Check out this fabulous opera app!

Today I'm sulla lista dei malati (on the sick list) with una febbre leggera (a low fever) and un mal di testa (headache). Must have caught the virus from my computer at work! Anyway, it was a good day to visit the App Store. Guess what I found? An app called "Opera" that gives you the story, characters, synopsis, and libretto to 22 operatic masterpieces plus Orff's Carmina burana and Mozart's Requiem.

Sheer genius! The libretto is scrollable, so you can read it while you listen. You can choose either the original language alone OR the original with an excellent English translation that appears right under the original language. You can adjust the font size, too. Perfettissimo!

Each opera is $2.99 or you can get the whole set for $23.99.
Here's what they have:
Bellini: Norma
Bizet: Carmen
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor
Leoncavallo: Pagliacci
Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana
Mozart: Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro
Puccini: La bohème, Madama Butterfly, Tosca, Turandot
Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia, L'italiana in Algeri
Verdi: Aida, Il trovatore, La forza del destino, La traviata, Macbeth, Otello, Nabucco, Rigoletto

This is so cool for us opera fans at any level of expertise. I'm thinking it would be a really good aid for the singers who have to memorize (and understand) 3-4 hours of Mozart. Pity the poor sopranos who have to memorize the role of Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro. It's the longest role I can think of. It certainly must have the most words per square minute!

Have you found any other opera or classical music apps you like? Let me know and I'll check them out!

If you don't have your iPhone or iPod Touch handy, you can visit http://www.intermundia.it/iphone/opera/inglese/opera_eng.html