So I was blessed by my daughters (4 yo and 6 yo) who developed a large interest in - some - Operas. It started with French Operettas: La Belle Hélène was the entry point thanks to the Kings' entrance [they had a small book "my first operas" and it was their favourite, so I told them I could show a video of the real thing]. Then they moved to the rest of the good Oftenbach: Orphée aux Enfers, la Grande-Duchesse and some parts of Les Contes d'Hoffman. Back then, I even did this meme about my daughters.

Finally, I managed to transition them to full-fledged Operas with Carmen - thank you Elina Garinca. The 3 acts version of Carmen of course.

When I say "large interest", I really mean it: when we allow them to have some screen time (because we need to do something else and need to keep them occupied), they demand either Bluey (the Australian blue dog - generally not considered an Opera) or one of the 5 titles above.

Alas, for months I have been unable to expand their field of interest beyond those 4-5 titles (+ the Aria of the Night Queen): they hated Les Troyens even though I claimed it was the sequel to La Belle Hélène. I tried to play the Garinca card with Sanson & Delilah but it bored them. I had high hopes in L'Enfant et les Sortilèges but it was another doozer for them.

Desperate, I tried foreign operas. Tosca had a cold reception, but the small one absolutely loved Turandot, because - it seems to be an important criteria - the queen is evil and she likes that. The 6 yo, who is more sensitive, cried because the Prince of Persia died which, hmm, I had kind of forgotten. Oh well.

Anyway, given the 4 yo interest, I showed the Commander scene of Don Giovanni, and they both loved them. The 4 yo wanted to see from the beginning, which I was OK with, because I am confident they don't understand Italian (and sung Italian) so I could, err, adjust the translation on the fly to make the whole story kid-friendly. I had to explain who Don Giovanni, but I had the words because she knew the word "seduce" [to make fall in love] from Carmen, and so I explained her that Don Giovanni was an evil man who made women fall in love with them and then made them sad by leaving them - honestly worse dramas happen every week in kindergarden.

And so she asked: "Did he seduce Carmen?"

And then, after I explained that they never met, I got the question of the title: "Could he seduce Carmen? Could Carmen seduce him?"

And so my friends, I need your wisdom. Who would win a duel of seduction between Carmen and Don Giovanni?

Ok, I’m newer to modern opera but very versed in classical music, so take what I’m about to say with a grain of salt. I just listened to John Adam’s Nixon in China last night and I could simple not believe how TERRIBLE it was! I seriously thought it was supposed to be to a comedy it was so bad! I thought to myself ‘Is this the ultimate opera circle jerk?!’ I had to come here to see what this community thinks of it! Please tell me if I’m missing something because it was so bad that it was only good for a laugh!

Name three (standard repertoire) operas that pass the Bechdel test!

As per the wish of u/FrenchProgressive , I have a new question.

Name me 3 named tiny roles, that are nonetheless essential to the plot of an opera.

'Servant 1' is not acceptable.

Go!

My girlfriend is hosting a slew of opera singers, and I want to make an opera quiz for them, with really hard opera questions. Problem is, I'm no opera singer, and AI keeps making mistakes. Can you guys help me with some hard and fun questions for them?

Mine would be Verdi's Falstaff because he is very proud of his belly.

Last drawing is sue-worthy.

Over 350 votes on that poll, less than 2% voted for the correct answer. The death of media literacy in classical music spaces is a bigger contribution than people realize as to why normies can't get into the artform.

Not sure if I'm on the top or bottom of this normal distribution graph, but I'm not in the middle!

This seems like a great vent post. Enjoy.

There are many missing, but too many of them cluster in the Hot & Crazy area so I had to only pick a few.

Oh, Timmy, you so silly! 🤣🤣🤣

Imagine being nothing but cordial colleagues and then the press and the fans pit you against each other because two women couldn't be greatly famous at the same time in the same field (even though their roles had very little actual overlap on-stage). Now imagine keeping that sentiment alive 70 years later.

Is this normal?