Today, the 25th of October, marks World Opera Day! It's a celebration of the birthdays of Johann Strauss Jr. (b. 1825) and Georges Bizet (b. 1838), composers of the world's most famous operetta, Die Fledermaus, and opera, Carmen, respectively.
How about your very first opera? Do you remember what that was? And where did you watch it? How did it make you feel?
Do you have one particular favourite opera you can never tire of? And did you watch Die Fledermaus? Or Carmen?
I invite you all to share your memories (and opinions) in celebration of this wonderful art form!
In celebration, OperaVision has a promising 7-part docuseries/ filmed performances in collaboration with some of the world's most prominent opera houses/ companies, available for free streaming until the 25th of April 2022, on:
https://operavision.eu/en/library/performances/young-artists/world-opera-day-2021
English subtitles are available.
How about your very first opera? Do you remember what that was? And where did you watch it? How did it make you feel?
The first opera I ever listened to in its entirety was "Rigoletto" but that was on CD. The first opera I ever saw performed in its entirety was "Boris Godunov" (on videotape). The first opera I ever saw performed live was "The Marriage of Figaro" done in Hungarian(!) at the Hungarian State Opera House in Budapest.
How did these make me feel? Well, Rigoletto was an insta-love for me. I also really enjoyed the music of Boris Godunov, but the staging of the Soviet-era production that I saw on video was dull and boring. And the "Marriage of Figaro" in Hungarian was an unexpected and wonderfully weird treat-- I had no idea that I was going to see a Hungarian language version of it!
How funny… my first live opera was also Marriage of Figaro. I was visiting the US for a conference, and went with two French colleagues. What a fabulous evening! All three of us were surprised to hear it sung in English, though.
(Hmmm… I’d rather like to hear Figaro sung in Hungarian 😊)
The first opera I saw (rather than merely heard) was Billy Budd. The start of a lifelong love of Britten's music.
There weren't many movies of operas in those days (late 1960s). I think(!!!) I saw the Russian movie of Lady Macbeth of Mstensk (Katerina Izmailova (1967) - IMDb) at around that time. I think I went into the cinema in a daze after a university exam and watched whatever was on; my memory is very hazy 
