I have always had a great love for the absolutely unreal, the purely fanciful in all the arts, as well as of the absolutely real; I like the one on a far lower plane than the other, but it delights me, as a pantomime at a theatre does, or a
comic opera, which has its being wholly outside the realm of the probabilities.
She was modern to the soles of her dainty little high-heeled shoes, frankly fond of dress and of pleasure, devoted to tennis and to
comic opera, delighted with a dance, which came her way only too seldom, longing ever for some new excitement, and yet behind all this lighter side of her character a thoroughly good, healthy-minded English girl, the life and soul of the house, and the idol of her sister and her father.
But here intrigue seems indeed to exist only within the pages of a shilling novel, or in a
comic opera. The gentleman with a helmet there, who regards us so benignly, will presently earn a shilling by calling me a hansom.
This
comic opera phase came to a head in the famous Drawbaugh case, which lasted for nearly four years, and filled ten thousand pages with its evidence.
To see him walking like a
comic opera Sultan, with this badge of authority in his hand, his black beard bristling in front of him, his toes pointing at each step, and a train of wide-eyed Indian girls behind him, clad in their slender drapery of bark cloth, is one of the most grotesque of all the pictures which I will carry back with me.
And because,' he shouted wrathfully, 'because, forsooth, she earns an honest living by singing in the chorus of a
comic opera, a whole bunch of snivelling idiots will say I have made a fool of myself.
"He has composed two or three
comic operas, written four or five articles in the Siecle, and voted five or six years on the ministerial side."
Some, like the husband of Madame Colleville, Celestine's rival, play in the orchestra of a theatre; others like du Bruel, write vaudeville,
comic operas, melodramas, or act as prompters behind the scenes.
Larnaca Festival 2019 closes on Wednesday with the popular romantic
comic opera L'Elisir d'Amore (The Elixir of Love) by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti.
Fast-paced and fun, this was the twelfth
comic opera collaboration from the prolific creative pair Gilbert and Sullivan, who are well-known for their memorable tunes and strong characters.
? Don Pasquale Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury Sunday, June 16, 7pm, PS26.50 Welsh National Opera presents a riotous new version of Donizetti's classic
comic opera, set in and around Pasquale's doner kebab van.
This week, the message "A Fair Garland" will feature the aria "O mio babbino caro" from the
comic opera "Gianni Schicchi" by Giacomo Puccini, especially selected for Father's Day.