Lots of others are following the Metropolitan Opera's lead and installing subtitles above the stage or on the backs of seats. No matter what language the opera is in, though, if you follow our instructions you'll be prepared to enjoy yourself. Opera is nothing that you thought. Because all of the words in opera are sung, not spoken, it takes a longer time to move through the plot. At least that's more relief than Spielberg gives us.
Opera is basically a play set to music.
Opera is classical music. True, but most standard opera is what you'd consider classical music. There are some exceptions, like The Who's Tommy , a rock opera written in 1969, but you shouldn't expect to hear guitars and drums coming out of the orchestra pit. The Italians believed that the Greeks had sung their plays, not spoken them, and thus the Italians decided to set their own stories to music. Opera today remains very similar to what the Italians developed.