Sybarite
New member
Developing a question raised by Kurkikohtaus in the thread on Czech composers, in terms of sung music, do you prefer the libretto to be sung in the original language or your own and why?
To elaborate a little: when I saw Die Fledermaus a few weeks ago, it was in an English translation.
Now, I've long been a believer in opera being in the original language, but I enjoyed being able to fully understand this. Perhaps I can live without lyrics that peak at 'Your tiny hand is frozen' and simply wallow in the music, but it struck me that, particularly in works that are humourous and/or satirical, there is a benefit to being able to understand the libretto as quickly and clearly as possible. I imagine that it would be difficult, indeed, for many non-English speakers to appreciate a Gilbert and Sullivan work if they couldn't understand the lyrics.
But then again, with great choral works such as Bach's St Matthew Passion or Mozart's Requiem, the words themselves are irrelevant to me, so it matters not whether they're in German, Latin or English.
What do other posters feel?
To elaborate a little: when I saw Die Fledermaus a few weeks ago, it was in an English translation.
Now, I've long been a believer in opera being in the original language, but I enjoyed being able to fully understand this. Perhaps I can live without lyrics that peak at 'Your tiny hand is frozen' and simply wallow in the music, but it struck me that, particularly in works that are humourous and/or satirical, there is a benefit to being able to understand the libretto as quickly and clearly as possible. I imagine that it would be difficult, indeed, for many non-English speakers to appreciate a Gilbert and Sullivan work if they couldn't understand the lyrics.
But then again, with great choral works such as Bach's St Matthew Passion or Mozart's Requiem, the words themselves are irrelevant to me, so it matters not whether they're in German, Latin or English.
What do other posters feel?
