Replay: Anne Midgette shares Five Things She's Learned about How to Love Opera Like an Insider
Check out the first five minutes of her recent class.
“Opera is one of the most misunderstood art forms in Western culture. Many people equate it with shrieking, large women in breastplates and Viking helmets, and overpriced elitism. But all those people have it wrong. Opera is one of the most visceral and enjoyable media out there, once you attune yourself to its idiom. It’s a direct ancestor of both popular song and Hollywood film, and if you like either of those, there’s no reason you shouldn’t like opera as well.”
– Anne Midgette, Five Things I've Learned about How to Love Opera Like an Insider
Anne Midgette is a celebrated classical music critic and journalist. She has written extensively on classical music and opera, and her work has been featured in prominent publications such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The New Yorker. Here’s the first five minutes of Anne’s two-hour class in which she shares the Five Things She’s Learned that make it easy to appreciate and enjoy this essential art form.
Five Things I’ve Learned about How to Love Opera Like an Insider offers Anne’s unique and passionate perspective on opera. A long-time opera enthusiast, she dispels common misconceptions about the art form and concentrates instead on all that makes opera visceral, approachable, and understandable. In her class, Anne provides a variety of entry points into the opera experience, experiences that help people new to operate follow their interest as they discover more about the genre. Whether you're a newcomer who is curious about opera, an occasional opera-goer seeking a deeper connection, or a devoted fan hungry for more discussion, this class promises to engage, enlighten, and equip you with all you need to continue your opera journey.
Want to learn to enjoy and understand opera like an insider? This class is for you.
Anne was the classical music critic of The Washington Post for 11 years, from 2008 to 2019. Before that, she was for seven years a regular contributor of classical music and theater reviews to The New York Times. She has also written about music, the visual arts, dance, theater and film for The Wall Street Journal, Opera News, The Los Angeles Times, Town & Country, and many other publications, reviewing and interviewing everyone from Spike Lee to Twyla Tharp, Marina Abramovic to Luciano Pavarotti. At the Post, she oversaw every aspect of classical music coverage, offset her music writing with occasional visual art reviews, and posted online as The Classical Beat. She is currently working on a historical novel about the woman who built pianos for Beethoven.
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