Hi, Ardith Hinton!
I read your message from  16.04.2018 16:20
about What is an opera?.

 ak>> What is an opera?

 ak>> The correct answer: tI si a dnik fo tra erehw elpoep gnis sgnos
 ak>> retfa gnieb debbats ot htaed.

[It is a kind of art where people sing songs after being stabbed to death]

 AH> Heh. While I'm not a great fan of opera, it wouldn't surprise me if
 AH> they did. ISTR that in one of Shakespeare's tragedies... HAMLET or
 AH> MACBETH?... various people are mortally wounded & go on for quite
 AH> some time saying "Oh, oh, I'm dying!" In the English tradition
 AH> there are very few operas. Shakespeare's plays had some musical
 AH> accompaniment.

We probably should separate a classical opera from a theater performance. In
opera they sing everything, usually in classical way (like did Luciano
Pavarotti). For instance, in Russia there was even an opera about WW2, where
our pilot had been shot down and crashed into a deep forest, in winter. He sang
 his words, but the most funny thing was that a bear who wanted to eat him also
 sang his part. ;-)

 AH> More recently we've added plays in which (e.g.) John Wensleydale
 AH> says "I'm going to the bakery to fetch a loaf of bread" and then
 AH> bursts into song about how much he loves both the smell of fresh
 AH> bread & the baker's daughter, who works behind the counter.

It is probably a new, Broadway style opera.

 AH> But the Italian language sounds so musical already that it seems
 AH> natural for Giovanni Mascarpone to sing "I'm going to the bakery"
 AH> etc. Different language <-> different style.... ;-)

Was it an Italian opera?

Bye, Ardith!
Alexander Koryagin
ENGLISH_TUTOR 2018

--- Paul's Win98SE VirtualBox
 * Origin: Quinn's Post - Maryborough, Queensland, OZ (3:640/384)