#Operaplot 2011 -- the contest begins!

If you're an opera lover -- and have a Twitter account -- you can do something constructive with your time and enter the #Operaplot contest. If you're an opera lover, and don't have a Twitter account, then you open a Twitter account (it's free) and then enter the #Operaplot contest.

What is it?
#Operaplot is a yearly contest where the challenge is to sum up the plot of an opera in 140 characters (actually, 131 because you must include the hashtag #operaplot in the tweet). The goal is to create the wittiest summation possible. The contest is run by classical music blogger "the Omniscient Mussel," (in reality renowned music writer and photographer Marcia Adair), and kudos to you if you know from what opera Miss Mussel gets her online name.

Why bother?
Two reasons:

1. #Operaplot has a pretty impressive prize pool. Several major and regional opera companies have donated tickets, and EMI will be offering up some suitable CDs and DVDs as well. Your wit might get you into a performance of Iphigenie en Tauride at the Washington National Opera with Placido Domingo, for example.
2. #Operaplot is great fun. The reason the hashtag is required is that using the pound sign with a letter combination makes it a link. So if you receive a tweet with #operaplot in it, you can click on it and see what everyone else has contributed. 

When does it start?
The contest runs between April 11 and April 15, 2011, so you have (as of this writing) until Monday to think up your entries. I already have my first two ready to go.

 Last year I was one of the runners-up -- and won a complete set of Mozart operas for my trouble. You can bet I'll be entering this year as well. Come join the fun!

#OperaPlot 2011 -- The Denouement

The #OperaPlot contest is over for this year, and as always, competition was stiff. As you may recall, the idea was to give -- in a humorous fashion -- the plot of an opera using only the 140-character limit allowed on Twitter (actually, the count was less because each entry had to include the hashtag #operaplot).

Since a few of the winning tweets are NSFW, I'll just point to the complete list of winning entries. There were five winners, five runners-up, and additional prizes for the best pop culture reference, best song parody, best modern opera plot, and even best #OperaPlot fan art!

So how did I do? Well, I was one of the runners-up again this year with the following entry:

Ramades and Aida get in on the ground floor of a pyramid scheme. #operaplot  [Aïda]

Which, considering how many thousands of entries were submitted from all over the world, I think is quite an honor!

I'm already thinking about possible entries for next year. How about you?

#Operaplot 2011 -- The plots thicken

Last week I posted info about the #OperaPlot competition on Twitter. Basically, the idea is to recount in a humorous fashion, the plot of any opera in 140 characters or less. And there are extra points for making a pop culture reference.

There are some pretty serious prizes at stake in this international competition, including two tickets to a performance at the Metropolitan Opera, as well as (a little closer to home for me) the Washington Opera.

If you're on Twitter, why not give it a shot? You still have Thursday and Friday (as of this posting) to enter. Just include the hashtage #operaplot in your tweet. To give you an idea of how easy this is, below are my entries. In brackets are the opera and composer in question -- just in case it's not clear.

Oh Susanna, don't you cry for me, I'm a man of God who loves your bod, in New Hope Tennessee.
[Susanna - Carlisle Floyd]

 Ah, yes, "Die Liebe der Danae." Set back in the day when a golden shower was a *good* thing, by Jupiter!
[Die Liebe der Danae - Richard Strauss]

His daughter's in love with a boy whose actually a girl married to the prisoner he's watching. Ah, that's Rocco's Modern Life.
[Fidelio - Ludwig van Beethoven]

A mason jars Tamino into action, and it's curtains for the Queen of the Night
[Der Zauberflote - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]

What happened at the end of Semele's Extreme Makeover? She got burned at the Reveal.
[Semele - Georg Fredrick Handel]

Lady Harriett is tired of being admired. Looks for a change and doesn't realize she has it made when she has it maid.
[Martha - Friedrich von Flowtow]

Senta, don't throw yourself at every sailor who comes into port. You'll get yourself in Dutch.
[Die Fliegende Hollander - Richard Wagner]

Susanna, say yes to the dress, but no to the Count.
[Le Nozze Di Figaro - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]

The question was: What is like ice, but burns like fire? You answered C) Turandot. Is that your final answer?
[Turandot - Giacomo Puccini]

Don Giovanni learns there is a statue of limitations.
[Don Giovanni - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]

Seneca to Poppea: You want to be queen? Ha! Over my dead body.
[L'incoronazione di Poppea - Claudio Monteverdi]

Some "dialogue." Sister Blanche always seems to get the last word.
[Dialogues des carmelites - Francis Poulenc]

Ramades and Aida get in on the ground floor of a pyramid scheme.
[Aida - Giuseppe Verdi]

OK, Judith, you've seen what's behind doors 1 through 6. Do you want to stop, or will you trade it all for what's behind door #7!
[Bluebeard's Castle - Bela Bartok]

Jeez, Dalila, I just asked for a little off the top.

Your mother and her lover murdered your father? Don't get mad, go mad
[Electra - Richard Strauss]

Opera diva hits a high C before hitting the ground.
[Tosca - Giacomo Puiccini]

Archer shoots at the apple of his eye. Hits apple, misses eye.
[William Tell- Giocomo Rossini]

The Governor/King of Boston/Sweden goes to a masked ball and is stabbed/stilettoed.
[Un ballo in maschere - Giusseppi Verdi]

And there are plenty more where those came from! 

The #Operaplot Thickens...

Are you part of the population who Twitters? According to statistics, you're probably not.* If you enjoy classical music, that's too bad, because there's a lot of musicians, composers, critics, professors, recording engineers, and enthusiasts who carry on a lively conversation about all aspects of classical music 140 characters at a time.

One of the things you missed was the #Operaplot contest. It's put on by Marcia Adair, a Canadian music writer known as the Omniscient Mussel (bonus points if you know which opera features that character).

The contest: sum up an opera in 140 characters or less -- actually less, because in order for your tweet to count, it must include the hashtag #operaplot (a hashtag is like a keyword -- it helps sort things quickly). The challenge was two-fold: tweeters had to come up with clever and innovative ways of summing up an opera, and readers had to figure out which opera was being summed up.

Like this one from Amndw2

Tosca
Signora Floria. In the dining room. With the steak knife.

For a few days tweets were flying fast and furious, all compiled by Miss Mussel on her website. Brian Rosen was inspired to create a 30-second rap based on his entry. Especially funny if you're familiar with both Stravinsky and Vanilla Ice.

Oedipus Rex
Ego Rex,yo! With my mad flow. Tiresias be hatin on my bling tho. Cuz I’m the king, aint no other. Is my ho fly? Word to my mother!

The 2009 competition had a remarkable twist ending. It was won by Stephen Llewellyn for his summation of the Ring Cycle:

The Ring Cycle
There was a young lady called Fricka Who…who…*snore* Wake up and it’s over. It’s good, I just wish it were quicka.

Llewellyn donated his prize to a music teacher, and so because of this 140-character competition, Priscilla Barrow, a music teacher from Washington, DC received two premier seats to the Washington National Opera production of Turandot and attended the gala Washington Opera Ball held at the German ambassador's Residence in D.C.

Did I enter this year? Of course! Here's my entry:

Orfeo
Greek musician goes to hell and back. Wife only makes it halfway.

Will I win? Probably not. But I'll let you know once the winners are announced.

(*) If you still don't get the whole Twitter thing, I've written a short 5-part series that covers the basics.

#Operaplot 2010: The Denouement

When I blogged about the #Operaplot Twitter competition last week, I promised an update with a list of winners and how my entry fared. Music critic Marcia Adair hosts a yearly competition on Twitter, where the challange is to sum up an opera in 140 characters or less.

As always, many people responded with clever and creative entries. Five winners were chosen,and from that one -- Sam Neuman -- was selected at random to receive the top prize -- Two tickets to Dublin's Opera Theatre Company production of The Marriage of Figaro, along with  flights and lodging for three nights.

Here's his entry. See if you can guess the opera:

Father is less than enthusiastic about son’s love affair with aging, bankrupt, terminally ill prostitute. Can you believe it?

So how did I do? Better than I thought. I was one of the three runners up, for which I'll be receiving -- courtesy of Decca -- a 44 CD set of Mozart's complete operas.  Next to the honor of placing "in the money," though, the greatest thrill for me was a mention in Anne Midgette's the Classical Beat.

It's been a great week!

Be sure to check out all the winning entries at the Omniscient Mussel.