Slashdot Mirror
'u' — the First Authentic Klingon Opera On Earth
j0ris writes "The Klingon are passionate opera-lovers, but little is known about their highly evolved form of musical expression. Floris Schonfeld is the initiator and director of 'u', the first authentic Klingon opera on earth. He studied Klingon music theory for over a year, and together with several experts developed various indigenous Klingon instruments. The Terran Klingon Research Ensemble has been set up to further develop a coherent Klingon musical practice amongst human musicians. 'u' premieres on September 9 in The Hague, Netherlands. An invitation by Klingon language expert Marc Okrand has been sent to Kronos, home planet of the Klingons, via radio telescope."
Does it sound like beating someone to death with something large and heavy?
The Klingon are passionate opera-lovers, but little is known about their highly evolved form of musical expression.
I imagine so, what with them being fictional and all.
It must be terrible for you to suffer your inferiors who don't enjoy your specific type of nonproductive entertainment, and instead have discovered their own types of nonproductive entertainment that are unlike your own obviously superior one.
"This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
Translation: get a jersey, hat, pennant, and bumper sticker with the logo of your local sports team. Wear all of the aforementioned items and glue your ass to a recliner for the next several hours while drinking beer, eating chips and yelling at the little men inside the TV like a normal male because that is clearly a healthier hobby.
They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance. - Terry Pratchett
“I don't mind what language an opera is sung in, so long as it is a language I don't understand.” - Sir Edward Appleton, noted physicist.
.
Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
As a Trekkie* myself, and one who frequently defends other Trekkies when they are needlessly persecuted, I have to say I agree with the AC. This level of theater (I really, really hope it's just theater) reaches a pure creepiness. Roddenberry was a very talented, imaginative, and even insightful person, but he was not a prophet divinely revealing truths about the universe. There are no Klingons orbiting Arcturus. That was just a fiction. F-I-C-T-I-O-N. It doesn't matter how good that fiction is, to treat it like it is real is retarded. Klingon is an invented language, a clever one indeed actually designed to buck as many linguistic norms as possible, but to think that some language that was invented for a TV show is actually spoken by extraterrestrial life forms is irredeemably stupid, even as an act.
Star Trek is awesome. I have a bookcase, not a book shelf, a bookcase full of nothing but Star Trek novels, analysis, and reference books. That doesn't make it real, and treating it like it is real is the height of idiocy. These people are twits.
*(Yes, that's Trekkie, not Trekker. Anybody who thinks they are exposing me or correcting me somehow can go fuck themselves. Trekker was coined by a bunch of whiny butt hurt people whose self-esteem was crushed by William Shatner on SNL because they had no sense of humor and couldn't laugh at themselves.)
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
An authentic Klingon opera ends with the cast killing off every member of the audience.
... and THEN run you through with his genuine reproduction bat'leth.
* Kahless
Unless it's a subspace transmission, it's not reaching Kronos before September 9th.
Just like anyone who writes opera, or music, or books, or does anything remotely creative, huh?
Check out my world simulator thingy.
Surely you must know at least one theme from "Aktuh and Melota".
Did I once criticize the opera? No. I criticized some douchebag acting like going to a radio telescope to send a "Klingon" message to Arcturus meant something. If it weren't an act, it would be literally insane. Even as an act it was stupid. It was thematically incongruent, unsourced, poorly executed, awkward, etc. It was a bad act at a minimum and I criticized that. I don't care one whit about marketing or who makes what money off of what. As a fan of Star Trek I was beyond underwhelmed by this poorly executed stunt which failed to capture any of the spirit of the universe or fit into its canon.
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
If they're trying to do this "in universe" then they have to trace it to part of the canon.
Says who? "Canon" is itself a work of fiction. You yourself stated this was all fiction and no one should take it seriously, now you're stating that the equally-fictional canon is some sacrosanct concept that should be taken seriously? It's all made up. I'm happy for you that you enjoy it, and Paramount's accounting department is probably even happier. But you've already bought all the books, and they are looking for more people willing to part with their money.
I think the people who own the copyrights and trademarks to the various aspects of the Star Trek universe can pretty much do whatever they want with it. As long as these jamokes pay their licensing fees to Paramount, it's all good, people will have a little fun, and money will be made. That's entertainment.
Actually, the thought just occurred to me that this all could have happened in the new Universe that JJ Abrams created with the whole "red matter"/Universe split/"nanner-nanner-nanner canon does not apply to me any more!" thing in the latest movie. In THAT canon, none of your resource materials apply, so you'd better go get yourself a new bookshelf if you want to continue following "the universe", because it's all changed now.
Or you can just sit back and enjoy the entertainment in all of its fun forms, choosing the ones you like the best, and ignoring the others.
"This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
Bet it'll put some paid asses in seats, though. The folks who go to this opera aren't going to get all het up about a funny publicity stunt. Personally, I think it's a hilarious touch, and if you want to compare dick sizes my Trek reference materials and books take up way more than a bookshelf.
PS: "some douchebag"'s name is Marc Okrand. If your shelf of reference materials is filed alphabetically, you might want to look up that name sometime. I think he's earned the right to cash in on a little of the mythos he was instrumental in inventing.
"This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
I'm curious as to how there are "indigenous Klingon instruments" in this, when there's the small fact that KLINGONS AREN'T REAL.
... and then they built the supercollider.
So it begins. A group of fans takes some fictional, but well grounded, movie dialogue, expands that out into a language. The language gets tacked onto a particular Con culture and both grow with some vigour. With this opera, we are seeing the creation of a fine arts and by extension, philosophy. A hundred years from now when we have followed Hawking's command to get off the planet to survive, will humankind see Klingon enclaves on Mars? Are we in fact creating our own antagonists? Add a little religiosity to the mix and a future Terran space navy could find itself fighting D7s manned by biologically Human but culturally Klingon beings. Gene would be happy he got the appearance right the first time. Or perhaps this is what he was getting at all along - we are Klingons.
...the fat geek in a Klingon costume sings.
Of course.
It will be a tasty part of the feast afterwards.
I'd prefer a Cylon opera. The cylons could give away the model of your choice with each ticket. Of course, the world would only have days to live, but at least thousands of geeks would get to spend those days with Lucy Lawless. ;)
I just see this as elaborate roleplay -- just as some people are giant Star Wars nerds (/wave) and will talk about the ethical ramifications of the Force, or some Star Trek nerds might speculate on how an economy like that depicted on Star Trek might work (or might fail). They don't need to believe it is real to do this. (Granted, some crackpots might really believe it's real. Many would consider them crazy. OTOH, millions of people believe in invisible all-powerful beings that dictate how we should act.)
An opera is a story, and doesn't need to be about Real People. It could be an opera about magical hamsters, and if the plot and music were good, it could be good. (OK ... magical hamsters? I admit that's pushing it.) The fact is, the (fictional) Klingon culture is one with a rich (imagined) heritage, and has stories and lore and heroes in it which could make potent entertainment.
I would love to see a hero's journey played out with Klingon characters, exploring Klingon warrior culture, etc -- just as I love watching Kurosawa's films, or watching Lord of the Rings, or playing video games with plots. The libretto of this opera sounds like it could be awesome. Granted, it's quite possible this was all just someone trolling for attention, and the opera (if it exists) will suck, but the possibility of an opera about Kahless would be frickin' awesome. It would be like someone making an opera about the formation of the Rings of Power, and Sauron's rise to power.
Can you imagine a big-budget movie of such a plot? (The story of Kahless, that is.) It would have betrayal, murder, sex, love, regained honor, brutal tyrants, vengeance, and triumph. No wonder Klingons like Hamlet.
Dear Slashdotters, Thank you for your comments and your interest in our endeavors. My name is Floris Schönfeld and I am the initiator of the project 'u' (a.k.a the douchebag in the video.) I would like to stress that the submitted video is a documentary a.i. everything you see in the video really happened. We realize that the chances of receiving some genuine Klingon guests is slim, but as I said in the video we hope to see them at the premiere. To ensure the authenticity of our attempt at reaching the home planet we worked with Star Trek science advisors Andre Bormanis and Michael Okuda. For more information on the attempted contacting and the rest of the project please see http://www.u-theopera.org/ If you have any other questions concerning the opera please let me know. Best regards, Floris Schönfeld