One of the 19th-century piano virtuoso’s stocks in trade was the operatic paraphrase, in which he took themes from a popular opera and assembled a fantasia with them, often highly elaborate. The practice fell out of favor in the twentieth century. However, if you substitue anime for opera, it is alive and well in otakudom. Here is a piece using themes from Yuki Kajiura’s OST for Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica:
Here’s a novel treatment of a theme from Madoka:
(Via Anime Instrumentality.)
I wonder if might be possible to make an opera out of Madoka. Perhaps not; it would take considerable ingenuity to condense the story to two or three hours and still have it make sense, and there are no significant roles for adult male singers — you could cast Kyubey as a tenor, but he would be cuter and creepier as a boy soprano. While a clever designer can probably think of a way to present the witches, the events of the last episode are another matter entirely.
Nevertheless, if it could be done, and done well, it would potentially be overwhelming. The composer would not necessarily have to be Yuki Kajiura, though I would be curious to hear if she’s capable of something as complex as an opera.
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Not anime-related, but noteworthy: an arrangement of a Lady Gaga tune that bears listening:
(Via Darwin Catholic.)
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Susumu Hirasawa, guitarist and singer of P-Model and composer of soundtracks for Satoshi Kon, has made a number of his pieces available for free download. I particularly recommend “The Girl in Byakkoya,” the ending theme of Paprika.
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What is the greatest problem with the American legal system? Perhaps it’s that judges have lousy taste in music.
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A problem with Windows computers you might not be aware of:
I’d still call for a symphonic poem/suite. Like the treatment that Princess Mononoke got since I thought the story was told through the music rather well. As for arranger, I think Shiro Hamaguchi could do a good job since he’s had experience arranging all those Final Fantasy albums into an orchestral format.
No clue for opera though since that’s an area I haven’t had much exposure to. Certainly not Japanese opera arrangers at any rate.
The obvious solution is to install whatever vintage computer games your spiritual guests desire to play. Alternatively, you may wish to abandon Windows altogether in favor of a more secure operating system, such as an abacus.
Or…I’m just get a Mac!