After watching so much opera in and out of class, I have come to see that the Opera can be a way of life. I could see how someone so immersed in the Opera culture could come to live, think, and dream in an opera-style. Imagine how funny that would be if you were at school and your best friend lied to you and suddenly twenty people behind you angrily began singing Italian Opera at the top of their lungs? It's so unrealistic, but can be very entertaining.
The film The Birth and Life of Opera did not captivate me as much as Madama Butterfly but still sent out a good message. After opera was "born" in Florence and in Verona, 10,000 people a night would flood into the arena to experience the opera. The movie describes the opera as the "fusing of music with universal stories and ideas".
During the film, different examples and clips are shown to further explain the history and development of different kinds of operas. My favorite part was the part on Monteverdi and the Italian revolution he was a part of, turning opera into national propaganda. The phrase "viva verdi" was graffitied all over the streets, which could be translated to "love live Victor Emanuel, king of Italians". Opera began to give people a send of unity and nationalistic pride, and this idea was used by Wagner in his operas. Wagner was also responsible for the Ring Cycle.
Whether one loves the opera or not, it is undeniable that opera can be an escape from ones own reality into another, no matter how dramatic the plot is. Opera is filled with passion, love, and drama, giving it life.
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