To not enjoy opera?

[Star555]

I love classical music but simply cannot stand operas in their entirety. Some songs are certainly magnificent vocal tours de force (like the Queen of the Night song in The Magic Flute, and the Flower Duet in Lakme). But for the most part operas are just hours of unnaturally high-pitched, incomprehensible singing (often people singing over each other and creating quite a cacophony, hard to understand the words no matter what language they're in, and having to look at surtitles is distracting) that isn't pleasing to the ear, barring one or two memorable songs per opera.

I say this as someone with years of classical music training and as a lover of symphony orchestra concerts, choral and solo singing, dramatic theatre and musical theatre. I will gladly sit through entire symphonies or Shakespeare plays or ballet performances or musicals. But entire operas I find intolerable!

Weirdo.

Plenty of people do love opera, and jazz, and olives, and lots of other things, thanks very much!

Olives?? Even my kids love olives. So do most kids. They haven’t been some ‘way out’ fancy, foreign food in at least a generation.

I love jazz too, grew up with it, so it makes me feel happy.

I really don't see why you feel you have to try and learn to like it OP. You've tried it in a few different formats, you don't particularly enjoy it, so it's fine to not try it again and just listen to what you do like.

@IseeScottishhills

My DH is an opera nut I have sat in £250 + seat and watched occasionally enjoyed frequently endured and often fallen asleep listening to some of worlds leading opera singers in some pretty famous places Milan, Rome, Paris, The Opera House, Glyndebourne etc. Now to stop him wasting money on me I have a short list of about 6 operas that are acceptable to me all the rest at best I’m indifferent at worst I loathe and refuse to go too. Although I have to say if I never went again I would be happy, apart from Glyndbourne if they are performing one of the six acceptable operas on my list I just love to go there is just something really really special about it. IN my now very extensive experience those who love opera just do not understand those of us who don’t and vice versa.

What are the six acceptable operas?

OP, of course you’re not being unreasonable. No one likes all genres. I have never felt the need to justify my dislike of heavy metal or free jazz.

I used to be entirely indifferent to opera, despite having friends who worked in it and hearing a lot of it at very good opera houses over years, and then I was once at the dress rehearsal for a new Flying Dutchman at the ROH and the hairs stood on my neck and I was suddenly enthralled. Despite having yawned through quite a bit of other Wagner.

I’ve never quite figured out why that day — it was a good cast, who were also excellent actors, but I’d heard them in other stuff — but I grasped something I hadn’t grasped before.

Now I would say I love opera, but far from all composers and genres. I love baroque stuff, can’t get on with Berg or Janacek or Adams, have never met a production of La boheme that made me do more than want it over, and Turnage’s Anna Nicole Smith opera made me want to cut my own head off.

@takingmytimeonmyride

I've on,y been to the opera once. I fell asleep. That tells me all I need to know. At least I got free tickets so I didn't spend money on a nap.

Falling asleep means that your body needed a nap. The music goes into your soul, just the same.

Perfectly reasonable! And some people don't like Marmite so..

I don't like it either but love classical music and many other types of music...

Opera irritates me, mainly because I don't get a word of what they're singing, even in English! So I get bored plus its just not pleasant for my ears..

Gives me a headache I hate it just loud warbling.