Comments on: Opera With Rocks In?

Question: Opera With Rocks In?

picopebbles — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 06:20:18 -0800

Opera With Rocks In: Looking for opera-themed pop/rock songs for a friend.

So I have a friend who will be singing, as part of an opera company, at this event. Her musical tastes are pretty well restricted to opera and the classics, which is fine for her performance, but she has also been tasked with putting together a rock/pop soundtrack with opera themes to play during odd breaks in the show. As she puts it, she needs "rock songs that have opera in them somewhere, or opera mentioned at least."

I get the feeling she's not looking for rock operas per se (so no Tommy) and that the songs themselves need to be based on opera plots/themes or mention opera, so whole albums (Queen's A Night At The Opera) won't help either.

O wise cross-genre Mefites, any suggestions?

By: LunaticFringe

LunaticFringe — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 06:22:46 -0800

Opera Singer by Cake?

By: witchstone

witchstone — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 06:31:27 -0800

This is more techno than rock, so it may be too much for the intended audience, but I have always loved "O Fortuna" (from Carmina Burana) by Apotheosis. Gets the blood moving.

By: cerebus19

cerebus19 — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 06:31:33 -0800

Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," which is of course from A Night at the Opera, has its well-known operatic section. Yes, I realize the song is a parody of rock operas, but it still might work.

By: randomination

randomination — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 06:34:00 -0800

Why not start her off with some stuff by Northern Irish band The Divine Comedy? They could be filed under orchestral indie pop.

Some of the tracks from Absent Friends and in particular the title track and 'Leaving Today' may work.

(I went to one of their gigs, and they played their audience opera before the band went on, so that's what made me think of them...)

By: witchstone

witchstone — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 06:38:01 -0800

Have her check out East Village Opera Company: they do opera arias in a rock style. Don't know if they're any good, I've only read about them.

By: maxpower

maxpower — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 06:46:18 -0800

David Usher's Black Black Heart is a catchy rock / pop song that has Lakme's Flower Duet in it. Its quite nice.

Wikipedia also has 'List of popular songs based on classical music' which might be helpful.

By: jozxyqk

jozxyqk — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 06:51:24 -0800

Does it have to be rock/pop?

I can't resist suggesting you show/play clips from What's Opera, Doc?

Spear and magic helmet!

By: twistedonion

twistedonion — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 07:04:53 -0800

Mack The Knife is a great tune, recently covered by the godlike genius that is Nick Cave.

By: twistedonion

twistedonion — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 07:06:53 -0800

oh, check out Tindersticks also - Like Nick, a lot of the songs are arranged in an Operatic fashion imho.

By: jrossi4r

jrossi4r — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 07:10:26 -0800

Verdi Cries by 10,000 Maniacs.

By: TwoWordReview

TwoWordReview — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 07:22:10 -0800

'Eskimo' by Damien Rice (last track on 'O') features an operatic bit.

By: hermitosis

hermitosis — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 07:27:54 -0800

Look into Klaus Nomi's music.

Also, Pavarotti cameo on the Moulin Rouge soundtrack: Ewan MacGregor's cover of "Your Song" by Elton John. Fun!

"Eskimo" by Damien Rice is lovely and features an opera singer toward the end.

That's all I've got for now.

By: klangklangston

klangklangston — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 07:30:30 -0800

I was going to recommend Klaus Nomi as an operatic singer. Other folks to look into are The Sparks and The Associates, both of whom are operatic.

By: klangklangston

klangklangston — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 07:32:14 -0800

There's also the Beegees' The British Opera.

By: La Cieca

La Cieca — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 07:53:41 -0800

There are a number of "popera" acts that combine operatic themes with more modern arrangements and beats: Sarah Brightman, Il Divo, The Opera Babes are a few.

And here is a clip from my good friend Dorothy Bishop, who does cabaret shows of opera/pop crossover material.

By: salmacis

salmacis — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 07:58:00 -0800

Opera Fanatica by the band Arena sounds absolutely perfect for what you want.

By: yankeefog

yankeefog — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 08:04:42 -0800

"In An Operetta" from The Magnetic Fields album "I".

"Tear Down The Opera House" by the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir (you can download it for free from their MySpace page)

By: EatTheWeak

EatTheWeak — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 08:05:04 -0800

Marc Almond and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra do a tremendous cover of Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones. It sounds like something straight out of an opera.

By: ROTFL

ROTFL — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 08:23:10 -0800

"Damned Ladies," by Rufus Wainwright, in which he names his favorite opera heroines and laments their tragic fates.

By: omnidrew

omnidrew — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 08:36:12 -0800

Therion.

By: salmacis

salmacis — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 08:41:13 -0800

The vocals of Nightwish have a very operatic feel to them.

By: jessenoonan

jessenoonan — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 08:41:17 -0800

In the spirit of jozxyqk's "What's Opera, Doc" suggestion: Spike Jones' Pal-yat-chee.

By: cowbellemoo

cowbellemoo — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 09:10:14 -0800

Goldfrapp's Felt Mountain album is the closest you can get to opera-pop, methinks. Track "Utopia" is probably the most opera-ish.

By: saladin

saladin — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 09:48:51 -0800

A couple of the songs on The Department of Eagles' excellent W hitey on the Moon UK have opera samples, including Gravity's Greatest Victory, one of the best songs on the album.

By: maxpower

maxpower — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 10:50:49 -0800

The Passengers Soundtrack By U2 features the song 'Miss Sarajevo' which features Pavarotti doing his thing. Very soothing but its definitely U2.

By: baylink

baylink — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 10:53:36 -0800

You might also want to preview Jim Steinman's "The Storm" from the album "Bad For Good"; it's not quite operatic, but he does lean towards the Wagnerian bombast.

He's done some other musical numbers as well...

By: forrest

forrest — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 12:26:58 -0800

Madame Butterfly by Malcolm McLaren leaps immediately to mind.

By: Dr.Pill

Dr.Pill — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:07:14 -0800

E.L.O.'s Rockaria!
" She's sweet on
Wagner
I think she'd die for Beethoven
She loves
the way Puccini lays down a tune
And Verdi's always
creeping from her room"

By: yankeefog

yankeefog — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 00:21:10 -0800

Oh, another idea. It's not exactly what your friend asked for but it would fit in well: the Three Tenors albums tend to have a few popular songs stuck in with the opera ones. While songs like "My Way" or "America" or "Moon River" or "Singin' In The Rain" don't explicitly reference opera, when the three tenors sing them, they end up being a very amusing mix of opera and American popular music. (All four songs can be found on "The Three Tenors in Concert 1994.")

By: nickmark

nickmark — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 08:16:41 -0800

Paul Kelly's Desdemona. The reference to Othello should be instantly obvious to anyone familiar with opera:

"Well I lost my Desdemona
With my own hands I destroyed her
Yes I lost my Desdemona
I fell for lies, I fell for lies"

By: TwoWordReview

TwoWordReview — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 11:18:28 -0800

The British group G4 (from Simon Cowell's X-factor) do pop songs in a classical style.