Personally i like to see opera rather to simply listen at it, in that case i really appreciate subtitles, but if i "only" listen at it and concentrate on the music i make it without libretto.

 

I read the brief synopsis prior to listening to a given opera so that I have some idea of the over-all gist of the thing. My first hearings are generally played without looking at the libretto. I want to focus upon the music. Often this is true of a second hearing. Only after that will I listen while reading with the libretto... or preferably... if a good filmed version exists... I will watch that. From then on I tend to listen sans libretto or watch filmed versions.

 

I used to do that. . . and then about a year ago, a TC member getting me into Divina changed all that.

Once I heard Callas' '52 Armida, '53 Florence and '58 Dallas Medeas, and her '55 Karajan Lucia-- I scrupulously attended the libretto of any opera I was listening to.

I wanted to see and hear and understand for myself, just how much genius, insight, and artistry this woman brought to the table vis-a-vis any other singer out there.

Needless to say, I was stunned, overwhelmed, and long since afflicted with the Callas flu: other singers by way of comparison, beautiful though they may sound, are just leaden and earthbound in terms of expressivity, psychological insight, and drama.

The first operatic performance where I intensely followed every word of the libretto was the Callas '58 Covent Garden Traviata--- and her attending to every conceivable chance to add color to every syllable of text just absolutely leveled me into incoherent, deeply-sighing, blubbering rubble. . .

So yeah, I always listen to opera with the libretto directly in front of me. I want to be enveloped in the maximum psychological impact of the artistry. In so doing, you can really weigh and assay a truly magnificent artist (like Callas) from merely a very accomplished singer with a gorgeous technique and timbre (most everyone else).

 

I never listen with libretto in hand, but need to watch the opera on DVD with English subtitles enough to where I can listen on CD and have a good feel for where I am in the opera. The one exception is my copy of Flotow's Martha which does not have subtitles. I did read the libretto and so I know the story in general as I watch the DVD.

 

I usually listen a few times, in a 'backgroundy' way, without the libretto, just to get the feel of the work, and, then, once I feel prepped enough, I sit down with the libretto in hand and studiously follow along so that I can get a feeling for the storyline and its relationship to the music. Subsequent listens, I might refresh my recollection of the story with a glance at the synopsis before listening. I might go back to the libretto listen every couple of years, if the work is difficult to understand and I have not fully committed the story to memory (there's a lot more that happens than just what is brushed over in the synopsis).

I have found librettos online, when buying less expensive reissues, and, considering how rarely I do use one, it is possible to borrow an album from the library for the few nights I might need one.

While I recognize that opera should be seen, and it is an experience that one ought to indulge in at least once for each of the operas one has collected, I find that watching ties up too many of my senses and prevents me from going about my life. Were my experience and enjoyment of music tied to my visual sense, I would have very little time for music.

 

I read through the synopsis and then do have the libretto in hand the first time I'm hearing an opera just to give myself a sense of the plot. After that, I'll listen without the libretto.

 

I often have the no frills/deluxe edition dilemma and have bought very poor quality used copies just to get the libretto.

When I get a new opera I usually read the synopsis then listen without the libretto on ear-phones during my daily walk to and from work. I don't always have time at home to sit and listen with libretto in hand but do so whenever I'm travelling by train or plane.

I'll watch a DVD once I know the opera well and really enjoy watching with subtitles of the language in which it's being sung.

 

I read the libretto at first. Then I just listen, occasionally checking back.
But I've been listening for years. I know the story.
The less you do, the more you can concentrate on the music.

 

I've loved Callas for many years.
But sometimes I like to just listen to a beautiful voice.

 

There's lots of goddesses in the Pantheon. ;D

 

I'm assuming most of you opera fanatics wouldn't think of listening to a work without libretto in hand.

But I do. It's how I started enjoying opera, and I still love to only listen. I also enjoy concert opera performances.

 

it varies, but in general:
- as Brotagonist (post #5 para 1)

but I also agree with Marschallin and Greg as to the importance of connecting the drama to the music. Unfortunately, 'beautiful singing' on its own sometimes doesn't deliver sufficient satisfaction

 

Never, ever, ever do I sit and listen to operas with a libretto at hand. No more than I would take a script to a movie theater and sit there following it. Why would I want to? I know them by heart now and it would only become an exercise on a conscious level rather than through depth of feeling.
I prefer to be touched by a work rather than simply follow logically like reading a book. It takes all the emotion out of it for me.

 

Well, cheers to your polygloticity and to your photographic memory in remembering and understanding every word that is sung-- in arias, duets, trios, quartets, and quintets; and when they are additionally mixed with choruses and multiple people singing simultaneously.

I need the blonde-crutch of the libretto, myself. ;D

 

I certainly don't read the libretto when I'm attending a performance of an opera -- though there is probably a reason most houses of any size now have some form of supertitle translations available -- but I will definitely make use of it when listening for the first couple of times to a recording of an opera with which I'm unfamiliar. I'm afraid I also don't view the libretto as an "outside influence," but as much of a part of the opera as the music. That's especially true in the case of composers like Wagner who also wrote their own libretti.

 

Sospiro:
You said: "I'm really envious that you know them by heart. There are lots of even standard rep operas which I still don't know and it will take me years to become as knowledgeable as you."

My goodness! I certainly seem to have very innocently stirred up a hornet's nest.
I simply meant that I know the synopses of the operas I enjoy listening to by heart after all these years. Where does that show you that I am so "knowledgeable" about the art of opera?
Why is it bothering you and others that I prefer not holding something in my hands when I listen to an opera to really enjoy it to the fullest?
And Mr. Mitchell, I am sorry if you feel the librettist and the composer would think less of me for not wanting to follow the score and libretto as I enjoy my operas but it certainly won't impede my mode of pleasure.

I am not exactly sure where I have gone wrong in my statement of preferences here but it surely looks like from the quality of the posts so far that I am not respected for enjoying opera my way at all.
Sorry if I have offended any of you with my preferences but I do stand by them anyway.

 

By all means, enjoy listening to opera in any manner you choose. The same is true for the rest of us. But please take a look at your original post again.

"Never, ever, ever do I sit and listen to operas with a libretto at hand. No more than I would take a script to a movie theater and sit there following it. Why would I want to?"

Perhaps you didn't intend it to come across this way, but I think the reason some of us were bothered by it was what appeared to be the implication that there is somehow something "wrong" with wanting to follow along in the libretto while listening to an opera. Of course, there is absolutely nothing "wrong" with the way in which you prefer to listen, but neither is there anything "wrong" with those who have other preferences.

 

Mauer: You make a very good point. I keep forgetting that I am not face to face with someone and also that I am not familiar with any posters here on a personal level like in some other opera forums I frequent where they know me and would not have taken my "never evers" as a brash statement.
So I need to first apologize for what seemed like a pompous statement and second, I must learn to watch how I phrase things in the future with persons I do not know, especially when they cannot see my facial expressions that go along with the statement.
Thanks for the tip.

 

For me it depends on what stage of learning I'm in with the opera. With initial listens, the libretto is a major distraction. I'm a terrible multitasker but can access and memorize music very quickly. Once I know the music to my satisfaction, then I can add the libretto to gain a better understanding of how the themes/motifs are being used to match what's happening dramatically and lyrically. That's where the real payoff begins

 

I read the libretto first if I have the opportunity or try to find out as much as I can about the opera.
The reason I listen to an opera instead of seeing it is because I want to do something else at the same time for example reading posts on talkclassical.com.

 

I won't get to know an opera without knowledge of the libretto. I can't fully appreciate something sung in a foreign language without following a text with translation, or evaluate a performance by a singer unless I know what she's doing with the words. But with operas I know well, I can often do without the book. Missing a word or a line here and there isn't critical. I have dishes to wash and bills to pay.

 

Whilst I have some digitised opera for travelling (a 'complete Wagner') most of my listening is in my home-office from LP sets. The 'booklets' (24in x 12in, opened) often entice me to read the articles, look at the pictures and libretto. For the language learner, there's also the benefit of trilingual texts, even if the words may be archaic, poetic or loosely translated.

 

My opera experience has always been via the TV until going on this forum I didn't know CD's came with a libretto, I thought the CDs were for people who were more into the music and didn't mind about the story so much or really really knowledgeable people. I always watch my operas on TV with subtitles, it would drive me nuts not knowing what everyone was singing. When I do listen to opera on the radio its more of a in the background while doing something else on the computer sort of thing.

 

I'm music first; whatever the work is, the text comes last.

But for me the music and the quality of the acting-singing conveys a lot, non-specific though that really is it is quite enough, and that approach, no more than several listens in... if the sound and dramatic intent has come through enough (for me) that then impels me to know more specifically 'what is going on,' in detail... time for the text of that song, cantata, oratorio, the libretto of that opera (ditto story ballet libretti.)

So far, I don't recall any disappointments coming from this music first approach, i.e. if the sans libretto approach drew me in that far, I've usually found the text very fitting to what I've already heard, and that adds the other layer.

Being so music first, if that does not tell me enough, draw me in, the libretto could be one of the best and most engaging of dramas, but it will not improve what I found lacking in the music.

 

Most of I got from library DVDs, I do like to listening on BBC radio 3 operas is good choice nothing to complain about BBC radio 3

 

I usually read the synopsis before the performance. Sometimes I listen to a CD later.

 

Unless it's a world premiere (for instance, next month I will attend one: El Público, by Mauricio Sotelo, based on Lorca) I always prefer to get as much information as possible, preferably the libretto, before attending the performance, watching the tv/dvd or listening to radio/cd/bootleg.

Of course, many operas are very familiar by now, and I don't need any additional tool, just listening/watching them.

For me, it's also music first. But in order to fully experience the music, I always need to understand the drama, so I can focus my attention better.

 

If the opera is in a language I speak I don't need a libretto. When the operas were first performed the audiences were not given librettos - the assumption was they understood the words being sung.
My French is good enough to understand Carmen and other French operas and why would I need a libretto to listen to Midsummer Night's Dream? My Italian is not so good (and German, Russian etc non-existent) so I use librettos for those until I'm very familiar with them.
I sometimes hear arias or excerpts from operas on the radio or in recitals that interest me by the sound alone but I can't imagine listening to or attending the full opera without having read the libretto first to know what's going on.

 

Usually when I'm watching an opera I get off YouTube, I try to find a copy of the libretto. Especially if it's one I'm not familiar with. Often the videos don't include subtitles or have subtitles in another language. A copy is nice if I’m just listening, but I like to just listen to the music most of the time.

 

Usually when I'm watching an opera I get off YouTube, I try to find a copy of the libretto. Especially if it's one I'm not familiar with. Often the videos don't include subtitles or have subtitles in another language. A copy is nice if I'm just listening, but I like to just listen to the music most of the time.

Sometimes I go online to read the libretto through google translate.