Not exactly a meme but this reaction gif is perfect for Trovatore:

Speaking of Trovatore:

(Melisandre voice) The night is dark and full of terrors

"Shiiiiiireeee... Baggiiiiiiins..."

Ulrica must consult Satan privately

"You... shall not... PASS!"

 

When people started using the word "meme," I didn't know what they were talking about. I looked up "meme" and felt reasonably au courant. Now I'm confused again. I don't know what this thread is about. Don't tell me. I can force myself to be au courant only so many times before I forget my own name.

 

Somebody should create a meme to express this concept. It should include one of the golden age singers Woodduck adores, I suggest Flagstad as Brunhilde coupled with an image from a regie staging of the Ring. The caption would be: "I don't know what this production is about. Don't tell me. I can force myself to be au courant only so many times before I forget my own name."

N.

 

Opera Mime

 

When in the current Met staging of Ballo Renato walks up to Gustavo in plain view of everyone with a kitchen knife he isn't even trying to hide:

When Zurga decides to save the day:

 

And here I thought a meme was one of those people who wear striped shirts and always look like they're standing behind an invisible window.

 

Is there an adjective related to meme that describes something that is similar to a meme but not quite?

Memey?

N.

 

Memetic
Meme comes from Gene: hence Memetic like Genetic.

 

I've been inspired by this thread to create my first meme:

N.

 

Here's another one just for you Woodduck!

N.

 

I'm on a roll!

N.

 

I just can't stop now:

N.

 

 

Readymades are good too!

View attachment 113390

N.

 

Thanks for all the help. I still don't know what this is all about. Ignorance can be bliss.

 

a meme is basically a kind of satire popular among younger internet users. think political cartoons, but using other images to illustrate a point rather than drawing them yourself.

 

I dig it.

edit:

 

View attachment 113418

Like, I would say a joke format is a meme (in the original sense). Knock Knock! Who's There? It's a fill in your punchline thing.

Distracted Boyfriend is just a joke format. The medium is Image Macro rather than text (spoken or written).

Personified traditional staging is disappointed by Robert Wilson because he is thinking of using scary clowns instead. We find this funny because we've seen Robert Wilson stagings. And because we have to laugh at clowns or they'll hurt us.

Of course it might make more sense if Robert Wilson was every known for anything other than odd, minimalist, ritualized stagings with characters in over-the-top makeup. But we also know fans of traditional staging don't much care about actual history and going to be disappointed afresh every time. So we can take our amusement there.

But deep logic is not the point of these memes, and not necessarily at all important to how they spread. It's not an essay, it's a joke. And there aren't that many jokes about Robert Wilson's production styles (or similar topics) so we take what we can get.

And of course if I end up seeing Robert Wilson's Turandot in Toronto in October I'll be thinking of Distracted Boyfriend the entire time.

 

The tenor alignment chart

 

Boccanegra's reaction when he just found out Maria died and the chorus is like, congratulations you're Doge now:

Lady Macbeth planning the future:

Mezzo Best Friend: you shouldn't date the tenor, I have a terrible foreboding
Dumbass Soprano:

Rodrigo disarming Carlo:

Don Giovanni at every woman he meets:

 

This has been posted on TC before. But it works here, and I think it's hilarious

 

(I wish I knew how to do text shadow but hopefully readable)

 

A meme is still a meme if it dies immediately. Just like in biology a gene is still a gene if it isn't passed on.

Some of the ones showcased in this thread are in popular formats. I can't say how many variations I've seen on that stock photo image of the lady being upset at her plaid-shirted gentleman who is distracted by the passing lady in red (as seen here in a new variation by The Conte). This is a version of a well-accepted format, even if it is barely two years old and the original stock photo is not much over three years old.

And I think the internet use is quite related to what Dawkins meant, even "meme" in the internet sense represents a very specific example of the phenomenon. These image macros spread, combine, mutate, and compete against each other (effectively).

Sure, the new ones posted here may have a short life, but if someone found one particularly funny they may copy the image and share it via other social media outlets. And if the new people that see it like it, it could spread further. Where the meme is originally posted isn't what's important; the content is.

 

I'm really excited for the Wilson Turandot! As a Wilson fan, here's a more earnestly critical meme:

 

Soprano: I'm in love with the tenor. I absolutely can't stand that evil baritone. In fact I'd rather Die[SUP]TM[/SUP]

Also soprano when the tenor isn't there:

Tenor, sensing a disturbance in the Force:

The Prologue of Simon Boccanegra: a summary

 

 

After having seen more Trovatores than would be healthy here's the conclusion of my experiences:

 

Baritone vs. "baritone"

 

Baritone vs. "baritone"

View attachment 118703

THANK YOU! tenors singing baritone offend me so much

 

Nibelung Souls