Heavy Metal and Opera: Kin Under the Skin?

Before you gag and stop reading this column, allow me to explain. This thought first occurred to me when I was at Ozzfest one year. I didn’t know the songs by most of the bands. It was only after Ozzfest was over and I was curious, and asked my daughter for some of the songs, that I began to enjoy them.

Some background: My parents were classical music fanatics and they more or less shoved it down my throat. I listened to rock ‘n’ roll, though, and after many years realized that I didn’t like classical. My tastes in rock moved slowly from softer stuff to metal, and there I have remained.

Despite my having left classical in the dust, my background has persisted in plaguing me at times, and so the comparison between opera and metal popped into my mind, whether I liked it or not.

I was taught by my parents that before attending an opera, you must listen to a recording of it, and read the libretto (the music and words). You have to if you want to have any idea at all what’s going on. Even if you’re fluent in the language of the opera, it’s impossible to make out any words because of the way they sing.

Cynical World would be hypocritical if it were not completely honest, and so, with a sigh, I admit that before I go hear a band I’m not so familiar with, I listen to as many of their songs as I can. Given the decibel level and the often less-than-perfect acoustics at many venues, sometimes it’s hard to know what’s being played, unless you are familiar with the song.

The other thing I learned from my mother, is that even if I don’t think I’ll like a band very much, if I haven’t heard them, I still feel it’s important to go. Even if my mother did not care for a work of music, or if she’d never heard a particular ensemble before, she would go. As a professional in classical music, she felt it important to know as much music and as many ensembles as possible.

I feel the same about metal. Although I’m not a professional in the field, I want to hear as many bands as possible. Partly because I love the music as a whole, even if a band may not be among my favorites; partly because I feel like I can’t be a true metalhead if I only know a few bands’ work. (The difference between my mother and myself, however, is that often I get to like a certain band and its music after I’ve listened to them a few times.)

Another similarity with opera is the theatrical productions. Every metal band I’ve seen has dramatic props and risers for the musicians to jump off and on, or at least some sort of outrageous backdrop. My own favorite band, Iron Maiden, had a hell of a set during its recent tour. I do have to admit that the most beautiful set I ever saw was Heaven and Hell’s, during this summer’s Mayhem tour. Although it was grim and grotesque in some ways, I thought it was absolutely gorgeous at the same time.

(By the way, the excellent documentary “Heavy: The Story of Metal” features an expert stating that 19th century composer Richard Wagner might have been the heavy metal artist of his day, given the size of his orchestras and the amount of bass instruments he used. I’m sure many Wagner devotees would be utterly horrified by this pronouncement.)

But a metal band doesn’t really need the accessories; the power and all-consuming nature of the music reaches down your throat, grips you and doesn’t let go. Perhaps some opera lovers would say the same about their music, but opera needs the props to be able to stand it. Sometimes my parents took me to performances in which the singers appeared simply before a symphony orchestra, not in costume, no backdrops or props. They stood there and sang the opera in regular ball gowns and tuxedos. There was nothing more boring than this. Not only could you not understand the words, there was nothing else to look at.

That’s where the similarities end, though. I don’t ever recall seeing any headbanging at concerts and operas. There are no mosh pits at classical music performances. No-one in an audience at the opera is the least bit interested in hearing you sing along with the vocalists or watching you play air-violin or air-trumpet. I’ve never seen a conductor crowd-surf. Never saw an opera singer tear off his wig and throw it to the pit (which in the case of opera is not concert-goers, but an orchestra). No double-bassist has ever tossed his bow to the crowd. I never saw anyone drinking beer during an opera, in the audience. Well, this is their loss.

My conclusion: be of good cheer –- opera is opera, and heavy metal is heavy metal, and never the twain shall meet.

© Naomi Godfrey 2008