Opera sung in original or local language

[sospiro]

Apologies if there's already a thread on this - I did look but gave up after 5 pages 

For a live performance I prefer opera in it's original language.  What do others think?

I've been invited to the ETO production of Don Pasquale & it's sung in English. I will go as I don't want to offend my friend but I'm not really looking forward to it.

DP is one of my all time favourites and I know so much of it by heart & it just won't be the same.

[listener]

 I enjoyed a  couple of English National's Ring in English (Rheingold and Walküre); the diction was good and there is a lot of "conversation".   Lohengrin in English is hard to take when there is a largish woman shouting "I won't go with you,  I'm waiting for my swan" (or something like that).  I think Don Pasquale, a comic opera, could gain from a good English translation because the speed of verbal communication would be improved (unless you are fluent in Italian or the singers can't navigate the words. 

[knight66]

I would say it depends.

Some Verdi choruses can sound alarmingly like Gilbert and Sullivan when translated. Distance can lend enchantment. I do have a reasonable smattering of the Chandos Opera in English series and enjoy the ones I have. But I think that English translations of German opera tend to sound better on the ear than from the French or Italian.

I agree with listener that a comedy will feel that much more immediate if people understand the words in detail. Mind you, that is assuming that the translation can be discerned, not guaranteed as many singers don't have first class diction.

Mike

[mc ukrneal]

I think a lot depends on the translation. Some of them work well - the sound/atmosphere/rhythm is maintained, but the meaning isn't lost. It's a hard balance. 

The hardest part, in my opinion, is getting your own head around a different expectation. On the other hand, it really sounds interesting and you can surely find something to enjoy in it. One thing about a different language, it often highlights things you may never have noticed before. So I think you will enjoy it more than you expect.

[Verena]

Sometimes I think I'd enjoy Wagner rather more if I were not able to understand the text .. So I'm all for Wagner in Korean 

The worst case of operas sung in local language are Handel operas (or oratorios) sung in German - the original languages Italian (or English) sound so much better in my view

I also have an otherwise very good recording of Don Giovanni in German - somehow I cannot enjoy it, again Italian sounds much better

[sospiro]

I think a lot depends on the translation. Some of them work well - the sound/atmosphere/rhythm is maintained, but the meaning isn't lost. It's a hard balance. 

The hardest part, in my opinion, is getting your own head around a different expectation. On the other hand, it really sounds interesting and you can surely find something to enjoy in it. One thing about a different language, it often highlights things you may never have noticed before. So I think you will enjoy it more than you expect.

You've made some very valid points there & I shouldn't be so ungrateful. My friend knows absolutely nothing about opera and if it gets him interested then it certainly won't be a wasted evening.

And I'm looking forward to hearing Keel Watson even in English.

[False_Dmitry]

And I'm looking forward to hearing Keel Watson even in English.

His performance in the Birmingham OTHELLO was the stand-out moment in a gripping evening.

[sospiro]

A belated review.

We had great seats - front row centre of the dress circle.

In this production Don Pasquale is a conductor and Norina is an opera singer & the start is very funny. Don Pasquale comes on stage, faces the orchestra & the audience & conducts the overture. One of the musicians makes a mistake & is duly harangued by the 'conductor'.

All the main players were excellent if a bit overwhelmed at times by the orchestra. In fact we enjoyed the arias/duets with minimal accompaniment best & these showcased the singers' skills perfectly.

However I love Don Pasquale so much & know most of the words & kept feeling irritated that little bits of story had to be changed so the words could fit the music. Don Pasquale didn't consult his watch & comment it's 9 o'clock which he should do at the very beginning. Also he didn't sing that he was expecting babies to appear - which reinforces (in pre-viagra days) the notion that a man in his 70s would be ridiculed for hoping for children.

This didn't bother my friend at all; he just adores the music & doesn't care about the words.

I must just be picky & apart from the language I would recommend it.

[Superhorn]

  Today, in the major opera companies with their international casts,it's just not practical to have everything sung in the local language,such as at the Met,Covent Garden,Vienna,Berlin and Munich etc.
   But fortunately at the Met, they have Met titles with an English translation on the back of every seat.
  In some cases, such as in the case of an opera in a langauge which is exotic,it would be  a good idea to do it in the local language. For example, if an American  regional company were to do a production of Nielsen's delightful comic opera makarade, which is in Danish,it would be a good idea to do it in English, since it would be highly impractical to have all the singers learn how to sing in Danish, a very difficult language to pronounce anyway.

[False_Dmitry]

since it would be highly impractical to have all the singers learn how to sing in Danish, a very difficult language to pronounce anyway.

I'm often amused by the spectacle of a cast of singers who have no clue what they are singing about, or how to pronounce it - perfoming to an audience of people who have even less clue than the cast    With all due respect to fans of Mr Glass, I have to say I found SATYGRAHA (performed entirely in Sanskrit) the very saddest of I'm-smarter-than-you intellectual poses imaginable - loathsomely pretentious.  And a very, very bad opera libretto too.

[Superhorn]

   Singers don't just learn the words by rote; they can easily access translations of the operas on recordings. And the major opera houses do have language coaches to help the singers with correct pronunciation,as with languages such as Russian and Czech.
  Also,many aspiring young opera singers study languages such as Italian,French and German at music schools.

[False_Dmitry]

   Singers don't just learn the words by rote; they can easily access translations of the operas on recordings.

It's good enough for an approximate understanding of the action, but not really good enough to work on stage. There are powerful words which trigger powerful meanings.  When Michele is left alone on the barge in TABARRO, and his vivacious young wife has gone below, he growls "Sgualdrina!".  The biting viciousness of that word, which would probably break the Profanity Filters here (!), can't be translated.  You have to "feel" it to access the emotions needed for the following aria.  Otherwise it's all "peas and carrots, squash and broccoli", and just vowel-sounds to vocalise.

Put singers to work on a text in their own language, and suddenly the acting comes to life! 

Or let me put it another way...   when they stage plays by Corneille, or Durrenmatt, or Lorca, or Strindberg, outside their native countries...   what language do the cast use?