Klarinet Archive - Posting 000560.txt from 2004/10

From: "Patricia A. Smith" <arlyss1@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Learning to appreaciate opera and its music; was, Opera productions
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2004 07:31:47 -0400

Bill Hausmann wrote:

> I became a fan of both classical music and big band jazz (yes, it was
> "pop" music in its day, but the best pop music ever) through
> exploration of the records in my folks' closet. I never did learn to
> appreciate opera, maybe because they had no opera records. Of course,
> I also listened to the pop music of my own generation (in the 1960's),
> but quickly determined that it was considerably inferior to what I was
> already enjoying. Why bother with dumbed-down, oversexed versions of
> opera or other serious music when the originals are compelling enough,
> if you can only get kids EXPOSED to the originals in the first place?
> Unfortunately, it does not happen in the schools, and few parents do
> it, either.
>
I definitely think opera IS an acquired taste. Sometimes, I think we'd
be better off introducing the kids to a composer such as Rossini, whose
operas, though perhaps not "great" compositions in the way Mozart's
were, can come off as being more accessible to those who come from a
mostly pop background. Not only do Rossini's operas have amusing,
convoluted storylines that are easily related to today's soap operas and
prime-time teen dramas; the music is technically FUN to play! I love
Italian in Algiers and Barber of Seville, the overtures of which I was
introduced to, as band transcriptions while in high school! The music
itself is highly thematic, and the teacher can assist students in
listening for instruments, and for themes, which they can associate with
the action of the plot and characters.

Mozart's operas, OTOH, were something I really needed to be older to
truly appreciate. Magic Flute is some of the most gorgeous music;
however, the storyline, rife as it is with Masonic symbolism, does not
lend itself to teaching purposes in a public school environment, IMO.
The complexities of the imagery are simply more to explain than most
public school teachers can give justice to in one hour of instruction
per week.

Patricia Smith

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