[Glice]

Ha.

You can all cunt the fuck off. I'm sorry, but if you have even the slightest appreciation for pomp and absurdity - bearing in mind that I know that both T&B and 'marras appreciate some frankly preposterous metal (and I should add there's nothing wrong with that) - opera is entirely the most absurd, comical music out there.

You don't have to appreciate it, that's fair enough. And it is entirely an elitist musical form. I don't have a problem with that, I'm content in my social situation as an ex-working class appreciator of 'the fine arts'. Perhaps that makes me an elitist dick, a fair criticism. But I'm surprised that three of the least puritanical posters here preaching about an entire musical form, which, according to many great minds and me, marries the best of poetry, theatre, music and sheer length (I watched Strauss' Electra recently. It takes about 30 minutes to get three sentences in). Seriously, it's a wonderful artform. I understand if you can't be arsed to sit through it, but you really should give it a try. Especially as one of you doesn't need the libretto for the Italian stuff (which is subsurvient to German opera).

Opera wouldn't happen if it wasn't funded. It's an elitist art. But then again, the more sublime of art wouldn't happen were it not funded. You don't have to appreciate an Aneesh Kapoor [sp?] to understand that art works of that magnitude wouldn't happen without public funding. I don't think all art should be small and self-funded. I would rather art did what art needs to do to be good. Yes, there's lots of shit opera. There's lots of shit everything. But a blanket dismissal of it is plain ridiculous to my mind.

I should add that's it's only the last three years I moved from the opinion that opera was 'pompous, elitist bollocks' to my current stance.

And to Iain - just because you don't know anyone who's into opera doesn't mean it's not popular. It is, huge. Unlike a lot of the musical arts, it often makes its money back quickly - the unfortunate thing is that 'new' opera needs to be subsidised by a Wagner or a Mozart production which will sell out very, very quickly.