A caption projected on a screen above the stage in an opera, translating the text being sung.
‘Projected over several screens, the surtitles use different fonts, with a comic-book typeface for the larger-than-life characters.’
‘Conceding the point, many opera houses nowadays always flash surtitles above the proscenium.’
‘The mini-operas are in English, with English surtitles projected on the walls as part of the convention-breaking design that will surround the roaming audience.’
‘Audiences won't have English surtitles translating the German lyrics, but the piece works in abstract as well as in narrative with a collage of theatrical imagery seen through the dance and heard through the music.’
‘The libretto was re-written for raciness and local flavour and sung in English with surtitles, which seems redundant but was surprisingly handy.’
‘Because it performs operas in their original language, it uses surtitles to translate the libretti into English.’
‘If you're translating for surtitles, of course, there are no metrical constraints.’
‘It is only slightly frustrating occasionally that one is forced to read the surtitles and miss some of the subtler action but that is a minor scruple.’
‘This show, performed in Arabic with English surtitles, is a vital complement in that it is a report from the inside.’
‘Next came the introduction of surtitles in the opera house, either above the proscenium arch or, in some theatres, on individual screens in front of each seat.’
‘Also, the surtitles (presented in English, Vietnamese and French) appear to the extreme left of the stage, making a chore of following the action and understanding the dialogue.’
‘This production of Bizet's hot-blooded opera is to be sung in French with English surtitles and features a new set by Felix Bessonov based on the city of Seville.’
‘Whilst the play is performed entirely in Spanish, the well-presented surtitles make following the dialogue an easy task.’
‘The work was sung in Mandarin, with English surtitles.’
‘One plus was the use of surtitles which allowed for instant translation.’
‘A fair amount of the dialogue is in Gaelic (and the surtitles are not visible from all seats) though their gist is usually clear enough until the play's downbeat final moments - ironically one of its finest passages.’
‘There are surtitles, of course, but in the quick, conversational repartee of the Prologue, the machine has trouble keeping up.’
‘Nearly all the lyrics are in French - surtitles would have been useful - and the only speech is an amusing opening greeting as the sparse audience is welcomed aboard the flight to Haiti.’
‘Now many, if not most, opera houses use surtitles.’
‘Captioning differs from the surtitles that have helped popularise opera in the US.’
verb
[with object]
Provide (an opera production) with surtitles.
‘The text is incredibly sophisticated, full of puns and rhymes that make it quite difficult to surtitle in English.’
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