MMmusing: Operaplot 2010

So, as mentioned in yesterday's post, I've been drawn back into the world of Operaplot, a Twitter-based contest that debuted last April. It's back again for this week, and once again hundreds of opera summaries are pouring in, 140 characters or less at a time. (Actually, the plots need to be 130 characters or less since they must include the tag #operaplot to be entered into the contest.) There's an interesting pool of prizes for the winners, to be selected by tenor sensation Jonas Kaufmann at the end of the week, but the real fun is in seeing all the creative solutions (more than 500 in 3 days) to the challenge.

At first I thought I'd just re-enter my favorite creations from last year (non-winning entries are allowed back in), but then I started tweaking a few and suddenly I was hatching new ones. I find I still can't resist the lure of rhyme, and this year I've also starting using existing song lyrics as templates for some. There's definitely a tendency towards the "just being clever for the sake of being clever," but I guess I am who I am. If you go wandering through the Twitter stream, you'll find all manner of approaches, and you'll certainly be reminded that operas aren't always about pretty things. But that's hardly news.

So, below you'll find my 2010 collection. Go here to see the 2009 batch, which is probably a bit stronger on the whole. [Apologies for details that may make no sense - there are plenty of obscure references to plot/musical features that may just look weird if you don't get the reference. It's all part of the geeky fun.]

Count thinks "maid is made for me," but doesn't count on trickery of servant who serves up disguises; mezzo really one of guys is.

The first chord puts tonality on notice. The ending lets Isolde Liebestod us.

Mom cries over spilt milk, sends kids into the woods. They pray for safety, but where are those 14 angels when the witch shows up?

In2 the woods we hav 2 go/Our ma is really mad u know/Somebody call 2 DSS & get us an attorney/In2 the woods 2 GINGERbread house!

Pamina! I just saw a pic of Pamina. Her mom's a crazy dame & sent it in a frame to me. Pamina! I just dissed a girl named Pamina..

Performer fiddles w/bird~Poet authors romance~Painter brushes w/ex~Philosopher thinks coat sale. Siren scoffs~Seamstress coughs.

In a world where men r birds & queens pierce the nite,1 man will brave it all 4 love & enlightenment. From the Masons who suck @ #operaplot

You want this #operaplot in 140 characters? That's about 2 characters per character in this opera. Sorry, Prokofiev...

You must remember this, a kiss is still is a kiss: Act I, in bed we lie! Act IV, before & after I . . . see that you die.

...and see Update(s) below...

You can click through on each one to find the operas being referenced. I'm probably proudest of this tidy little couplet: "The first chord puts tonality on notice. The ending lets Isolde Liebestod us." Maybe because it's short (which the opera definitely isn't) and yet manages to capture the two iconic bookends of this groundbreaking work. Maybe it's just satisfying to cut Wagner down to size. In fact, my favorite of all the 2010 submissions may be this one: "Nürnberg's Got Talent."

Most of my plots above are fairly self-explanatory. The "In2 the Woods" one makes a lot more sense if you happen to know this. The "kiss is still a kiss" one is probably too cute for its own good, but it does pick up on the way in which some romantic "kiss music" is twice reprised at the end of that opera. Oh, and maybe it's obvious as is, but the "in a world where..." plot really needs to be read with this guy's voice in mind.

UPDATE (4/29): One more concocted on the drive into work this morning...

Adina! I'll soon get a girl named Adina/Altho she says I'm lame/Elixir fixed the game for me/Adina! She just misted una furtiva!

Last line is a reference to this.

Well, lookey here. A couple more...

Albert ruminates, drinks rumonade, becomes runaway, runs Mum away.

Don't cry for me my Adina. The truth is I never left you all thru your sarge phase. I'm a persister; even enlisted to buy elixir.

...and one more, actually a more elegant revision of one from above:

You must remember this. A kiss is still a kiss: "un bacio" in duet; "ancora'un bacio" while upset; then with regret.

I'm done; there are now more than 800 entries, with the deadline being tonight (Fri, 4/30) at midnight.

[UPDATE: All the plots above explained in excruciating detail here]