Milan Opera???
#9
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Hmmm. I wonder if that really means 145 minutes "not counting" the intermission?
I'm with DRJ on this. Not at La Scala but anywhere in Europe the interemissions seem endless to me. At Royal Opera House in London I felt we could have gone out for a nice dinner during intermission and made it back for the second act.
I'm with DRJ on this. Not at La Scala but anywhere in Europe the interemissions seem endless to me. At Royal Opera House in London I felt we could have gone out for a nice dinner during intermission and made it back for the second act.
#11
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Hi!
Thanks for all of the replies. I have decided to see Dido and Aeneas on July 8th. The tickets arn't for sell yet so they don't have any information on how long the opera is going to be. I am thinking of maybe spending the extra money and getting a hotel room. I am so excited. I have always wanted to go to the opera.
Thanks!
Thanks for all of the replies. I have decided to see Dido and Aeneas on July 8th. The tickets arn't for sell yet so they don't have any information on how long the opera is going to be. I am thinking of maybe spending the extra money and getting a hotel room. I am so excited. I have always wanted to go to the opera.
Thanks!
#12
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Kimknight, I don't like to rain on your parade, but "Dido and Aeneas" is an early opera (by Purcell). It's an acquired taste, and not a very good introduction to the operas of later centuries that constitute the standard repertoire. If you can, go for something by Puccini or Verdi or Rossini. "Lucia di Lammermoor" by Donizetti is also a bit special, being "bel canto".
#13
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Kimberly - How exciting! This looks like an interesting opera.
I found several websites that say it runs 60 minutes and here is one:
http://www.classiccat.net/purcell_h/626.htm
How are you reserving tickets? If you search for La Scala on this Fodors talk-site you can locate a thread I recently posted about how my DW and I were able to obtain our tickets online, when they went on sale.
VS
I found several websites that say it runs 60 minutes and here is one:
http://www.classiccat.net/purcell_h/626.htm
How are you reserving tickets? If you search for La Scala on this Fodors talk-site you can locate a thread I recently posted about how my DW and I were able to obtain our tickets online, when they went on sale.
VS
#15
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I never said that there was anything wrong with bel canto, but it's certainly not the only kind of Italian opera. Personally, I'm not fond of the florid detail of bel canto; I prefer the expressive range of Verdi or the verismo of Puccini. Rossini's "Barbiere di Siviglia" and "Otello" are great comic and tragic operas, respectively. But if I had to choose a favorite "Italian" opera, it would be Mozart's "Don Giovanni".
#18
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I am confused... What does Bel canto mean? What makes Dido and Aeneas so different? The reason I wanted to see this opera is because I will already be in Milan on this day.
Thanks! :0)
Thanks! :0)
#19
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To grossly over-simplify: Bel canto ("beautiful singing" is a style of opera that is rather ornamented and fluid. The most famous bel canto composers are probably Rossini and Donizetti in the 19th century. Purcell composed more than a century before those composers: his music is English baroque in style and Dido & Aeneas, naturally enough has a very different dramatic style than later Italian grand opera (maybe you could call it stiffer or more classical) as well as English libretto.
If you just want to see an opera at La Scala, none of this may metter. Otherwise, you should probably go to the library and borrow recordings or videos of both and see which appeals to you.
If you just want to see an opera at La Scala, none of this may metter. Otherwise, you should probably go to the library and borrow recordings or videos of both and see which appeals to you.