Opera snobs

Buondì.

As mentioned on Wednesday, next week I’ll be publishing, and promoting, our ‘easy reader ebook’-version of Puccini’s La Bohème.

So, as I did with Nabucco and Turandot, I fired up Youtube and searched for a version of the opera which was a.) free to watch, and b.) had the Italian text on the screen, so I could follow along.

Once more, it was our local opera house that came out top, either because they have someone good doing the web-marketing, or because there isn’t a lot of competition.

When I mentioned, previously, that I’d watched the Bologna Teatro Comunale productions, club members emailed to tell me they’d seen the shows in Milan, Venice, New York, London, and so on.

Fair enough I suppose. If your local opera house is in London or New York, or if you’re on holiday in Italy and want to take in something really special, then good luck to you!

For now, for me, Youtube is good enough, though I prefer it if they can manage to actually synch the subtitles and the audio, as well as, naturally, the audio and the video.

I loved Bologna’s trippy Turandot (see ‘Would you risk your head for a beautiful Chinese princess?‘), but the Youtube video was poorly put together.

N.b. I swear I saw one of Turandot’s beheaded suitors in the supermarket the other day! No really, it was him! The one with the long black beard. Unmistakable, even with his clothes on.

But anyway, opera snobs.

I dare say opera houses are full of them, though I have no evidence, given that I’ve never been. But Youtube’s chat is certainly the forum of choice for anyone who wants to criticise or boast.

Personally, I was too busy trying to follow the text, listen to the singing, and watch what was going on on stage, to also read the snide remarks other viewers were typing.

But glancing at the comments section later, it was full of remarks like ‘Oh darling, wasn’t that awful’, ‘Well she tried hard, but wasn’t a patch on so-and-so’, and ‘What? Were they trying to ACT? Stick to the singing!’

Not being au fait with opera (yet) I hadn’t realised that acting was something that opera performers are not supposed to do. The singing sounded OK, too, if you like that sort of thing. And, not having anything to compare the show to, I liked the staging (if that’s the term) perfectly well.

Which brings me to La Bohème, which I started on Monday evening, with my headphones on, on the ‘divano’, laptop on lap, and Roomie beside me, watching something suitable for small animals on the flat screen TV.

Here’s a bit of the blurb that I wrote the other day for Monday’s new ebook:

Christmas Eve 1830, Paris: a group of young friends – a writer, a painter, a musician and a philosopher – are hungry and cold in their shared garret. Marcello, the artist, decides to burn his landscape to warm the room, but the oil paint would smell, so Rodolfo offers his play, instead. As the chapters burn, Schaunard, the musician, arrives home. He has news!

Bologna’s version of the Paris attic looks rather like my teenage son’s bedroom, with pictures of motorbikes pinned to the walls, and enough trash scattered about to crunch underfoot as he prowls around above my head.

But anway, my wife remarked later that I must have enjoyed what I was watching, as I’d laughed out loud at certain points.

I suppose I must have, it’s true! I didn’t understand everything I read/heard, but I got enough of it to follow, mostly, what was going on, and to appreciate some of the humour (with the help of our ‘easy reader’, naturally!)

Wednesday night, I sat down at the kitchen table to watch the final half hour or so. Roomie abandoned the TV to come and see what I was up to (she’ll say ‘Aiuto!’ – I want to help – if it looks like I’m doing something interesting), leaped up on to the chair next to where I was sitting, and, to my surprise, watched the whole of the fourth act, commenting on what she was seeing (‘Sta male!’)

Good or bad, the cast and orchestra kept the both of us glued to the screen and, at the end, I tried to teach her to applaud, without much success. Perhaps I’ll get another chance, later in November, when we publish ‘Rigoletto’, about which, so far, I know little, and certainly not whether it’s suitable for small, furry animals.

So there. Watch this space next week for our ‘easy reader ebook’ version of La Bohème, or if you can’t wait until then, our previous opera ebooks are here and here, the Youtube link to the Bologna Teatro Comunale production of La Bohème is here, and – oh what the hell – there’s a FREE sample chapter for our as-yet-unpublished ebook here.

The audio for the whole text, not just the first chapter, is available free online. Look for the link in the sample.

Also next week, remember, is the Free Trial Lesson Offer, your chance to do a 30-minute one-to-one with a teacher from the team at NativeSpeakerTeachers.com (normal price £20). Details about that on Monday.

When? ON MONDAY.

Can you book one now?

NO.

A lunedì, allora.

FOUR eBooks for Learning Italian, Levels A1-B2, -50%!!

Here’s a final reminder that this week we have not one but FOUR half-price ebooks for learning Italian, one at each level from A1 to B2, each costing just £3.99!

There are free sample chapters for all four titles, so you can take a look and select the ones that are most suitable for your current level in Italian.

The offer ends on Sunday night, November 6th, after which the price of these four titles will revert to the usual £7.99.

So, in level order, from the easiest to the hardest, we have…

Yue a Bologna (A1)

Yue, a talented young Japanese from a rural community in Hokkaido, wins a one-year scholarship to study opera at the ‘Conservatorio’ in Bologna, home to Europe’s oldest university.

But the thought of leaving her parents and brother for a whole year disturbs her.

And, before studying at the ‘Conservatorio’, she’ll first have to learn Italian…

• .pdf e-book (+ audio available free online)
• .mobi (Kindle-compatible) and .epub (other ebook readers) available on request at no extra charge – just add a note to the order form or email us
• 8 chapters to read and listen to
• Comprehension questions to check your understanding
• Italian/English glossary of ‘difficult’ terms for the level
• Suitable for students at elementary level or above
• Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)

Buy Yue a Bologna, just £3.99! | Free sample chapter (.pdf) | Other ‘easy reader’ ebooks | Catalog

Italian/English Parallel Text: La montagna (A2)

Learn Italian with parallel texts: an original story in Italian with an accompanying English translation!

A group of friends who haven’t seen each other for a while plan a trip to the mountains. But the strains in their friendship start to show…

• .pdf e-book
• original text in Italian / translation in English
• 8 short chapters to read and study
• Suitable for students at any level
• Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)

Buy Italian/English Parallel Text: La montagna, just £3.99! | Free sample chapter (.pdf) | Other Italian/English Parallel Text ebooks | Catalog

Roma città aperta (B1)

This moving masterpiece of Italian neo-realism, set in WW2 Rome, tells the story of how resistance leader Giorgio, along with his friends, neighbours and family members, fight the Nazi forces occupying their city.

• .pdf e-book (+ audio available free online)
• .mobi (Kindle-compatible) and .epub (other ebook readers) available on request at no extra charge – just add a note to the order form or email us
• 8 chapters to read and listen to
• Comprehension questions to check your understanding
• Italian/English glossary of ‘difficult’ terms for the level
• Suitable for students at B1 level and above
• Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)

Buy Roma città aperta, just £3.99! | Free sample chapter (.pdf) | Other Movie ‘easy readers’ | Catalog

Uno, nessuno e centomila (B2)

Nobel Prize winner Luigi Pirandello’s long-unfinshed novel of a privileged young man who one day realises that the way others perceive him is not the way he has always seen himself. Dissatisfied with the idea that everyone who knows him has a different picture of who he is, based on their own preconceptions, he decides to shake things up!

• .pdf e-book (+ audio available free online)
• .mobi (Kindle-compatible) and .epub (other ebook readers) available on request at no extra charge – just add a note to the order form or email us
• 8 chapters to read and listen to
• Comprehension questions to check your understanding
• Italian/English glossary of ‘difficult’ terms for the level
• Suitable for students at intermediate level or above
• Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)

Buy Uno, nessuno e centomila, just £3.99! | Free sample chapter (.pdf) | Other Literature ‘easy readers’ | Catalog

How do I access my ebook?

When your order is ‘completed’ (normally immediately after your payment), a download link will be automatically emailed to you. It’s valid for 7 days and 3 download attempts so please save a copy of the .pdf ebook in a safe place. Other versions of the ebook, where available, cannot be downloaded but will be emailed to people who request them. There’s a space to do that on the order form – where it says Additional information, Order notes (optional). If you forget, or if you have problems downloading the .pdf, don’t worry! Email us at the address on the website and we’ll help. Also, why not check out our FAQ?

P.S.

Thursday’s FREE bulletin of ‘easy’ Italian news was published yesterday. If you missed it, or didn’t get around to it, it’s not too late! And there’ll be another FREE bulletin tomorrow. Subscribers get them sent by email, which is a good reminder to do the reading/listening, I find.

Thursday’s bulletin | Subscribe (for free)

+++

OnlineItalianClub.com | EasyItalianNews.com | EasyReaders.org (ebooks) | NativeSpeakerTeachers.com (1-1 lessons)