One-line plot summaries
Lyle K. Neff
A couple years ago (maybe) there was some sort of thread somewhere
(r.m.o., Opera-L, or other) in which the suggestion (or challenge?) was
made to summarize the plots of operas in one sentence. The only one I
caught was this synopsis for "Pelleas and Melisande":
"Nothing happens, and then Melisande dies."
Does anyone have other such pithy summaries? Or could these be in a
book by now?
Thanks.
Best,
Lyle K. Neff
mailto:ln...@indiana.edu -- mailto:ln...@udel.edu
http://php.indiana.edu/~lneff/ -- http://copland.udel.edu/~lneff/
james jorden
Lyle K. Neff wrote:
--
james jorden
jjo...@ix.netcom.com
http://www.parterre.com
"Gay people not only keep opera going,
they keep plays about opera going."
--- Bette Midler
JDavis6627
>caught was this synopsis for "Pelleas and Melisande":
>
> "Nothing happens, and then Melisande dies."
>
>Does anyone have other
La Forza del Destino:
"Everything happens, then Leonora dies"
Jon Davis
The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody
appreciates how difficult it was.
Christina West
"Lyle K. Neff" <ln...@udel.edu> wrote:
> this synopsis for "Pelleas and Melisande":
> "Nothing happens, and then Melisande dies."
> Does anyone have other such pithy summaries? Or could these be in a
> book by now?
'The Ring' - "Everything happens and everyone dies"
The following are how they moght be summarised in the headlines of
'The Sun' (substitute your own gossip rag):
'Butterfly' - "Cheap chap jilts Jap"
'Trovatore' - "Count lies, brother cries, diva dies, gyspy fries"
'Traviata' - "Top tart 'dying for true love'"
--
Christina West
xina on IRC
Email: xi...@argonet.co.uk
Web: www.argonet.co.uk/users/xina/
JessyesFan
Miss V
jjo...@ix.netcom.com wrote:
> "Wozzeck eats peas and stabs his mistress."
>
> Lyle K. Neff wrote:
>
> > Hello,
> >
> > A couple years ago (maybe) there was some sort of thread somewhere
> > (r.m.o., Opera-L, or other) in which the suggestion (or challenge?) was
> > made to summarize the plots of operas in one sentence. The only one I
> > caught was this synopsis for "Pelleas and Melisande":
> >
> > "Nothing happens, and then Melisande dies."
> >
> > Does anyone have other such pithy summaries? Or could these be in a
> > book by now?
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
> > Best,
> >
> > Lyle K. Neff
> > mailto:ln...@indiana.edu -- mailto:ln...@udel.edu
> > http://php.indiana.edu/~lneff/ -- http://copland.udel.edu/~lneff/
>
> --
> james jorden
> jjo...@ix.netcom.com
> http://www.parterre.com
>
> "Gay people not only keep opera going,
> they keep plays about opera going."
> --- Bette Midler
>
>
My website; http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Arc/4489
Message board for Jessye Norman fans;
http://www.insidetheweb.com/mbs.cgi/mb279427
Lesbian board; http://www.insidetheweb.com/mbs.cgi/mb279398
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sho...@ibm.net
appeared in this NG a year or two ago:
He lives in a loft in Paree,
She comes in and loses her key.
They go to town and they sup,
Fall in love, and break up,
And then Mimi dies of TB.
JC LONDON
http://members.aol.com/jclondon/index.html - may be of interest.
Marcia Dietrich
Great Operas in Ten Minutes"? It is pretty funny and has a death tally
that _The Ring_ adds to substantially. Flashes keys words at the end of
each summary like "Murder!" "Adultry!" "Incest!"
Marcia
LuciaMim
LuciaMim
>Date: Thu, Feb 18, 1999 18:16 EST
Marcia:
Sounds wonderful, but I've given up on PBS here. Where are you located?
Apparently your PBS station shows more than re-re-re-repeats of 3 Tenors and
Bocelli as their nod at "Opera" I remember the "olden days" (actually not so
very long ago) when I was treated to concerts of music by Schubert, Wolf,
et.al. from Vienna. Now my only hope is the Classic Arts Showcase.
And writing or withholding funds does not help. Apparently the Bocelli fans
have more money to spend. (Didn't someone do a study/documentary on teen-agers
having more money to spend than any other group - or some such like nonsense?)
Best wishes,
Mimi
Lis K. Froding
KPR...@prodigy.com (Marcia Dietrich) wrote:
>Have any of you seen the short bit on PBS called something like "All the
>Great Operas in Ten Minutes"? It is pretty funny and has a death tally
>that _The Ring_ adds to substantially. Flashes keys words at the end of
>each summary like "Murder!" "Adultry!" "Incest!"
Yes, have seen it a couple of times. I think the operas get rated
depending on how many of those hot items appear in them. It's pretty
funny and sums it up in a nutshell.
Lis
Skip
Mark D. Lew
KPR...@prodigy.com (Marcia Dietrich) wrote:
> Have any of you seen the short bit on PBS called something like "All the
> Great Operas in Ten Minutes"? It is pretty funny and has a death tally
> that _The Ring_ adds to substantially. Flashes keys words at the end of
> each summary like "Murder!" "Adultry!" "Incest!"
That film was made by a Canadian, as I recall -- Kim somebody, I think.
I've seen it several times on one of the cable channels (Bravo?) but I'm
pretty sure I've never seen it on PBS. Maybe your PBS station is more
interesting than, ugh, KQED.
mdl
Mark D. Lew
> More than a one-line summary -- A limerick summary of La Boheme that
> appeared in this NG a year or two ago:
>
> He lives in a loft in Paree,
> She comes in and loses her key.
> They go to town and they sup,
> Fall in love, and break up,
> And then Mimi dies of TB.
In the same thread was this other one:
A courtesan named Violetta
Took the high notes in all Verdi's stretta
Pere Germont made her leave
Her Alfredo to grieve
And she died singing "Hey! I feel betta."
The poster was paolo <gpad...@ix.netcom.com>, but I don't know if he's the
original author.
mdl
S. Robert Gordon
>A couple years ago (maybe) there was some sort of thread in which the
>suggestion (or challenge?) was made to summarize the plots of operas
>in one sentence.
Eugene Onegin: First she wants to and he doesn't, then he wants to and
she doesn't, so they never do.
LuciaMim
Date: Fri, Feb 19, 1999 03:53 EST
Or WTTW! The letters are "supposed" to stand for "Window to the World" I
think the window's been painted shut!
Mimi
Lis K. Froding
Probably was Paolo, since he's very good at those things. He did
a hilarious called Kostelnicka Rocks.
Lis
SDRL
Tristan
Boy wins singing contest, gets girl as prize.
Die Meistersinger
Love is renounced for power, world ends.
Ring des Nibelungen
(the other 14 hours are just filler)
Boy gets girl with aid of two bottles of cheap wine.
L'Elisir d'Amore.
Bob
GRNDPADAVE
RIGOLETTO
Mama raises kidnapped baby as her own after accidentally flaming her own son.
IL TROVATORE
Genovese honcho is poisoned by disgruntled henchman.
SIMON BOCCANEGRA
Swedish king killed by jealous secretary.
UN BALLO IN MASCHERA
Pardoned Spanish bandit commits suicide on his wedding night.
ERNANI
Wedding bells signal massacre.
LES VEPRES SICILIENNES
General kills wife over missing handkerchief.
OTELLO
==========
can...@webtv.net
both girls, boy dies.
Lys24
can...@webtv.net wrote in message
<17149-36C...@newsd-243.iap.bryant.webtv.net>...
SDRL
>Norma: Boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy gets another girl, boy loses
>both girls, boy dies.
>
Is this a revised version? When I saw it the girl (Norma) comes forward at the
last moment to be burned alive at the sacred oak tree along with her boyfriend
who just decided the other girl ( Adalgisa) wasn't really his type.
Girl dressed as boy makes love to woman, girl disguised as boy disguised as
girl meets dirty old man, then girl disguised as boy dumps older woman for
younger girl.
Der Rosenkavalier
( If you don't get it, don't come to me to explain)
Bob
MKlei...@aol.com
can...@webtv.net wrote:
> Norma: Boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy gets another girl, boy loses
> both girls, boy dies.
>
Moses und Aron:
Ten words meet twelve tones: contest called early on account of ineffability.
Ken King
JessyesFan wrote:
Ken King
Girl sadly overdue for Prozac refill hacks up bridegroom and expires in
front of wedding guests, victim of her own E-flats
JessyesFan
Miss V
AStew10379
>Miss V
Doesn't the 'get's laid, dumped and then dies' plot happen in alot of operas?
Die Zauberflote:
We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz. (But here there are
three women insead of flying monkeys)
Here's another plot that occurs in a lot of operas:
She falls in love, marries the one she doesn't love, he dies, she has a mad
scene. (Don't ya just love the Bel Canto?)
And the otherone:
Girl falls in love, dies of tuberculosis. (Anna Russel said something like
that....)
Antonio
Mark D. Lew
astew...@aol.com (AStew10379) wrote:
> Doesn't the 'get's laid, dumped and then dies' plot happen in alot of operas?
Or in some cases gets laid, dumped and then kills (eg, Don José).
mdl
John Yohalem
"Inhumans struggle for power, which corrupts all the humans too."
"Dad married my sweetie, so I lost my cool."
"The Russian struggle for power is always murky; everybody loses."
"I should have listened to my girl when she said Stop gambling."
"Moses supposes erroneously."
"After 25 years, I've found my daughter; I could tell everyone, but that
would be too simple."
"The Devil made me do it."
"Mama killed Daddy; my sister says I should get a life."
"I just like to have fun, and the statue looked hungry."
--
John Yohalem
ench...@herodotus.com
"What this country needs is a good five-cent reverie" -- Paul Mellon
GRNDPADAVE
>From: "John Yohalem" <ench...@herodotus.com>
>Date: Sat, Mar 6, 1999 15:48 EST
>Message-id: <7bs8q1$2...@news-central.tiac.net>
>
>Okay, guess which supposedly intricate opera plots these describe:
>
>"Inhumans struggle for power, which corrupts all the humans too."
>"Dad married my sweetie, so I lost my cool."
>"The Russian struggle for power is always murky; everybody loses."
>"I should have listened to my girl when she said Stop gambling."
>"Moses supposes erroneously."
MOSES UND ARON
"After 25 years, I've found my daughter; I could tell everyone, but that
>would be too simple."
>"The Devil made me do it."
>"Mama killed Daddy; my sister says I should get a life."
>"I just like to have fun, and the statue looked hungry."
-----
==G/P Dave
JDavis6627
>MANON
No, I think this one is PIQUE DAME.
Jon Davis
The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody
appreciates how difficult it was.
Alex Bell
>>One-line plot summaries
>>From: "John Yohalem" <ench...@herodotus.com>
>>Date: Sat, Mar 6, 1999 15:48 EST
>>Message-id: <7bs8q1$2...@news-central.tiac.net>
>>
>>Okay, guess which supposedly intricate opera plots these describe:
>>
>>"Inhumans struggle for power, which corrupts all the humans too."
>DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN
>>"Dad married my sweetie, so I lost my cool."
>DON CARLOS
>>"The Russian struggle for power is always murky; everybody loses."
>KHOVANSCHINA
>>"I should have listened to my girl when she said Stop gambling."
>MANON
Pique Dame?
Mark D. Lew
jdavi...@aol.com (JDavis6627) wrote:
> >"I should have listened to my girl when she said Stop gambling."
> >MANON
>
> No, I think this one is PIQUE DAME.
Changing the subject here. Does this title make sense even in French? I
thought the French way of referring to the card was "la dame de pique".
(Not to mention the larger question of why the heck English speakers would
translate a Russian title into French....)
mdl
GRNDPADAVE
>Message-id: <markdlew-ya0240800...@news.earthlink.net>
PIQUE DAME is the German name for the opera which the French call LA DAME DE
PIQUE -- the English name is THE QUEEN OF SPADES.
==G/P Dave
John Lynch
title "Pique Dame" and that the Russian "Pikovaya Dama" came
later. The English, bless 'em, would naturally convert either into
"Queen of Spades." I once read an English history book in which
Le Roi soleil was referred to as "Lewis XIV."
"Mark D. Lew" wrote:
Changing the subject here. Does this title make sense even in French? I
> thought the French way of referring to the card was "la dame de pique".
>
> (Not to mention the larger question of why the heck English speakers would
> translate a Russian title into French....)
>
> mdl
--
John Lynch
JDavis6627
>thought the French way of referring to the card was "la dame de pique".
Well that's the way the Met has billed it during the past few years, right or
not.
Jon Davis
There are very few personal problems that cannot be solved through a suitable
application of high explosives.
Mark D. Lew
> My understanding is that the opera was first published under the
> title "Pique Dame" and that the Russian "Pikovaya Dama" came
> later. The English, bless 'em, would naturally convert either into
> "Queen of Spades." I once read an English history book in which
> Le Roi soleil was referred to as "Lewis XIV."
Do you mean to imply that the English *shouldn't* translate the title to
"The Queen of Spades"? It is, after all, an exact translation of the
Russian title.
mdl
mariana
grndp...@aol.com (GRNDPADAVE) wrote:
> >From: mark...@earthlink.net (Mark D. Lew)
> >Date: Sun, Mar 7, 1999 05:17 EST
> >Message-id: <markdlew-ya0240800...@news.earthlink.net>
> >
> >In article <19990306174837...@ng151.aol.com>,
> >jdavi...@aol.com (JDavis6627) wrote:
> >
> >> >"I should have listened to my girl when she said Stop gambling."
> >> >MANON
> >>
> >> No, I think this one is PIQUE DAME.
> >
> >thought the French way of referring to the card was "la dame de pique".
> >
> >translate a Russian title into French....)
> >
> >mdl
>
> PIQUE -- the English name is THE QUEEN OF SPADES.
> ==G/P Dave
>
and which in Russian, Piquavaya Dama roughly transliterated, is the
grammatical equivalent.
Nash7676
which the libretto is based is called "Pikovaya dama" and make no mistake. Hard
to imagine why Tchaikovsky would have called the thing "Pique Dame," but I'm no
musicologist.
Dalila
So many men, (and according to the cards) so little time.
Jealous mixed-racial hubby complains: with friends like this, who needs
enemies?
Jailbreak an inside job, wife in men's togs helps hubby escape.
King refuses to be second Abraham, exiles son instead.
Pregnant outcast warns: "Girls, never catch him on the rebound."
Prince keeps head, wins princess in quiz show challenge.
Teen sex proves fatal.
KM
=====
Ce n'est pourtant pas la voix
Qui me fait defaut, je crois;
Non, c'est la methode!
-----
http://www.geocities.com:80/Vienna/Opera/5828/singers.html
mariana
You needn't be a musicologist at all, merely familiar with the Russian
nobility's predeliction for things French at the time--food, theatre, cards
(the language of ballet is French and so is the language of cards). There was
much speaking of French among the aristocrats and these are the characters in
the play/opera.
jinelle
The Ring:
Das Rheingold - Everything is a mess.
Die Valkyrie - But there is hope.
Siegfried - Choices have to be made.
Gotterdammerung - Choices have consequences.
jinelle
David Shengold
Yes, actually PIQUE DAME evokes the Russian title pretty well- it's not just
someone trying to be snobbish, or germanophile, as in the Met's ridiculous
usage of EUGEN (sic) ONEGIN in the 50's- I have a libretto marked that!
David Shengold
(215) 925-3494
----------
In article <36E2729A...@macconnect.com>, John Lynch
<jly...@macconnect.com> wrote:
>My understanding is that the opera was first published under the
>title "Pique Dame" and that the Russian "Pikovaya Dama" came
>later. The English, bless 'em, would naturally convert either into
>"Queen of Spades." I once read an English history book in which
>Le Roi soleil was referred to as "Lewis XIV."
>
>"Mark D. Lew" wrote:
>
>Changing the subject here. Does this title make sense even in French? I
>
>> thought the French way of referring to the card was "la dame de pique".
>>
>> (Not to mention the larger question of why the heck English speakers would
>> translate a Russian title into French....)
>>
>> mdl
>
>--
>John Lynch
>
>jly...@macconnect.com
>
>
>
RS Elleson
> On 6 Mar 1999 22:23:59 GMT, GRNDPADAVE wrote:
>
> >>One-line plot summaries
> >>From: "John Yohalem" <ench...@herodotus.com>
> >>Date: Sat, Mar 6, 1999 15:48 EST
> >>Message-id: <7bs8q1$2...@news-central.tiac.net>
> >>
> >>Okay, guess which supposedly intricate opera plots these describe:
> >>
> >>"Inhumans struggle for power, which corrupts all the humans too."
> >DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN
I guess this one could also be L'Incoronazione di Poppea.
Ruth
GRNDPADAVE
>Date: Mon, Mar 8, 1999 16:24 EST
>Message-id: <7c1f59$ppg$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>
>
>In article <19990308131420...@ng135.aol.com>,
> nash...@aol.com (Nash7676) wrote:
>> I can't say what the original Tchaikovsky title was, but the Pushkin story
>on
>> which the libretto is based is called "Pikovaya dama" and make no mistake.
>Hard
>> to imagine why Tchaikovsky would have called the thing "Pique Dame," but
>I'm
>no
>> musicologist.
>>
>
>You needn't be a musicologist at all, merely familiar with the Russian
>nobility's predeliction for things French at the time--food, theatre, cards
>(the language of ballet is French and so is the language of cards). There was
>much speaking of French among the aristocrats and these are the characters in
>the play/opera.
Good guess, but (as Minica might say) no cigar.
"Pique Dame" is the German title of this opera. The French call it "La Dame de
Pique".
Mark D. Lew
<shen...@pobox.upenn.edu> wrote:
> Yes, actually PIQUE DAME evokes the Russian title pretty well-
Does it really? This reminds me that my original question has not yet been
answered here:
That is, is "Pique Dame" a meaningful phrase in French?
I don't know French well, but my impression is that the common phrase is
"La Dame de Pique" (which someone did mention is the opera's title in
French). If so, then calling it "Pique Dame" is like saying "The Spade
Queen".
> it's not just
> someone trying to be snobbish, or germanophile, as in the Met's ridiculous
> usage of EUGEN (sic) ONEGIN in the 50's- I have a libretto marked that!
mdl
SDRL
Cosi Fan Tutti
Bob
Mark D. Lew
Dalila <dal...@radix.net> wrote:
> Teen sex proves fatal.
That could describe dozens of B movies over the past 20 years.
mdl
John Yohalem
ench...@herodotus.com
"Opera depends on the happy fiction that feeling can be sustained over
impossibly long stretches of time." -- Joseph Kerman
How about "Guns don't kill people -- tenors kill people."
(I'm going to put that one on my bumper.)
Jean Coeur de Lapin
cheek...@gmail.com
RIGOLETTO