Being at an intermediate station between antiquity and modernity I ve always been intrigued as to how the often underestimated genre of opera has always brimmed of masculine values and heroes.
I am not an expert in these genre but what I ve seen of it has not passed me by in vain.
Out of the tip of my head I can think of the magnificent Don Giovanni,concocted by the master himself: Mozart.
A tragic epopey of a villain/hero who in the most romantic of spirits,prefers eternal damnation to repenting from his "sins".
Full Play youtube link
A great version of "the commendatore" scene
From Verdi of course stands Rigoletto,a play in which a character that many would deem a villain as well,extends the truest most cynical expositon of the female character
The duke of Mantua's aria by Pavarotti
1. La donna è mobile
Qual piuma al vento,
muta d'accento
e di pensiero.
Sempre un amabile,
leggiadro viso,
in pianto o in riso,
è menzognero.
Refrain
La donna è mobil'.
Qual piuma al vento,
muta d'accento
e di pensier'!
2. È sempre misero
chi a lei s'affida,
chi le confida
mal cauto il cuore!
Pur mai non sentesi
felice appieno
chi su quel seno
non liba amore!
Refrain
La donna è mobil'
Qual piuma al vento,
muta d'accento
e di pensier'![2]
Woman is flighty.
Like a feather in the wind,
she changes in voice
and in thought.
Always a lovely,
pretty face,
in tears or in laughter,
it's untrue.
Refrain
Woman is flighty.
like a feather in the wind,
she changes in voice
and in thought!
Always miserable
is he who trusts her,
he who confides in her
his unwary heart!
Yet one never feels
fully happy
who from that bosom
does not drink love!
Refrain
Woman is flighty.
Like a feather in the wind,
she changes her words,
and her thoughts![3]
Plume in the summerwind
Waywardly playing
Ne'er one way swaying
Each whim obeying;
Thus heart of womankind
Ev'ry way bendeth,
Woe who dependeth
On joy she spendeth!
Refrain
Yes, heart of woman
Ev'ry way bendeth
Woe who dependeth
On joy she spends.
Sorrow and misery
Follow her smiling,
Fond hearts beguiling,
falsehood assoiling!
Yet all felicity
Is her bestowing,
No joy worth knowing
Is there but wooing.
Refrain
Yes, heart of woman
Ev'ry way bendeth
Woe who dependeth
On joy she spends.
(translation taken from wikipedia article)
His destruction is prevented by the very delicate woman he deflowered as a way of one upping her father,the homonimous and vengeance seeking protagonist who happens to be his court's fool!
I also remember from Verdi I vespri siciliani
Based on a historical event,the story seems to revolve more around the downfall of the protagonist,caused by their pride and integrity.
The young protagonist by placing unwavering trust in his beloved,whose weak resolution betrays him to his former comrades and causes not only his death but that of his long lost father who out of duty and love to his child had spared those who would become their murderers.
And of course,there is the beautiful and often mocked "Carmen" of Bizet.
Set in a spanish historical context,the beautiful and fickle gypsy femme fatale Carmen's endless playing with various suitors culminates in an expected murder caused by jealousy of one of many men she led astray.
I will contribute more to this thread as I remember them,but of the ones already posted I find it interesting how they showcase issues that any experience manosphere surfer would have come across these days...
I am not an expert in these genre but what I ve seen of it has not passed me by in vain.
Out of the tip of my head I can think of the magnificent Don Giovanni,concocted by the master himself: Mozart.
A tragic epopey of a villain/hero who in the most romantic of spirits,prefers eternal damnation to repenting from his "sins".
Full Play youtube link
A great version of "the commendatore" scene
From Verdi of course stands Rigoletto,a play in which a character that many would deem a villain as well,extends the truest most cynical expositon of the female character
The duke of Mantua's aria by Pavarotti
1. La donna è mobile
Qual piuma al vento,
muta d'accento
e di pensiero.
Sempre un amabile,
leggiadro viso,
in pianto o in riso,
è menzognero.
Refrain
La donna è mobil'.
Qual piuma al vento,
muta d'accento
e di pensier'!
2. È sempre misero
chi a lei s'affida,
chi le confida
mal cauto il cuore!
Pur mai non sentesi
felice appieno
chi su quel seno
non liba amore!
Refrain
La donna è mobil'
Qual piuma al vento,
muta d'accento
e di pensier'![2]
Woman is flighty.
Like a feather in the wind,
she changes in voice
and in thought.
Always a lovely,
pretty face,
in tears or in laughter,
it's untrue.
Refrain
Woman is flighty.
like a feather in the wind,
she changes in voice
and in thought!
Always miserable
is he who trusts her,
he who confides in her
his unwary heart!
Yet one never feels
fully happy
who from that bosom
does not drink love!
Refrain
Woman is flighty.
Like a feather in the wind,
she changes her words,
and her thoughts![3]
Plume in the summerwind
Waywardly playing
Ne'er one way swaying
Each whim obeying;
Thus heart of womankind
Ev'ry way bendeth,
Woe who dependeth
On joy she spendeth!
Refrain
Yes, heart of woman
Ev'ry way bendeth
Woe who dependeth
On joy she spends.
Sorrow and misery
Follow her smiling,
Fond hearts beguiling,
falsehood assoiling!
Yet all felicity
Is her bestowing,
No joy worth knowing
Is there but wooing.
Refrain
Yes, heart of woman
Ev'ry way bendeth
Woe who dependeth
On joy she spends.
(translation taken from wikipedia article)
His destruction is prevented by the very delicate woman he deflowered as a way of one upping her father,the homonimous and vengeance seeking protagonist who happens to be his court's fool!
I also remember from Verdi I vespri siciliani
Based on a historical event,the story seems to revolve more around the downfall of the protagonist,caused by their pride and integrity.
The young protagonist by placing unwavering trust in his beloved,whose weak resolution betrays him to his former comrades and causes not only his death but that of his long lost father who out of duty and love to his child had spared those who would become their murderers.
And of course,there is the beautiful and often mocked "Carmen" of Bizet.
Set in a spanish historical context,the beautiful and fickle gypsy femme fatale Carmen's endless playing with various suitors culminates in an expected murder caused by jealousy of one of many men she led astray.
I will contribute more to this thread as I remember them,but of the ones already posted I find it interesting how they showcase issues that any experience manosphere surfer would have come across these days...
We move between light and shadow, mutually influencing and being influenced through shades of gray...
