# Brainwashing I mean introducing children to opera



## anglophile23 (Jan 25, 2007)

I have a niece who is five and a nephew who is three.I would like to introduce them to opera/classical music. I at least want to let them know that it is ok to like it not matter what peers may say. 

Does anyone have any ideas on how to do this?

They live near Santa Fe and one day I hope to take them to the opera there.

Thanks in advance


----------



## ajo (Oct 22, 2007)

The first thing to do is get a copy of Fantasia. Then I would suggest some Bugs Bunny with Elmer Fudd, they did the Barber of Seville, Carmen and I remember a version of The Ride of the Valkyries. 

Does your local area have baby proms? There good for very young children.


----------



## anglophile23 (Jan 25, 2007)

I don't think we have that in the US. Do they take place in the Little Albert Hall?


----------



## Sarastro (Nov 29, 2005)

There is a wonderful CD series called "Classical Kids" which was designed to introduce children to calssical music. Each CD outlines the life and music of a well known composer such as Mozart (using a kids version of the Magical Flute), Beethoven (about his life and music as told by a child who lived in the same building as he did), Vivaldi, Bach, Tchaikovsky, and Handel.

They are available in boxed sets or individually and are sold on Amazon.com among other locations. Who knows, if you ignite a spark this could be the gift of a lifetime.


----------



## anglophile23 (Jan 25, 2007)

Sarastro said:


> There is a wonderful CD series called "Classical Kids" which was designed to introduce children to calssical music. Each CD outlines the life and music of a well known composer such as Mozart (using a kids version of the Magical Flute), Beethoven (about his life and music as told by a child who lived in the same building as he did), Vivaldi, Bach, Tchaikovsky, and Handel.
> 
> They are available in boxed sets or individually and are sold on Amazon.com among other locations. Who knows, if you ignite a spark this could be the gift of a lifetime.


How old are thes because I think I had the one with Beethoven and the kid when I was young.


----------



## Pink and Green (Jul 22, 2009)

If you start them young, they'll take to it. I still love ballet to this day because my grandmother took me to many a Christmas time Nutcracker performance. Now is the time to get them hooked!

If only I had the money for the golden circle tickets I always dreamed of...oh well.


----------



## DCLawyer68 (Jun 1, 2009)

A holiday performance of Hansel and Gretel might be in order - a lot of little theater groups stage that opera due to the fairly small scale it can be produced on.


----------



## sko (Jul 1, 2009)

I would second Fantasia and Looney Tunes. Aside from having our radios permanently tuned to the local classical music station when I was growing up, those were my experiences with classical music where I actually paid attention.

You might also check out Classics for Kids. It's a short, weekly radio program that plays on classical stations around the country. If it's not aired where you are, you can listen online at https://www.classicsforkids.com/ where there are also activities, etc. for many ages. Opera is discussed frequently.

Santa Fe has a very good opera company, as I'm sure you're aware, and they offer youth nights where families can attend dress rehearsals at greatly reduced prices in a less formal atmosphere. Youth programs are offered before the performance and during intermission as well.


----------



## Dhaller (Jan 20, 2008)

+1 for Fantasia... that was actually the first movie I ever saw, and I made my parents sit through it twice, consecutively!

I grew up with classical music (my father was a concert pianist), but a few records I really enjoyed as a kid included:

Saint-Saen's "Carnival of the Animals"

Britten's "A Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra"

Prokoviev's "Peter and the Wolf"

Especially the latter.

I imagine that nowadays there must be educational software for kids allowing them to compose music, etc. I would have loved that (I created many, many amateurish compositions for my father, which he tolerantly played ) as a kid.

DH


----------



## ajo (Oct 22, 2007)

*Brainwashing.*

For those who are interested in real brainwashing, I kept telling my son in the womb what was playing on the stereo hey baby this is Miles, hey baby this is Mahler, hay baby this BB King, hey baby this is Ketih Jarrett it worked.

When he was born we had music on at feed time, bath time, play time we used to hardly watch TV. And one night I walked back and length of flat for an hour to get him to sleep accompanied by the Necks.

He is a natural on the piano, but will he play no

At 15 he is more interested in sport girls and pop music and PS games. Mind you half the players in the team he supports in the NRL play a musical instrument.

And while on holidays while getting dinner I put on So What by Miles, he sat there picked up the trumpet line and scatted in perfect harmony with it all the way through. I was silent but I thought typical he choses So What.

I live in the hope that one day he will pick up an instrument. But I know that he has music hardwired into him so thats good in its self.


----------



## Peura (May 20, 2009)

Hi anglophile23,

my paternal Grandmother taught me to appreciate (brainwash, if you will) classical music and opera. Even today I go to the opera regularly, so you can take the following as ‘a recipe’. 

Grandmother broke my resistance by taking only small steps at a time. First it was just playing records while I was visiting. I believe Chopin was her favourite: endless and endless records of soft piano.. Then she took me to some church concerts, but only short ones! I think I was eight by then. Third level was the ballet, the Swan Lake, of course. That was when I was 15. When Grandmother was assured that I was receptive, a quick succession of other ballets, modern dance and operas followed. Going to the opera with her soon became a habit, something we would do together. I’ve kept almost all of the tickets as mementoes. 

Although my Grandmother passed away nine years ago, I still go, sometimes alone, sometimes with friends. I do the same as her: if there’s someone who is new to everything, I’ll make sure the first performance is ballet, or an opera which is "funny" (Mozart) or has spectacular stage settings. I remember the time Grandmother took me to see Wagner’s ‘The Rhine Gold’ all too well.. Lets say the stage show was ‘minimalistic’. I thought I would surely die of boredom! A similar experience would be enough to keep any first-timer away for good. I haven’t seen the Nut Cracker myself but I hear it’s the one where kids are always being brought. The catch is that there must be something interesting to see for a kid, not just those stout singers.

However, I don’t have any experience to share on how to make your kids virtuosos, if that’s in your dreams  My Grandmother was of course musically talented, her whole family was. Her brother played French Horn in the National Opera Orchestra. My father was made (forced?) to learn to play different instruments as a child and as a counteraction to that, I was never encouraged to play any!


----------



## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

My Irish dad taught me to appreciate both types of music, country *AND *western! :icon_smile_wink: (for you Blue Brothers fans out there :icon_smile_big

But seriously, actually, growing up my Irish parents listened predominantly to country & western,cajun, the crooners (Nat, Frank, Deano, Sammy, Billy), Irish folk and rebel songs,50s rock n roll,60s pop and doo ***, and opera arias. My father was a wonderful singer and could sing Puccini and Verdi arias beautifully, in the style of the Irish tenors of his boyhood, who I still occasionally listen to, namely, Count John McCormack, Frank Patterson, Joseph Locke.


----------

