Some of you know that my wife and I are opera fans, and today's tidbit
is interesting to me personally. On October 22, 1883, the Met Opera
House in New York opened. The first production was Faust, by Charles
Gounod, a French composer. Faust is a Grand Opera, meaning that
everything, including normal conversation between the actors, is sung.
It has 5 acts, including a ballet scene, and is expensive to produce,
and the ballet scene is frequently not performed because of this. It
is the eighth most frequently performed opera at the Met, with 747
performances through the 2011-2012 season. It has been translated into
25 languages.
Anyway, Gounod is known for Faust and also for Romeo and Juliet, an
opera based on the Shakespeare work, which we saw last year at the
Verona Opera Festival; the opera's are performed outdoors, in a Roman
Coliseum, starting around 9pm, and go on until 1am or so. The
Colisuem was built around 2AD. Its in pretty good shape; hope my
house lasts that long!
One of Gounod's most famous work is Ave Maria, one of the most beatiful songs ever. You can hear it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0o9ku8yw4U
An extraordinarily good version of the Schumann version is at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Another interesting fact: Gounod wrote a piece called "Funeral March
of a Marionette." It was the theme for the old TV series "Alfred
Hitchcock Presents."
is interesting to me personally. On October 22, 1883, the Met Opera
House in New York opened. The first production was Faust, by Charles
Gounod, a French composer. Faust is a Grand Opera, meaning that
everything, including normal conversation between the actors, is sung.
It has 5 acts, including a ballet scene, and is expensive to produce,
and the ballet scene is frequently not performed because of this. It
is the eighth most frequently performed opera at the Met, with 747
performances through the 2011-2012 season. It has been translated into
25 languages.
Anyway, Gounod is known for Faust and also for Romeo and Juliet, an
opera based on the Shakespeare work, which we saw last year at the
Verona Opera Festival; the opera's are performed outdoors, in a Roman
Coliseum, starting around 9pm, and go on until 1am or so. The
Colisuem was built around 2AD. Its in pretty good shape; hope my
house lasts that long!
One of Gounod's most famous work is Ave Maria, one of the most beatiful songs ever. You can hear it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0o9ku8yw4U
An extraordinarily good version of the Schumann version is at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Another interesting fact: Gounod wrote a piece called "Funeral March
of a Marionette." It was the theme for the old TV series "Alfred
Hitchcock Presents."
No comments:
Post a Comment