In today’s seminar, I learned a lot about something I honestly never thought I would understand: Opera. Not to sound immature or uneducated, but the thought of people yelling long words at each other in different languages wasn’t anything I thought I could understand. However, today’s class really shined a light on to what the art of opera is really about and what it consists of.

We began the class by speaking about the different ranges of voice for men. The lowest range for a man is bass, but a long time ago, young men would castrate themselves (ouch) for the sake of being able to sing higher. These young men literally devoted their entire lives to singing opera, and I find this dedication, although somewhat psychotic, to be respectable nevertheless. Next, we learned the two types of opera singing: Recitativo and Aria. Recitativo is moderately paced dialogue, usually used to explain part of the story or keep it rolling along. Aria, however, is when the singer is able to have his or her “time to shine” and show off what they can really do with their voice. I was especially impressed by opera singing after I was able to understand Aria. Most people, including myself, would hear opera singing and immediately just think of a man in a fluffy costume yelling FIGAROOOOOOOO for as long as he could. After learning the emotional passion that is contained in the aria, as well as the incredible strain the singers must put on their voices to maintain high notes with no amplification, I was definitely able to appreciate the opera much more.

Opera, like any other type of music, can also be about anything. Giovanni’s Catalog Aria tells a very lighthearted and humorous story about a promiscuous man who’s had relations with practically everyone in town. So, contrary to my previous beliefs, opera really isn’t just people in fluffy costumes singing gibberish in angry languages. The emotional element, as well as the physical demand, have definitely changed my opinion about opera.