How to appreciate opera (really)

by

Ruggero T. Ricordi

Many people will tell you they like opera without going into specifics. Apart from the few thousand opera buffs who never miss a performance, there mighty be millions of potential fans whose love of opera falls victim to the marketing strategies the music industry currently employs.

Folks with only a smattering of opera knowledge get burned by attending inadequate performances and/or inferior operas, or buying recordings that make them erroneously conclude that, even though some of opera sounds beautiful, it is generally not for them. Others get turned off when, thanks to opera’s powers-that-be self-defeating efforts, they assume that in order to really appreciate opera, one has to spend years studying and researching it. All those fears and unfortunate assumptions are swept away by ‘Getting Opera,’ an audio guide that teaches you to love and understand opera, all of it, in less than three hours. Amazingly, during that brief time interval, the author of this highly entertaining half-seminar, half-show, touches upon the entire history of opera; goes extensively into each of its three major periods; explains (in a humorous manner) what you, the listener, should look for in a performance, in great detail; illustrates his points with excerpts from various operas and pictures and lyrics in the brochure that comes with the package. By the time you’re done listening to the guide, you realize you know it all. You know exactly which shows to attend (and/or bring your date to); which recordings to purchase; which performances to avoid; and how to hold your own in a conversation about opera with anyone, including certified experts. On the product’s website, a hilarious (and telling) sample – a foretaste – is provided. You can download it for free. It illustrates the point Ricardo makes about tempi (the guide explains what tempi is, or should be; as a matter of fact, all opera terminology that you need to know in order to fully enjoy a performance is explained in such a way you will grasp it instantly). You may access the product page by following this link: Getting Opera (for real)

Ruggero T. Ricordi is the publisher of

Mighty Niche Books

, your ultimate source of exciting new literature. Among the titles currently available on the company’s site (in both print and electronic formats) are “The Kept Women of New Orleans”, “I Killed Marilyn”, “Admiral Diana”, “In Bed with the President”, “Jenna Jameson: the Chief of Two Dozen Hideous-looking Highway Robbers”, “Sleeping Beauty: the Real Story”, “A Fat Girl’s Guide to Thinness and Happiness”

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How to appreciate opera (really)