeda und Perseus, for instance, an opera a bit more than 2 hours long in duration, contains not a single throwaway number in terms of memorability of harmony and counterpoint imv. Eg. the effortless way to resolve tension @6:43 -
 
  • Like
Reactions: BBSVK
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
21 - 40 of 115 Posts
About this Discussion
114 Replies
40 Participants
Last post:
BBSVK
Classical Music Forum
posts
2.8M
members
47K
Since
2004
A forum community dedicated to classical music for musicians and other enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about composers, compositions, arrangements, collections, recordings, techniques, instruments, styles, reviews, classifieds, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Classical Music Discussion Classical Music Games and Polls Off Topic Pub Opera Non-Classical Music