Native tongue The true opera buff is staunchly for opera in the original language, knowing full well that it is likely to be twice as tedious to know what is going on as not to know. Opera repertoire The names of operas should generally be spoken in the original language unless it is too obvious what they mean and familiarity has bred suitable contempt, e.g. The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, and The Barber of Seville. It shows a true familiarity with the opera repertoire if you abbreviate these to The Flute, The Marriage, and The Barber. Plot It is fairly safe to make up bits of an opera plot as nobody is likely to challenge its validity. A fair number of them are just as intelligible after reading the synopsis as before. Acting ability Opera singers have their fair share of genius, namely the ability to sing and execute a trill or two. The problem is they are required to act as well. Libretto The opera plot is generally referred to as the libretto from the Italian meaning “little book”—i.e. “small,” “insignificant” and “hardly worth reading.”