Opera vs. Sports

Fall is approaching quicker than I'd like it to.  But while Fall means shorter days and the inevitable snow season *shudder*, Fall brings with it two good things:  the start of the University of Utah football season (Go Utes!) and the start of the symphony/opera season.  While the two activities are very different from each other, it's fun to be so dedicated to both.  (I have season tickets to both!) 

Danny & Kelli at the Utah Symphony Vivace afterparty.  (March 2009)

So in honor of the new seasons of my favorite Fall activities, I thought I'd post a portion of a fun article called, If Opera Were Sports, on the Operation Opera blog.  The author, Dr. Glenn Winters, starts out with this:

 

When I talk about opera to people who don’t like it, one point I try to make is the effect you get when words are sung instead of spoken; music makes words and emotions and personalities larger than life. And most of us spend our waking hours searching for those larger-than-life moments, don’t we? Isn't that really why we like rock music and movies and sports? A Hail-Mary touchdown pass with time running out has a real operatic feel to it. 

 

I couldn't agree more!  Dr. Winters goes on to compare different types of art and sports.  He compares ballet to soccer ("Americans are bored by it, but they love to sign up their children to do it."), symphony concerts to baseball ("Slow moving and too long, but who wants a world without them?"),  and opera to pro hockey ("Appeals to a small group of crazed aficionados who mostly like the violence.").  The whole list is on Operation Opera here. 

Kelli & Danny tailgating at the U of U game.  (November 2009)

Now that I think about it, football season and symphony season do have some similarities.  Both require special outfits (all-red outfits and formal attire), both involve drinking (ok, so maybe not everyone would agree, but I sure think so), both have at least a half day's worth of pre-activity beforehand (tailgating for football games and pre-symphony dinner outings), both are great places to people-watch (crazy drunk people at one and the 60 and older crowd at the other), and both leave me completely satisfied at the end (unless the Utes lose to BYU, since that's the only game that really matters). 

Danny, Kelli, Nic and Chris at Fiddler's Elbow watching the Utah Game. (November 2009)

So bring on Fall!  We're in for a good season of football!  Check out the Utes' schedule here.  Not to be beat by the world of sports, the symphony has an impressive season planned too.  Utah Symphony/Utah Opera's line up is here.  Go Utes!  (And ... go, uh, Utah Opera?!)

Source: http://randomactsofkelliness.blogspot.com/2010/08/opera-vs-sports.html