I'm thinking about doing a year long study on opera...

[helena]

Next year I'll have a 13yo and an 11yo. What do you think? I'd love any and all suggestions. Websites, movies, books (a series would be nice), CDs, activities... I want to make a list of materials and ideas.

 

If I need to stretch it out, I'm thinking I could build up to opera. Maybe... instruments, orchestra, famous ballets (I have a few books I've been wanting to use on this), and then opera. I could also do composers, but we have always lightly covered that. I'd like to do something totally different next year.

 

This year our theme has been fairytales, and while it didn't pan out the way I thought it would, we have a much deeper understanding of the genre. I would love to do the same with opera (I think ballets would be nice too).

 

Soooo... any thoughts? :001_smile:

[shukriyya]

Mozart's 'The Magic Flute' is a wonderfully accessible opera and a great place to start. This version by the Met is absolutely stunning. The costumes and set are exquisite and the singing is spectacular, the best 'Queen of the Night' I've seen and Papageno and Sarastro are played with kinetic humor and sobriety respectively.

 

There is a nationally broadcast radio show every Saturday called 'Saturday Afternoon at the Met' that comes on around 1 pm EST and is a great way to develop a relationship with opera. They do a full-length live opera each week and during the intermission there is great q&a and discussion with various knowledgeable musicians, conductors, critics and opera buffs all of whom love their subject which communicates itself to the listener. I would think this would make for some great family discussion.

Edited March 21, 2012 by shukriyya

[lailasmum]

You could try looking on the websites of Opera houses, For example ROH, there are clips, a you tube channel, interviews and a ton of other stuff. There was also recently a BBC season on Opera. There were a few programmes, One was called Opera Italia presented by Antonio Pappano and Wagner and me presented by Stephen Fry.

 

You could also use something like the Penguin Concise guide to Opera by Amanda Holden

Edited March 22, 2012 by lailasmum

[Jenny in Florida]

Definitely check to see if any of these will be broadcast in your area:

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/liveinhd/LiveinHD.aspx

 

We've attended two or three a year for the last few years and just love them!

 

Oh, and you could listen to this podcast: http://www.wnyc.org/articles/music/2004/mar/02/the-ring-and-i-the-passion-the-myth-the-mania/

[Jenny in GA]

I taught music in the public schools and did a 6-week opera unit with my seventh graders. It was really fun. What was funny was how, on the first day of class, I would see most of the kids get a Look of Death on their face when I told them we'd be discussing opera, but the vast majority ended up really enjoying it.

 

I highly recommend Opera for Dummies. It's easy to read and comes with a CD and libretto -- the original with its English translation next to it. I would print them out and let the kids read along while we listened.

Also, the book has interesting info on the composers and basic synopses of many many opera plots.

 

Watch this and this with them.

 

Also, this one is fun, though not directly opera-related.

 

Another great book I used was The Lives of the Musicians: Good Times, Bad Times, and What the Neighbors Thought by Kathleen Krull.

 

Good luck, and let me know if you need anything else!

[helena]

Thank you everyone! I'm trying to finish up my work for the day so I can go through the links you provided and respond to each post.

 

I'm getting excited. My mind is spinning with possibilities. Also, it's making me think about how to wrap up our fairytale year. I'm starting to realize how the fairytales lead nicely into ballet and opera.

[*Jessica*]

Have you seen this Hansel & Gretel Learning About Opera Interactive?

[momto2Cs]

No advice, but that sounds awesome!

[Emerald Stoker]

nm

Edited November 21, 2012 by Honoria Glossop
had one more idea!

[helena]

Mozart's 'The Magic Flute' is a wonderfully accessible opera and a great place to start. This version by the Met is absolutely stunning. The costumes and set are exquisite and the singing is spectacular, the best 'Queen of the Night' I've seen and Papageno and Sarastro are played with kinetic humor and sobriety respectively.

 

There is a nationally broadcast radio show every Saturday called 'Saturday Afternoon at the Met' that comes on around 1 pm EST and is a great way to develop a relationship with opera. They do a full-length live opera each week and during the intermission there is great q&a and discussion with various knowledgeable musicians, conductors, critics and opera buffs all of whom love their subject which communicates itself to the listener. I would think this would make for some great family discussion.

 

 

I'll be checking out the radio program this weekend. :001_smile:

 

I looked through our library catalog and it turns out there's quite a few operas. YAY! A DVD could be a great way to finish each study.

[helena]

Oops!

[helena]

You could try looking on the websites of Opera houses, For example ROH, there are clips, a you tube channel, interviews and a ton of other stuff. There was also recently a BBC season on Opera. There were a few programmes, One was called Opera Italia presented by Antonio Pappano and Wagner and me presented by Stephen Fry.

 

You could also use something like the Penguin Concise guide to Opera by Amanda Holden

 

This is a great suggestion (and one I will definitely use :001_smile:)!! I watched some of the Youtube clips. I'm tingling all over thinking about this!!

 

Here is the show: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sll44. Do you know where I can watch it?

 

Hmm... maybe I should do a search on Netflix..:auto:

[helena]

Definitely check to see if any of these will be broadcast in your area:

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/liveinhd/LiveinHD.aspx

 

We've attended two or three a year for the last few years and just love them!

 

Oh, and you could listen to this podcast: http://www.wnyc.org/articles/music/2004/mar/02/the-ring-and-i-the-passion-the-myth-the-mania/

 

:party: It's in our town!

My opera loving mom is going to be soooo excited to share this with us. Actually I have to tell you... wait, here's a BIG thank you hug :grouphug:... my daughters have Tourette's which means (especially for younger) unwanted loud tics. My heart hurt deeply when I had to take her out of a Mary Poppins play when she was first diagnosed. We've attended other plays, ballets, and performances since then, but I'm always nervous about having to take her out or disturbing other peoples experience. Watching an opera at our theater (LIVE :party:) is such an exciting and do-able thought.

Thank you for the link! :grouphug:

[LittleIzumi]

Definitely check to see if any of these will be broadcast in your area:

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/liveinhd/LiveinHD.aspx

 

We've attended two or three a year for the last few years and just love them!

 

Oh, and you could listen to this podcast: http://www.wnyc.org/articles/music/2004/mar/02/the-ring-and-i-the-passion-the-myth-the-mania/

 

Oh my gosh, it's in our town too!!!!!! We can go to the OPERA with the baby still needing to come with us!!!! :party: :party: :party:

[helena]

Have you seen this Hansel & Gretel Learning About Opera Interactive?

 

Oh this is fun! I've been playing with it. :001_smile:

 

I found a list of recommended books on the website. I think I'll eventually go back and edit my OP to add a reading list. It might save someone the work if others want to give opera a try.

[helena]

No advice, but that sounds awesome!

 

I does, right?! :tongue_smilie:

My girl might be slightly turned off to the idea, but I know they're going to love it (hope hope).

 

I'll be sure to update and post book lists and links. Who knows... maybe you'll want to give it a try with the kids one of these years. :D

[Janice in NJ]

Hi Helena,

 

If you're interested in what The Met has to offer:

 

Information about the 2012-13 season is here:

http://www.metopera-digital.org/metopera/season201213#pg1

 

Information about the new productions is here:

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/news/features/new-production-videos.aspx

 

Info about the 2012-13 Live in HD Productions is here:

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/liveinhd/liveinhd1213.aspx?icamp=HD1213int&iloc=leftnav

 

You can order more information here:

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/utility/contact/request.aspx

 

Remember that not all opera is rated G. :001_smile: But many of them are still very accessible for kids.

 

Disclaimer: Dh works for the Met and is one of the folks that brings these productions to local theaters and to homes via the radio. As you might guess, opera has been a big part of our lives; my kids enjoy going. It's a treat.

 

Peace,

Janice

 

Enjoy your little people

Enjoy your journey

Edited March 26, 2012 by Janice in NJ

[stripe]

Sounds neat! I expanded my use of fairy tales this year thanks to you!

[helena]

Dear Helena,

 

What fun this sounds! You could indeed lead very naturally from a study of fairy tale to opera; I have a few repertoire suggestions, if that would be helpful.

 

The most obvious ones, of course, are Rossini’s La Cenerentola (Cinderella) and Humperdinck’s Hansel und Gretel (Humperdinck also wrote Koenigskinder, but that is much more rarely performed--I've never seen it), but there are lots of other operas with libretti containing elements reminiscent of fairy tales:

 

-Mozart’s Die Zauberfloete has already been mentioned (our favourite video performance is the Ingmar Bergman version, despite the oddness of getting used to Swedish lyrics!)

-Giancarlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors is a very kid-appropriate work

-If you don’t mind operetta, Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Sorcerer, Iolanthe, and Ruddigore all have fairy-tale elements (witches, fairies, ghosts, etc.)

-Georges Bizet’s Le Docteur Miracle is witty and rather sweet

-Benjamin Britten (whose centenary it will be next year, so you might be able to find some productions nearby) wrote several operas that might work for your project: Paul Bunyan, The Little Sweep, Noye’s Fludde, A Midsummer Night’s Dream...

-some of Haydn’s operas might work for you: Il mondo della luna or Orlando paladino, for instance

-ETA Hoffmann’s Undine

-Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Snow Maiden

-not quite the same thing, but you could try Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods

-Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Pilgrim’s Progress

-Maurice Ravel's L'enfant et les sortileges (please insert a grave accent on the first "e"! I can never figure out how to do that....)

-it's much deeper than a fairy-tale opera, but Beethoven's Fidelio should resonate with students steeped in those kinds of stories...

 

Oh, so many things you could do! If you decided to try works that take mythology as their starting point, then truly, you are spoilt for choice (nearly all early Baroque opera, essentially all of French grand opera, and so on....); or you could study the pastoral genre (lots of short 18th-century operas full of shepherdesses!), or Shakespeare operas (Verdi’s Macbeth and Otello and Bellini’s I Capuleti e I Montecchi, for example, among several others)....such richness!

 

If you live somewhere with an opera company, it’s so worthwhile trying to get to some live productions; film is wonderful, but there’s nothing like live performance.

 

A book (for you, not your kids, probably) that you might like is Joseph Kerman’s wonderful Opera as Drama.

 

Hope some of this helps!

 

Best,

HG

 

Thank you for taking the time to help me! This post is going to be a big help. I put Opera as Drama on hold at the library. Thank goodness I have all summer to figure out what opera is and how to present it to the kids. I hope you don't mind if I pick your brain again in the coming months. :001_smile:

[helena]

Hi Helena,

 

If you're interested in what The Met has to offer:

 

Information about the 2012-13 season is here:

http://www.metopera-digital.org/metopera/season201213#pg1

 

Information about the new productions is here:

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/news/features/new-production-videos.aspx

 

Info about the 2012-13 Live in HD Productions is here:

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/liveinhd/liveinhd1213.aspx?icamp=HD1213int&iloc=leftnav

 

You can order more information here:

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/utility/contact/request.aspx

 

Remember that not all operas is rated G. :001_smile: But many of them are still very accessible for kids.

 

Disclaimer: Dh works for the Met and is one of the folks that brings these productions to local theaters and to homes via the radio. As you might guess, opera has been a big part of our lives; my kids enjoy going. It's a treat.

 

Peace,

Janice

 

Enjoy your little people

Enjoy your journey

 

Thank you for the reminder Janice (and the links).

What do you think are the most enjoyable operas for kids?

:lurk5:

[helena]

Sounds neat! I expanded my use of fairy tales this year thanks to you!

 

Hey! That's cool!

 

I'm starting to get sad about ending the fairytale school year. I know they're madly in love with them and that we'll continue to read them. It was just a special kind of year, KWIM?

 

So, do you think you're going to be doing opera next year? :tongue_smilie:

[stripe]

So, do you think you're going to be doing opera next year? :tongue_smilie:

 

I confess I did go search for operas at movie theaters near me -- I had no idea this existed! ;)

 

I think we'll be reading folk and fairy tales for a while!

[sagira]

Check out this book, to introduce children to the stories in opera:

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1179900359/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

[PeterPan]

This is too good an idea to pass up! Gotta subscribe and keep track of this thread! :)

[helena]

Check out this book, to introduce children to the stories in opera:

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1179900359/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

 

My library has it! I just put it on hold.

Thanks :001_smile:

[helena]

This is too good an idea to pass up! Gotta subscribe and keep track of this thread! :)

 

And don't forget to add any book titles, links, CDs, or ideas you might come across. :001_smile:

[LucyStoner]

In addition to the Met live linked above, I would try and get to some live performances.

 

Is there an opera company near you at all? Seattle Opera gives away dress rehearsal tickets to schools/students. You may contact a company and ask to be included as homeschoolers.

 

Also, even if there is not an opera company near you, you may find that you can attend opera performances at local colleges with strong music programs.

[helena]

In addition to the Met live linked above, I would try and get to some live performances.

 

Is there an opera company near you at all? Seattle Opera gives away dress rehearsal tickets to schools/students. You may contact a company and ask to be included as homeschoolers.

 

Also, even if there is not an opera company near you, you may find that you can attend opera performances at local colleges with strong music programs.

 

Great idea! I'll definitely look into this.

I originally thought to do this because one of the girls BFs is studying opera. I really want to understand what we're watching when we go to see her perform and it's kind of a way to show support (and of course it's an exciting and worthy thing to learn :001_smile:).

 

I have a couple theater friends who's brains I can pick about where to find dress rehearsal shows...

 

Yes, this is at least one of our local opera companies: http://www.losangelesopera.com/index.aspx. I'd love to hear about any others in the LA, OC, and SD areas. :bigear:

[stripe]

So, do you think you're going to be doing opera next year? :tongue_smilie:

I think I might do ballet or maybe puppet shows. I tried to have my kids watch a Don Quixote ballet, and we have the Peter Rabbit ballet too, and I am not sure they are that into it. Hmm. So I think singing in another language will be too much for them! But as a side activity, not as a main study. Your girls are older than my kids.

Edited March 26, 2012 by stripe

[Lizzie in Ma]

http://www.amazon.com/STORIES-FAVORITE-OPERAS-CLYDE-ROBERT/dp/1179900359/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332850806&sr=1-2

 

I was lucky to pick this up at a used book sale. It's lovely.