Opera Has a Chance - Der Freischütz

Because my latest Great Course is "How to Listen to and Understand Great Music," I am being exposed to opera. As I've been taking the course, I've tried to keep an open mind, because in my life so far I've never really felt any interest in opera, but I've also given it very little chance. (I've seen a marionette version of The Magic Flute in Austria, and an English version of the same opera at Luther once [I think] but that might be the extent of my previous experience with opera.)

Well, the most recent lesson I finished was the third in a series about various 19th century opera forms. The first two really didn't do anything for me, but in the description of 19th Century German Opera - Nationalism and Experimentation, Dr. Greenberg pointed out that the opera houses of the 19th century were the Industrial Light and Magic of their time. They could, without electronics, create sets and special effects that gave people experiences unavailable anywhere else. German Opera started creating stories which dealt with mythic good vs. evil storylines and fantastic settings. The example, which apparently marked the beginning of the genre, was Der Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber.

Well, as part of the lesson, I first got to hear the story told by "The Wolf's Glen Scene" and then heard the scene, in its entirety. The music was captivating and dramatic. The singing didn't sound "operatic" -- that is, it didn't sound like singers just trying to perform vocal tricks -- it sounded like sung acting. And there were spoken parts. I could picture the scene, and I found myself wishing I could actually see it. (I wonder if the DVD version of the course includes video of the scene as well.) Sure, it was still hard to follow in some sense because I don't know the German language, but with the preparatory English reading of the scene, I did manage to recognize most of it, and had I been watching it, I bet I would have done even better.

On the other hand, previous lectures had the final scene from Aida, which sounded good when described, but didn't really grab me just listening to the music, and the opening scene of Don Giovani, which sounded more like vocal exercises and melodrama than music I want to listen to or acting I'd find convincing.

Still based on what I heard from Der Freischütz, it's possible that some opera will be worth my trying at some point.

Next on the schedule, a lesson on Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. Should be interesting!