Buondì.
I spent a good chunk of Sunday watching my first ever opera, on Youtube.
It was Verdi’s Nabucco, ate up nearly two and a half hours from my precious ‘catch-up with-work Sunday’ (Roomie was briefly at the coast with my wife), and suprisingly, I enjoyed it!
Why was I watching opera on a Sunday morning?
Well for the purposes of marketing ebooks, of course. We have two new ones this week, the first being an easy reader about Italian composer Verdi: Verdi e il Va’ pensiero.
What’s the Va’ pensiero? Any opera fan wouldn’t ask that, as it’s a famous song from Nabucco, one of those ones that everyone can hum, but only Italians know what they’re all about, or pretend to.
So Verdi e il Va’ pensiero is basically about Verdi, part of his life, and one of his triumphs. You’ll find details below. As a story, as Italian reading and listening practice, it’s very nice, certainly worth this week’s price of £5.99.
But I didn’t need to watch the opera to know that our Verdi ebook would enhance your study program.
That was for this week’s second ebook, Nabucco, which is the first in a new series of ‘simplified’ readers, designed to get you into opera (as well as providing valuable skills practice, see above.)
You’ll know we’ve done ‘cultural’ easy readers before, for example our Italian literature and Italian cinema series?
So Opera was the last unassailed bastion. I’ve watched the movies in the original, I’ve ploughed through the famous books, but I’ve always kept the fat ladies in fancy costumes and their high-pitched shrieking at arm’s length.
But then the pandemic, and our writers, like our online teachers, were all at home, with little to do, and no money coming in. Did I, by chance, have anything that needed writing??
Well, sigh, why not simplify some operas into ‘easy readers’, I replied. For the usual fee, of course.
So off Francesca, our regular ‘easy reader’ writer, tore. Within weeks, I had half a dozen texts, and more on the way!
That was the summer of 2020, probably, or it might have been 2021, but anyway, it’s taken me this long to get around to publishing them (these things take time, and Roomie!)
My job, apart from commissioning the texts, getting the covers and audio organised, managing the freelancers who format the various versions, and proof-reading the final product (any mistakes are my fault), is to sell a few copies, and so make back what I rashly spent during the pandemic.
So here’s to it.
The objective of the exercise, with Nabucco and the opera ‘easy reader’ ebooks still to be published, is to give non-opera types, such as myself, an idea of what they’ve been missing. And hopefully to build their confidence to the point where they/we will be willing to sit through an actual opera (there are plenty on Youtube.)
So the story of Nabucco is nothing you’d bother to tell your friends about in the pub.
There are kings, high priests, scheming princesses, a love triangle, and quite a lot of religion, of the ‘my god is more powerful than your god’ type.
Read and listen to the ebook and you’ll likely be underwhelmed, though Fra has done a pretty goood job of getting the general idea of the opera across. As well as you can do, without music or visuals.
The point, though, is not to astound you with plot lines you weren’t expecting – this isn’t a Babylonian Breaking Bad or Judean Game of Thrones – but to get you cued up to watch the real thing.
Did it work for me?
So it’s Sunday a.m.
I Google Nabucco and find this version near the top of the search results, a ‘live’ streaming of a performance at the Teatro Comunale Bologna.
Funny, I walk past the place often, and was dimly aware that they did operas. But I’ve never been in. Well, you don’t, do you?
But click this link and check out the architecture (right at the beginning, after the ad from their sponsor.) It’s huge!
E poi, I noticed in the opening credits that the ‘regia’ (director) is a Japanese guy who I remember once doing some one-to-one English lessons with. We didn’t get on.
Small world, huh?
So, a bowl of nuts in one hand and a cold beer in the other, I pressed play and settled down for the duration, determined to sit through it.
The action/singing doesn’t start until minute 10.30, if you don’t have all day. But I didn’t skip anything, given that this was my first and perhaps last opportunity to see what all the fuss was about.
What did I learn?
First and foremost, while the words of the songs (it’s all sung) come up on the screen, it’s harder than I thought to read them, hear them, and watch what the performers are doing, all at the same time.
That’s particularly true at first, but I found that if I concentrated on the listening, while looking to pick out which parts of the on-screen text were being sung, I rapidly got better at it.
But, heads up! With anything choral, so all the slaves belting it out together, you tend to get a couple of lines of text on the screen that don’t change for ages, as there are lots (lots!) of repetitions, changes in the order of the words, things coming out back to front, and so on.
There’s definitely a knack to hearing the choruses. On the plus side, given that the words don’t change for minutes at a time, you’ve a better chance of figuring out what’s going on.
When, instead, there’s just a single character on stage, or two singing at each other in a sort of dialogue, things move a lot quicker. The choruses are the big scenes, the solos or duos, or whatever they’re called, tend to be the parts that move the story along rapidly.
Watch out for when two characters are singing different lines at the same time, which blew my brain rather…
So, at this point, I’ll tell you: DON’T WORRY ABOUT THE MEANING.
Also don’t worry if you can’t yet tell the difference between the fat red king and the fat red high priest, or which of the two plump red princesses is which. You will, I promise!
Why should you not worry?
Duh. That’s what the ‘easy reader’ is for, remember? Which you’ll have already read and listened to, of course.
So, does it work?
Sure does.
By half time, one hour and nineteen minutes in, nuts and beer consumed long ago, I was interested enough to not be dreading the one hour and five minutes still to come.
A sort of triumph!
And I’d begun to figure out how opera is more than just the story and the singing. The costumes, for example, which on a TV show, if they say anything, communicate subliminally, are a big part.
The various costume changes that the Babylonian king endures, for instance, speak volumes as to what’s going on, who’s up, who’s down and out.
Symbols are important, too. There aren’t a lot of props, so when someone is holding something, it tends to matter. Watch out, for instance, which daughter the king passes his crown to when disrobing, and how the other daughter reacts.
Perhaps most of all, though, I was expecting a sort of cheesy historical romance, but actually the real stars of the show (listen to who gets the most applause at the end, the audience agreed with me) were the Babylonian king and one of his daughters (I’m trying not to give too much away.)
Così. This was very different to what I was expecting, and much more fun!
I’ll definitely be making time to watch Turandot before we publish our ‘easy reader’ version of that in two week’s time.
Details of the Verdi story, and of the opera ‘easy reader’ can be found below.
A mercoledì.
Verdi e il Va’ pensiero
An original Italian easy reader by Francesca Colombo
Verdi is going through a difficult time. He’s recently widowed, both of his children have died, and his second opera was a disaster: the public hated it! So he’s ready to quit Milan and move back home to help his father on the farm.
There’s just one snag – he’s contracted to write another show…
- .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 Verdi e il Va’ pensiero (B2), £5.99 | Free Sample Chapter (.pdf) | Catalog | Shop
Nabucco
An original Italian easy reader by Francesca Colombo
Giuseppe Verdi’s famous opera, here simplifed for learners of Italian (with quotes from the actual libretto!)
Why not begin with our ‘easy reader’ ebook before seeking out a recording of the opera on Youtube? It’ll help!
Or use this original Italian reading/listening practice material to add a little variety to your study program.
- .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
- 7 chapters (based on Verdi’s Act/Scene structure) to read and listen to
- Comprehension questions to check your understanding
- Italian/English glossary of ‘difficult’ terms for the level
- Suitable for students at pre-intermediate level or above
- Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)
Buy Nabucco (A2/B1), £5.99 | Free Sample Chapter (.pdf) | Catalog | Shop
How do I access my ebooks?
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.
Don’t forget to read/listen to Saturday’s FREE bulletin of ‘easy’ Italian news.
+++
OnlineItalianClub.com | EasyItalianNews.com | EasyReaders.org (ebooks) | NativeSpeakerTeachers.com (1-1 lessons)