For all his claims to be just a propagandist, [Bernard Shaw's] writing has an effect nearer to that of music than most of those who have claimed to be writing "dramas of feeling." His plays are a joy to watch, not because they purport to deal with social and political problems, but because they are such wonderful displays of conspicuous waste; the conversational energy displayed by his characters is so far in excess of what their situation requires that, if it were to be devoted to practical action, it would wreck the world in five minutes. The Mozart of English letters he is not – the music of the Marble Statue is beyond him – the Rossini, yes. He has all the brio, humor, cruel clarity and virtuosity of that master of opera buffa.

W.H. Auden

Tags: music mozart opera shaw rossini



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Having considered Handel's tumultuous opera career and his first term at Covent Garden in the 1730s, perhaps we may dare to suggest he was one of the foremost pioneers in establishing autonomy within the traditional system of music patronage, notwithstanding his efforts to become an independent impressario often proved disappointing.

E.A. Bucchianeri

Tags: opera classical-music composers covent-garden handel impressario music-patronage



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Handel's yearning for independence from the traditional chains of patronage and his persistence in monitoring his productions resulted with unique developments concerning Baroque 'opera seria'; however, paradoxically his personal obsession to obtain complete artistic freedom generated disastrous side-effects that eventually impeded the progress of opera in London.

E.A. Bucchianeri

Tags: music opera london classical-music patronage composers artistic-freedom covent-garden handel opera-seria



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It was nothing like Roxanne singing, where it seemed that everyone's heart would have to wait until she finished before it could beat again.

Ann Patchett

Tags: singing opera



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If it really was Queen Elizabeth who demanded to see Falstaff in a comedy, then she showed herself a very perceptive critic. But even in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Falstaff has not and could not have found his true home because Shakespeare was only a poet. For that he was to wait nearly two hundred years till Verdi wrote his last opera. Falstaff is not the only case of a character whose true home is the world of music; others are Tristan, Isolde and Don Giovanni.

W.H. Auden

Tags: shakespeare mozart opera wagner falstaff verdi



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What sort of person," said Salzella patiently, "sits down and writes a maniacal laugh? And all those exclamation marks, you notice? Five? A sure sign of someone who wears his underpants on his head. Opera can do that to a man.

Terry Pratchett

Tags: humor opera punctuation



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Love is a rebellious bird,
that nobody can tame,
and you call him quite in vain,
if it suits him not to come.

Ludovic Halévy

Tags: love opera



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Exposing impressionable young men to the glories of opera on their first evening at home with you tended to put the kiss of death on things, as Oliver, to his cost, had discovered over the years.

Anthony McDonald

Tags: love opera



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In 1857, Bizet departed for Rome and spent three years there. He studied the landscape, the culture, Italian literature and art. Musically he studied the scores of the great masters. At the end of the first year he was asked to submit a religious work as his required composition. As a self-described atheist, Bizet felt uneasy and hypocritical writing a religious piece. Instead, he submitted a comic opera. Publicly, the committee accepted, acknowledging his musical talent. Privately, the committee conveyed their displeasure. Thus, early in his career, Bizet displayed an independent spirit that would be reflected in innovative ideas in his opera composition.

[The Pearl Fishers - Georges Bizet, Virginia Opera]

Georges Bizet

Tags: talent music atheism hypocrisy atheist opera



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فرد تنها هنگامی احساس رهایی می کند که نه در قید احساسش باشد، نه منطقش

ایگور استراوینسکی
اپرای رکس پروگرس*

Igor Stravinsky

Tags: opera



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