My one and only chance to make $$$ singing was, I was offered a spot in the chorus for The Flying Dutchman with San Jose Opera. They need a LOT of men for that.
I was already signed up to be Assistant Stage Manager for another show, but I suppose I could have backed out. So I listened to the opera again, just to confirm for myself that I don't like Wagner.
Indeed I don't. The fact that the chorus would be on stage at the beginning AND the end, so we couldn't leave, clinched it for me: thank you, but No.
It just seems to me like the music doesn't go anywhere. There's no accounting for taste, I guess.
I was thinking of something general like 'classical-vocal' - I've been listening to Bach lately, so I know of cantatas at least. Opera suggestions are much appreciated.
The unchallenged champion of classical vocal, not opera, is Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Especially Schubert.
My favorite story, which this doesn't quite repeat, is that he was a German prisoner in an American POW camp after WW II, and the guards discovered his singing talent. (this story does have the POW stuff, but not his discovery. Maybe that's an urban myth.)
If you use Spotify, I'd recommend searching for "Opera Explained" by David Timson.
A number of popular operas are in the series, and Timson is excellent at giving a colourful bio of the composer, plot synopsis, and excerpts plus discussion of the famous arias.
You'll find famous operas from Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi, Puccini, Wagner, Rossini, Strauss, and even operettas by Gilbert and Sullivan. Very well made, and highly recommended.
“You don’t have to be crazy to enjoy Wagner, but it helps” because he was mad, his greatest supporters were mad, and his fanbase remains obsessive if not mad :)
I was already signed up to be Assistant Stage Manager for another show, but I suppose I could have backed out. So I listened to the opera again, just to confirm for myself that I don't like Wagner.
Indeed I don't. The fact that the chorus would be on stage at the beginning AND the end, so we couldn't leave, clinched it for me: thank you, but No.
It just seems to me like the music doesn't go anywhere. There's no accounting for taste, I guess.