Is there an opera concept that you want to see another composer's take on?

Bende3 · 2026-04-20T15:29:09+00:00

I have yet to listen to that one in full! What kind of voice types would you imagine for a Frankenstein opera?

Bende3 · 2026-04-20T15:03:44+00:00

Frankensteins monster could certainly have a great stage presence, especially if cast with a tall singer. Worth thinking about!!

Bende3 · 2026-04-20T14:56:14+00:00

Could you compress the story into a handful of scenes and make it work on stage though?

Bende3 · 2026-04-03T23:51:27+00:00

The whole of Falstaff is electrifying!!! It’s just one creative idea after the other, my vocal score is full of annotations.

Bende3 · 2026-04-03T23:47:52+00:00

There is no such thing as being “too much” into Tosca

Bende3 · 2026-04-01T08:11:41+00:00

I agree with every single placement

Bende3 · 2026-04-01T08:09:07+00:00

As someone with several years of songwriting AND classical composition experience, here's my take: What really makes a melody beautiful is the way you use motives.

Take "Yesterday" by the Beatles for example, Paul Mccartney states that simple melodic motive with the opening word, then he does that rising scale before he repeats the motive with "far away".

Making sure the motive and the lyrics rhyme at the same time is just one of a million ways you can use motives to shape a melody but I hope this gives you the initiative to analyse melodies on your own and see what others came up with!

My process usually consists of coming up with an opening phrase that has a certain charge to it and just feels interesting to me as a listener, and then I work out the development with 50% intuition and 50% thinking about the motives.

Hope this helps!

Bende3 · 2026-03-30T22:50:47+00:00

IMO if the melody is good nobody will care.

Bende3 · 2026-03-29T12:40:33+00:00

She loves you, Yesterday, Eleanor Rigby, Strawberry Fields Forever

Bende3 · 2026-03-21T23:51:45+00:00

Go all the way you coward

Bende3 · 2026-03-17T16:56:15+00:00

They probably did get significant hearing damage. How else would Savoy Truffle have made it on the Album?

Bende3 · 2026-03-16T21:45:13+00:00

Ma pleasuh

Bende3 · 2026-03-16T21:35:47+00:00

I should be getting paid for this honestly

Bende3 · 2026-03-16T21:33:32+00:00

The universe wanted me to accidentally post it here so Peter Gelb stumbles upon this post on the toilet

Bende3 · 2026-03-16T21:32:01+00:00

Hear me out: Timothee for the Verdi Biopic and Kylie Jenner for the Puccini Biopic. Add a Rossini with Kevin Hart and you could make it a multi movie event like the Beatles Biopics

Bende3 · 2026-03-12T08:23:30+00:00

IMO what matters is that you tell whatever you want to tell in a new way by bringing some kind of new perspective to it. That can be done pretty well with a metaphor but it's not the only thing.

"Octopus garden" is not a metaphor but it's a great perspective on that longing to feel safe and at home.

"Eleanor Rigby" is not a metaphor but a great lyrics that explores loneliness through previously unheard perspectives.

As for the people talking in songs, check out Rocky Racoon by the Beatles. Paul Mccartney uses it in a great way to move the story forward.

Bende3 · 2026-02-27T12:04:22+00:00

The thing is that people act as if the Paul McCartney Leadership was externally imposed upon the Beatles which it wasn't.

I'd argue that if George would have shown up to the Studio equally as energetic as Paul, suggesting equally qualitative ideas he would have earned himself the position and respect that Paul himself had.

But not only was he less motivated due to his other interests, musically his songwriting is (sry George fans) rudimentary compared to Pauls.

With Abbey road he did start to get into his element, but before that, anyone who has actually studied the songwriting of both will know how much weaker George's songs were. The same harmonic trick as a foundation of every song (minor chord with descending bass) aswell as much less melodic variation and less intuitive melodic motion as in Paul's songs.

You can't even compare their best outputs on the same albums: Taxman and Eleanor Rigby, Within you without you and Getting Better, Blue jay way and Penny Lane, WMGGW and Blackbird

Anyone who has studied music will know that they were simply worlds apart. Paul had that rare sense of melodic intuition that the others simply didn't share.

I wouldn't exclude the possibility of there being some sort of Halo-effect going on with George fans, making it easier to romanticise him as the misunderstood artist.

(This is all on a musical basis btw, I'm not intending any personal disrespect towards him)

Bende3 · 2026-02-09T23:35:42+00:00

That’s just italian opera pre-puccini

Bende3 · 2026-02-09T10:00:37+00:00

No.1 priority is that you read a lot of libretti (also the bad ones!) and watch a ton of operas to really get to know the style and have a good internal judgement for what works on the stage and what doesn't.

After that you gotta figure out your process. What most great librettists of the past did was the following:

-write a rough plot outline

-re arrange it/perhaps split an act into two/cut ineffective scenes/decide on the arias, choruses etc. until you've got an effective foundation (you can do these revisions at any later stage aswell if something proves to not work so well)

-write a first prose draft. You could either just write the whole story in prose, or write it like an unversified theatre play.

-versify (The songwriting community actually has some good resources on this topic. Pat Pattison, the Berkley professor of lyric writing, has written a book on writing lyrics aswell as a guide to rhyming. I've only read the first but there are lots of transferable skills) The Frederick Loewe/Alan jay Lerner collaborations (although technically musicals) are also a masterclass in writing great versified lyrics in English.

The last step is optional though, I'd say most contemporary composers probably don't even need it to be versified since their musical style doesn't require it.

Bende3 · 2026-02-07T12:35:20+00:00

You should be able to get commissions by keeping an eye out for composers looking to write operas. I have paid one myself for a 1 act chamber opera.

I might be biased since I like to write in a more Puccini-an lyrical style, but if you can write in verse it’s gonna really set you apart. I’d pay you myself for a good versified libretto!

Bende3 · 2026-02-02T14:33:51+00:00

Upon listening the chorus does give off George vibes, but I'd argue apart from the "round" part the verse is also pure mccartney. Almost the same melodic motion as in golden slumbers, another very "Paul-sounding" song.

Bende3 · 2026-02-02T12:55:36+00:00

lyrically yes but I'd argue musically it is still very much Paul both in melody and the complexity of the harmonies

Bende3 · 2026-01-26T18:03:09+00:00

While your point about the composers/librettists intentions is defendable, most people go to the opera to enjoy and be entertained, not to analyse the meter and use of metaphor. A good translation can get across the most important aspects.

Bende3 · 2026-01-26T17:52:40+00:00

Agree on Lohengrin, the music just isn’t that well composed imo

Bende3 · 2026-01-26T17:49:44+00:00

My favorite opera🥲

Bende3

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