Ostomy Memories of Opera

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HenryM

IT WOULD BE AN UNDERSTATEMENT to say that opera isn’t for everybody.  “Somebody stepped on the cat’s tail,” my father-in-law used to say (I’ve been told) whenever he heard me listening to a great soprano hit a high C.  For the record, I don’t like opera; I like opera music.  The difference is that the stories told in operas are generally ludicrous tearjerkers that wouldn’t get past a high school story collection editor.  Prime examples are the two operas that I have actually attended:  Puccini’s TOSCA and his LA BOHÈME.  Like most operas, they are unrealistic, overwhelming, hysterical, emotionally destructive works, with story lines that stretch one’s credulity beyond reason.  “Opera,” quipped Robert Benchley, “is when a guy gets stabbed in the back and, instead of bleeding, he sings.”  So I try my best to totally ignore the plot and focus on the music, some of which is the most stirring and beautiful ever written.  I include Mozart and Verdi, along with Puccini, as my favorites.  Even Wagner, whose operas were over-long, over-wrought bladder-testers, include some gorgeous melodies.  But your average realist would be put off by the fact that, in opera, characters don’t speak; they sing!  Since the human voice is one of my favorite instruments, I’m not offended by this bit of operatic hyperbole.  Just listening to arias sung by Maria Callas or Renee Fleming is enough to lift me above the common tedium of a normal day and cause me to feel, deep down, as if I’ve participated in some grand adventure, and when I'm cooking Italian food, the sound of a great tenor helps me get the spices right.

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Justbreathe


Yes Henry, I know exactly what you mean....I get these same feelings when I listen to The Little River Band Greatest Hits!!!

Justbreathe

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TerryLT
Reply to Justbreathe

I used to love those guys! Such great harmonies and cool melodies!

bowsprit

To say that "operas are ludicrous tearjerkers that would not get past a high school story collection editor" is a harsh statement. Henry, and would probably get a lot of brickbats thrown your way. Not all operas end on a tragic note, "Falstaff" and "Gianni Schecchi" have happy endings. Do you mean they are narratively sad or musically sad? One of the saddest arias is in Die Walkure when Wotan sings his farewell to Brunnhilde, his favorite daughter. A moment for all those who lost their fathers at an early age. The other would be the Hara Kiri scene from "Madame Butterfly". I think the largest numbers of opera lovers live in New York. Some of the trustees in the Metropolitan hand back their tickets to the box office and a long line forms very early to snap them up, mostly of young people.

bowsprit

Correction. "Favorite daughter". An evening at a famous opera house like the Teatro alla Scala in Milan is an unforgettable experience. Doubly unforgettable for me as the people I attended with are not around anymore. Not passed away but just not around.

 
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HenryM
Reply to bowsprit

I had a feeling I'd hear from you, my friend.  I saw 'Tosca' at the Bolshoi in Moscow, a stupendous experience.  I was four rows back from the orchestra pit and it was heavenly.  My 'date' was a Russian lawyer named Natasha.  We had walked through a light sleet storm from my hotel two blocks away (it was February, very cold). 

Xerxes
Reply to bowsprit

Well said. Thank you. May I add Isolda's Liebestod to your list.

Xerxes

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