What’s Opera, Doc?
Big voices, big egos, big emotions, big budgets: opera goes all out. And people’s opinions of it vary on a similarly grand scale. Although H.L. Mencken once opined that “the opera … is to music what a bawdy house is to a cathedral,” plenty of scholars consider opera the highest of highbrow art forms. While some radio listeners hasten to switch the channel if they happen on a Met broadcast, devotees of Wagner’s “Ring” cycle jet all over the globe to take in every possible incarnation of its fifteen-hour-long magnificence. Where on this spectrum do you fall?
For those who might find opera just plain intimidating, journalist and composer Matt Dobkin offers help with his informative and irreverent Getting Opera: A Guide for the Cultured but Confused. Dobkin provides a refreshingly accessible take on the world of opera in his 2000 book, which includes plot summaries, colorful anecdotes, lists of recommended recordings, and opera jokes.
Opera companies, too, have taken steps to draw in new audiences. When we made a long-awaited trip to the Santa Fe Opera recently, we experienced a state-of-the-art update to surtitles: translations displayed on small screens on the back of the seats in front of every patron. Your Italian’s a little spotty? No problem! Glance at the text (translated to the language of your choice), visible just below your sightline to the stage. Don’t want or need the words? Switch ’em off. What a fabulous feature, much less distracting than those giant screens hanging over the stage.
If you’re looking for yet another way into opera, there’s always the Looney Tunes masterpiece “What’s Opera, Doc?” Here’s an excerpt:
In constructing this puzzle, we included allusions to our personal favorites: Mozart, Puccini and Wagner. Here’s a fun, whimsically staged clip from the opera referenced in Answer A:
The placing of so many topical clues and/or answers adds to the enjoyment of solving these Acrostics. Encore!
Another opera-related Looney Tunes gem is “The Rabbit of Seville.” It’s set to the Rossini overture to his opera “The Barber of Seville.” Here’s a clip:
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lucXbsbRpw4
That is one fearsome looking Brünnhilde in your photo. No wonder Siegfried fell for her so hard.
As it happened, my ticket for Tristan und Isolde at the San Francisco Opera was the evening of Nov 5th. So even though many characters died, there was some very dynamic music and arias (and we all enjoyed the 4 1/2 hours avoiding election results). I do like the Ring Cycle, but don’t have to travel to see it with such an excellent company in our city. Our supertitles are projected on a strip at the top of the proscenium, making it possible to read the translation and still watch the action on stage. It’s not a giant screen, and personally, I would find the seat thing distracting. Oh, the puzzle… lots of fun. And Scarpia does deserve to get stabbed. Nice shout out for Marian Anderson.
Loving these acrostics…right up there with Hex quality. Thank you David and Jane!
Thank you Jane and Dave for another great acrostic puzzle! These are by far my favorite puzzles- crosswords, while they can be clever and challenging, seem dry and one dimensional by comparison. I wish these were published every week instead of every other, but I acknowledge that the wait probably enhances my delight when they finally do arrive. I’m also guessing it’s a lot harder to create an acrostic than a crossword, so perhaps that contributes to their relative scarcity? Given that I could never design either, my hats off to all puzzle makers,, but especially to these brilliant creators.
As someone who plays and listens to music, I’m always tickled when there’s a clue or two in my field of expertise- so today’s puzzle was particularly delightful. Not that it was entirely smooth sailing, but it was a quicker solve for me than most have been. “Cover of night” made me think it was related to the Queen of the Night aria; I’ve never heard of keelhauls; I confess to looking up the spelling for Nibelungen- but this was mostly a romp- and that’s a rarity for me!
Now the wait begins again- Spelling Bee and the crossword providing something to gnaw on in the interim, until once again I get to sink my teeth into the genuine article.
In the meantime I might have to take solace in listening to the exquisite Jessie Norman singing Mon coerced s’ouvre a ta void” from Samson and Delilah..
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Grrr- auto correct strikes again! *Mon coeur…” not “Mon coerced!!!
Thank you, solvers, for your enthusiasm! A funny coincidence that Diane B thought the clue for pajamas might be referencing the Queen of the Night, as our original thought about “pajamas” was indeed to make a nod to opera, but from a different work: something like “nontraditional costume for Bellini’s ‘La Sonnambula.'” We figured that many solvers could use their etymological knowledge to find their way to “sleepwalker” and go from there, guessing that she might typically wear a filmy nightie. I think our beta testers/editor found that approach to be too obscure/too much of a stretch.
Despite our selection for the photo atop this blog post and the Bugs Bunny angle, we do count ourselves as true opera fans.
After loving your Acrostics for several years now and finishing most of them, I am beyond delighted to have just found this page today. Always wanted to communicate with the brilliant creators of these puzzles that I do every two weeks. I have no idea how you do it!!
Specifics about current puzzle: I thought at first that pajama answer was blanket before correcting it. As always, loved the very amusing quote. At first had O-three blanks-a for first word and thought puzzle was about Obama, then realized there were several clues referring to opera.
You will hear from me again. In meantime, thanks for all you do!
Hi Naomi — welcome to our blogsite, and thanks for your kind words. We’re having a blast creating these acrostics and are so grateful to know that people like you enjoy solving them. We also appreciate getting feedback, which helps as we construct new puzzles. Come back and visit our site!
I will!!