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Omg... Doctor Atomic makes me so happy I could die. I. could. die. There is NO better opera. It's so emotional. New. Sexy. Mechanical. Dissonant. Ugly. Fierce. It's MY kind of Adams. Thank you, Mr. John Adams, for giving me my dream role. :)

Actually, I've changed my mind. "Grave of the Fireflies" would make an excellent ballet.

I was surprised to find so much interest in composing opera over here. That in fact is an accomplishment. And don't get backtracked by the age stereotype. If you're good enough, you're old enough. When I was 13 or 14, I was just beginning to compose - and by then I vowed not to compose a single note to be sang. Opera was 'stereotypical' to me, and lieder didn't catch my interest at all. But then I experienced one of Mahler's song cycles in the concert hall - and it started a slow but sure change of mind. After a while I found myself setting to music the text of Psalms 93. And then (about 10 years later in fact) I again caught myself redhanded in the act of writing a collection of lieder (I'd never call it a 'song cycle' because the songs are not related among each other). But opera?????? Really?????? Then I heard Tchaikovsky's Onegin, Queen of Spades and Puccini's Tosca. And saw Bizet's Carmen twice. And, upon showing Carmen to my wife and sister-in-law, ended up stunned by the way they (esp. the latter) totally fell for opera and even encouraged me to undertake one myself!!! As I'm also a fiction writer, I thought I could adapt one of my novels into a full-length opera. No way - that's Wagner's domain only. We earthlings should be content to write owr own librettos (if only not to fail due to someone else's fault)... So I'm currently set on a project, of which I'm on the earliest stages as of now, but which would take a very unorthodox approach to Tchaikovsky's life. My advice for you: 1) Fear not. 2) Compose ideally - some day it will end up being performed anyway :phones:. 3) If you have a powerful melody or theme as the main reason for composing the opera (even if it is inspired by a story you'd like to tell), ask yourself if the tune deserves an opera or can be better used elsewhere. I can't think of Wagner, Verdi or Britten composing their operas just for the sake of the "highlight number" :hmmm:. 4) It's better to have a general outline of the story before starting the composition. Even the act structure. But not necessarily the full libretto. Also don't think of a libretto as a straightjacket :headwall: - you're the artist, you can change anything the way you want. If words don't fit into the naturally flowing music, change the words. 5) If a particular scene stirs your own emotion, start by composing this scene, no matter if it's on the last act. You can use its themes as a build-up through the whole opera :nod: . Also, that most inspired scene will most likely turn into a 'highlight' itself. 6) Don't be afraid of not following any of these if none serves your purpose :toothygrin: ... I hope this set of advice helps you - and, if not, I'd like to hear from you anyway.

Not sure, actually. I'm no good at specific performances. My FAVORITE cast overall is the Chicago cast. I hate their Nixon, but everyone else is fantastic. Now, the MET one, which is on Youtube, has the BEST Nixon. But, everyone else sucks. :P hahah.

haha yes :) Shostakovich showed that can be done safely

So I guess I should have posted a poll for 2 or 3 version and let you vote .... Forgive me if I started something could be useless, it's just I do consider the 2 blows version as wrong, and I don't like to see Mahler works being performed wrongly, that's all.