"Operatunity" -- say it with me folks, "Operatunity." Not only is it a hilarious pun and lots of fun to say (go ahead, say it again), its also a BBC reality show from a few years ago that acts as a kind of American Idol for opera singers. My love for reality shows where people sing and/or dance has been proven before, but would I like a reality show where people sing opera? The answer: if I can say Operatunity a few more times, I love it.This show originally ran as a four or five part series, and was released on DVD with an additional "where are they now" episode. I saw a condensed version of the series on PBS the other night. Several things made it so much better than usual reality shows:
1. Everyone was a grown up.
2. No one tried to be mean -- they didn't show the "bad" performances (at least in this shortened version), and no one made snide comments.
3. Everyone was British and had nice accents.
4. No commercials (in the PBS version), so it didn't have that irritating build-up / re-cap cycle that so many reality shows fall into. This also resulted in much less filler.
5. The prize wasn't a million dollars or a recording contract or a new life, it was a chance to sing a role in a professional production of the English National Opera.
They ended up picking two winners who split the lead female role in Verdi's Rigoletto. I don't really know anything about opera at all, but they both did a really excellent job. And from what I can tell from their websites, they are both giving a go of singing careers and have each released solo albums.
The show also made me want to learn a little more about opera -- do any of you know anything about it? I saw a production of Carmen when I was in college that I liked, but I felt like I didn't know enough about it to really get everything that was happening onstage. Opera is kind of intimidating, but less so when you see nice grocery store cashiers, blind housewives, and investment bankers with British accents singing it.
2 comments:
I've also wanted to get into opera, but I could never find any good books that introduce it to someone that knows nothing about it. I picked up a couple at the library once that were supposedly intros to opera, and they didn't make any goddamned sense to me. I just wanted to know which operas kick the most ass.
I have that problem with classical music. I love classical music, but I only own a couple of things because I have no idea what's good and what I should buy. The problem is that most of the great composers died before recorded sound existed, so what's available is other people performing their stuff. What of that is worth buying, according to my specific tastes? Who the hell knows?
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