YASH THAKAR

Interesting Facts about
Opera
1. The term “opera”
comes from the Latin
opus, or “work.” The
term “soap opera” was
first recorded in 1939
as a derogatory term
for daytime radio shows
that were sponsored by
soap manufacturers.f
2. The famous proverb
“the opera ain’t over
‘til the fat lady sings” in
reference to buxom
Brunhilde’s 10-minute
aria at the end of
Wagner’s Ring cycle
operas is usually
attributed to pro
basketball coach Dick
Motta, who in turn
attributes it to San
Antonio sportswriter/
broadcaster Dan Cook,
who says he overheard
a friend say it.a
3. Richard Strauss’ 1905
opera Salome (“zahl-
oh-may”) about Salome
and John the Baptist
was so graphically
violent that it was
banned at the
Metropolitan Opera in
New York for decades.
It includes incest,
nudity, murder, and a
dramatic scene where
Salome kisses the lips
of John the Baptist’s
severed head.h
4. In 1994, Warner
Brother’s 1957 classic
“What’s Opera, Doc?”
featuring Elmer Fudd
chasing Bugs Bunny in a
parody of Richard
Wagner’s Ring cycle
operas, was voted #1
of the 50 Greatest
Cartoons. It was also
deemed “culturally,
historically, or
aesthetically significant”
by the Library of
Congress and was
selected for
preservation in the
National Film Registry.c
5. When the notorious
soprano Francesca
Cuzzoni refused to sing
the aria “Falsa
immagine” from
Handel’s Ottone, Handel
grabbed her by the
waist and swore he
would throw her out
the window if she did
not agree.c
6. In eighteenth-century
opera seria (serious
opera), the main
singers would stand in
ballet’s third position,
with bent, bowlegged
knees and heels
together, with one
ankle in front of the
other. They remained
in that position the
entire song.j
7. During the seventeenth
century, women were
not allowed to sing
onstage, not even in a
chorus. Castrated
males, or castrati,
would sing the soprano/
mezzo/alto parts. The
first of the great
castrati was Baldassare
Ferri (1610-1680). He
was so famous that the
town’s people met him
three miles outside the
city and filled his
carriage with flowers.e
Opera composers
would sometimes
hire a group of
people to cheer their
works or boo the
works of their rivals
8. Opera composers would
sometimes hire a group
of people to cheer their
works or boo the works
of their rivals. This
group was called a
claque (clapping) and
was common at
European opera
performances.h
9. The first performance
of Puccini’s opera
Madama Butterfly was
one of opera’s all-time
worst flops. The
audience made bird,
cow, and goat calls and
booed. Madama
Butterfly, however,
became one of the
best-loved operas in
history.j
10. After hearing of
scandolous behaivor at
the Tor di Nona in
1697, Pope Innocent
XII (1615-1700)
decreed the opera
house immoral and
ordered it to be burned
to the ground.c
11. Jean-Baptiste Lully
(1632-1687) is
considered the father
of French opera,
though he was actually
born in Italy. He
pioneered the concept
of the conducting stick
but, unfortunately, he
hit his own foot with a
heavy conducting staff.
His foot became
gangrenous, ultimately
killing him.c
12. When Charles Gounod’s
(1818-1893) opera
Faust wasn’t selling
tickets, the producer
gave away tickets for
the first three
performances to people
out of town and
declared the
performances were
sold out. Wondering
what all the fuss was
about, the public began
buying tickets, and
Faust became a hit.j
13. The founder of German
opera is Christoph
Willibald von Gluck
(1714-1787) who was
a major force in moving
opera away from
unnatural and dramatic
practices to more
realistic performances.
He influenced greats
such as Mozart and
Wagner.i
14. Mozart wrote his first
opera, Bastien und
Bastienne, a parody of
Jean-Jacques
Rousseau’s operatic
intermezzo Le devin du
village (The Village
Soothsayer), when he
was only 12 years old.l
15. Beethoven wrote only
one opera, Fidelio, a
fiercely humanistic
opera. He worked on it
for 11 years, revising it
over and over again. It
was produced in 1805,
just as his deafness was
plunging him into
depression.j
16. Richard Wagner’s
“Walkürenritt“ (“Ride
of the Valkyries”) from
Die Walküre (The
Valkyrie), which
debuted in 1870, is
extremely popular in
movies and TV shows,
most notably in
Apocalypse Now when
U.S. soldiers blast this
music from their
helicopters to terrify
the Vietnamese.c
17. Wagner revolutionized
opera by disposing of
existing operatic rules
and structures. He also
created the
“Leitmotif” (or leading
theme), which is a
musical theme that is
associated with a main
character. For example,
in Star Wars, there is a
different musical theme
associated with Princess
Leia, with Luke
Skywalker, with Obi-
Wan Kenobi, and with
Yoda.d
18. After an opera, it is
appropriate to yell
bravo for a man and
brava for a woman. If
you want to cheer for
two or more singers,
use the plural form,
which is bravi. If the
group consists only of
women, yell brave
(BRAH-vay).k
Whistling at many
European operas
actually means
“boo!”
19. Whistling at many
European operas
actually means “boo!”k
20. The La Scala Opera
House (inaugurated in
1778) in Milan, Italy, is
famous for having the
hardest-to-please
audience in opera. The
audience has been
known to make a
performer keep singing
until he or she “gets it
right.”c
21. Opera’s origins are
typically traced to the
dramas of ancient
Greece, though the
Egyptians had been
performing the Heb-
Sed (or Feast of the
Tail) for 2,000 years
previously. The Heb-
Sed evolved into
Passion Plays in which
the Egyptians acted out
stories from Egypt’s
glorious past set to
music and singing.h
22. Medieval Easter and
Christmas plays, which
were performed to
music, are considered
precursors to opera.
The most famous of
these pre-operatic
church dramas is the
Quem Queritis (“Whom
do you seek?”) play
about a group of
women who go to
Christ’s tomb to anoint
his body. As these plays
evolved, they became
more theatrical and less
religious.h