Culture is a young person’s game. I know, you thought it was only for ‘old/ rich/ Eton-educated people who pretend not to fall asleep in the dark for a few hours’.

I’ve started this blog to explain why I  (not old/ rich/ Eton-educated) enjoy dance, theatre and opera and to give you a few easy ways to swap your Thirsty Thursday in All Bar One for one at the Opera House. Why not add a pinch of culture?

Let’s kick off with opera – probably the most feared of the three.

The Barber of Seville

The plot: it’s basically Coming to America with a few extra disguises thrown in. If you haven’t seen that classic, the story goes: rich guy (Almaviva) falls in love with a rich girl (Rosina) from a distance. He wants to be sure she’ll like him for more than money so he pretends to be poor. She passes the test. Problem is, she lives with her guardian who wants to marry her for her money (creepy) and keeps her locked away with only her greedy music teacher, Basilio, for company. Enter Figaro, the sidekick hairdresser who comes up with two plots for sneaking Almaviva into the house to win the girl….

I saw this opera last week for free in a Church in Islington. Almaviva was a celebrity, Figaro wore a red Adidas tracksuit, Basilio plotted ‘a smear campaign’ and there were modern captions which explained the story in a relevant and unpretentious way…

“Almaviva sings a beautiful song about love

Figaro sings a beautiful song… about money”

And that’s a secret no one tells you about opera. You don’t have to read every subtitle to get the gist. To hear the vocal gymnastics. To laugh out loud at the physicality, comic timing  and sheer energy of the singers. If you’ve ever been on the edge of your seat hoping the hero doesn’t get caught out before he gets the girl then I defy you not to like this one.

Famous bit:

Figaro’s elevator pitch: Largo al factotum  (Make way for the Jack of all Trades)

“Figaro Figaro Figaro Figaro Figaro…..”

One of the most famous and notoriously difficult arias (one-person song). Full of tongue twisting Italian issimos (emphasis added to end of adjectives ie grande > grandissimo = big > very big).  It’s basically an elevator pitch about how popular Figaro considers himself to be.

If it’s funny enough for Robin Williams…

Impress a date/ your friends:

• BoS is an opera buffa:  a comic opera written for ‘the common man’ about everyday life and one act shorter than an opera seria (serious opera) which was aimed at Kings/ courtiers and was generally about gods.
• Listen out and giggle knowingly when Figaro sings this to Almaviva when they meet first: “Ah cospetto! Siete ben fortunato: sui maccheroni, il cacio v’è cascato”. Ever wondered how to say “aren’t you lucky? The cheese has fallen right onto the macaroni”? Now you do!
• Composed by Rossini, Italian libretto (lyrics) by Sterbini, original French play by Beaumarchais.
• It’s a prequel to Mozart’s opera buffa: The Marriage of Figaro.

Date for the diary:

Go check out the same company  on 1 September 2016 at Waterloo Vaults for £20.  You won’t regret it. Plenty of time to learn Largo al factotum before you go… or just listen to the Highlights Album on Spotify so you can happily hum along to the popular bits.

I’d love to hear what you think!