Young Artists: Surprise Opera at the Market

[urtismcdona13c]

Your vid went viral on Swaziland

[nalib11]

BAHAHAH! The shot of the little kid at 2:34! Hilarious!!!!!

[tomelifeisjustonebig]

Damn, that's the singingest fruiterer I ever did see!

[AnatoleBelge]

The guy singing Alfredo is quite good!

[rolgaro1]

Amazing!.....Wonderful!..

Marvelous voices! I LOVE Opera!

[poccoo]

looks like the people from Michigan

[jimbuckleybarrett]

and what happened to that apple..........?

[AussieAfghan]

Excellent. Absolutely Nice

[wilco765]

i think, this is a way to get young people to interest them in opera

[KCLyricSop]

There's no way to edit something once you post it, huh? I just noticed the typos, so you can save time by criticizing my command of English. I'm quite literate; I just can't type!

[KCLyricSop]

Gosh, people try to something fun, and everybody gets all stuffy about it. Lighten up! I do happen to know what opera is supposed to sound like--these singers are quite good and since they are young and just beginning their professional careers, they should get much better. Small glitches are just be part of a live performance sometimes. As for doing Verdi or Puccini--they are in the public domain so no royalties. Even non-opera fans can recognize this tune from commercials & films.

[jumboshrimp42]

I want to sing opera!

[callacpuma]

Type "Opera Mercado Valencia" to enjoy a similar and original experience

[kara2493]

I have just read those comments ...yes Puccini e Verdi are a bit repetitive but unless opera goes back to the general public we will not see new one been written.Well done !! to the person who thought and implemented this initiative... Opera is fun. When is last time any of you started singing while cooking some spaghetti? I am Italian and I love to sing operas songs it is so cool to do so.... try and have fun.

[clenty1130yt]

Just amazing! Do come to Tokyo and surprise us by singing (to and with us) the Drinking Song from Verdi's La Traviata.

[DAwNzy7]

THAT WAS AMAZING. . .I hope these Random Acts of Culture just go VIRAL :)

[OlympiaHolliday]

I went to Whole Foods in Austin, Texas one time - it was my first visit to their store - there was a man in the produce section singing beautifully to the produce he was arranging. It made me a dedicated shopper. I believe in a company that encourages the spreading of beauty and joy. Yay for Whole Foods!!!!! Yay for random acts of beauty!!!!

[iloveyoumarcg]

AMAZING!!!!!!!! Please come to Jacksonville FL!

[Shannon920]

Awesome!

[dkerris]

There is at least one anal-retentive who needs an enema.

Just sayin'.

[dsimpson314]

OK, the singing isn't first rate. Neither were the acoustics. Nor the costumes.

GET OVER IT. Opera was the ROCK MUSIC OF ITS DAY. It's what our current rock music descends from. It had to appeal to audiences of many different types of folks, and it had to be ENTERTAINING. If you wish to engage in pedantic criticism of this spontaneous's performance quality, go find an audience that gives a sh*t.

This is fun, and it turns a whole lot of people on to opera, this author included.

[DesertAnnie]

Watch this video from Valencia, Spain! (Under: "Opera at the market 2009" - by Misterfawlty). The onlookers are more "reactive" than our American ones...I think they are more 'hip' to the Opera than we are...don't you? I love the expressions on their faces (especially the senior citizens)! You can tell this "made their day" -- and they probably all left singing Verdi's "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" ("The Drinking Song") for the rest of that day!! ;-) Hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

[OperaAlMercato]

Awesome!

[8aelke]

And now I notice that I really like the opera: excellent!!

[msjonimoto]

Wonderful and the sound is pretty decent in the video. I wish I had been there. I love the dancing and tossing the apple. Too bad those opera singers all had to get day jobs at Whole Foods! (Kidding...) I think it would have been better had they, like the Philadelphia one, had some of the stars undercover as customers.But this was lovely!!

[can3112]

I don't think this would ever happen in Canada!!! Toooooooo stuffy here.

[miriamvideo]

why do these lovely things make me cry? No wonder I linger in the produce department. I'm ready.

[picutapicuta]

Wonderful!

[abisoprano]

I did the same job at SUPERMAXI a big market in Ecuador - Southamerica. Look for it at "opera in supermaxi" and click in the first video that appears there.

[abisoprano]

Nice idea, nice voices, but terrible italian and the soprano is totally out of tune at the end. The tenor has good voice but has no line, too short phrases and cuts everywhere. Check out that please.

Correct your italian. For example: it's nè lieti not neleti; it's Libiamo with the O at the end; the soprano sang tuto folia and it's Tutto E follia... and it's Quando non s'ami ancora not siamo ancora. the dopias aren't been pronunced well.

[sdoliber]

@abisoprano

why is it so important for some people to try to prove that they are "above" it all?

[Drelnis]

@abisoprano Although I absolutely agree the singing isn't first rate, this is a great testament to publicizing opera to the modern audience and the poor tenor really doesn't deserve to be criticized. If he was singing this in the house, god, that's a different story, but this is a fun thing in the middle of Whole Foods!

[jewelmarkess]

@Drelnis I agree. This is a fun free performance in the middle of Whole Foods. It's meant to attract people to opera. Those who are new to opera will not notice the flaws but may enjoy the music and decide to go to try opera. These are very young singers not stars and are probably nervous singing in this environment. In fact, I'd love voice majors do it in all universities too. A lot of people don't realize how much talent there is in opera, at all levels.

[Drelnis]

@jewelmarkess Totally, it's great exposure for opera, but what I worry about is, as is the case with the singers of America's Got Talent, that the standard for opera singing to the general public is deteriorating. People nowadays don't realize what good singing actually is, and that is detrimental to opera, an art that lies at the core of solid singing. Also, people need to get over Puccini and Verdi staples xD

[jewelmarkess]

@Drelnis True. The general public today has no clue of what opera is. I share your worry because while AGT does seem to waken some interest in other singers but a) some people don't hear the difference b) many don't appreciate how big the difference is and how many better singers there are out there (not just stars but even students or unemployed singers) b) that there is a lot more beautiful music in opera. I think we need to be more active in pointing it but in a polite and respectful way.

[carlosm3011]

Excellent!!! Never happens to me either :-)

[KittyFish]

Why does this kind of thing never happen when I'm shopping? No fair. What a wonderful surprise this must have been for those lucky customers!

[tomfroekjaer]

Terrific !!!!!!!!!!!! Great, absolutely fantastic !!! Thanks for uploading !!!!

[tomkellycartoons]

I love it, I love it, I LOVE it!!!! Bravi!!! Please! Come to MY market!!!

[RuninDC]

Just beautiful. I love it.

[MedusaNY]

Bravo! I'd love to see more of this happening to promote opera.

[autoall]

Call security, it's a distraction.

[55patri]

genial

[andrewbgarland]

Awesome.

[mezzobuff]

Fun!

[aspcas1]

Great job! Loved it!

[jobee9356]

Fabulous! I wonder what the people thought when they saw the tv camera BEFORE they started singing.

This is a version of what the improv group in NYC does-the ones who staged a most interesting event at Grand Central Station.

Can you imagine this happening at Morton Williams or Gristedes?

[jgrossnas]

Bravo! Please perform at NYC supermarkets too!

[magicminion]

So awesome!

[tcfan68]

I was there!! :D

[Provadenz]

Wow!