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Opera [ Opera is a form of theatre in which the drama is conveyed wholly or predominantly through music and singing. It often includes the spoken word in addition to the singing but it is clearly the music that conveys the story. Opera regularly includes dancing and other diversions but the singing is the important thing. To enjoy this art form requires use of the eyes and ears. The form provides serious themes and farce, drama and comedy, tragedy and good fortune. The cultures of many nations have produced great opera, especially Italy, France and Germany. At some level, I've enjoyed opera for almost 60 years. It all started with my mother who gave me a set of recordings of Enrico Caruso singing songs and arias. (I've long wondered why; my mother never saw or listened to an opera nor, for that matter, to Caruso.) For some years, all I knew of opera was these songs. Then I traveled out of the country and began to see full operas, staged in a magnificent theatre with great singers and full orchestral accompaniment. In that opera season I saw everything from the serious to the comic, including what I later came to know as operettas. (I have a hard time defining the word operetta; the best I can do is to liken operettas to musicals. They both have a light feeling and are more a series of songs interspersed with dialogue.) Since that time, I've attended performances in many of the great opera houses of the world and have enjoyed hearing many of the great singers of my time. I think it's fair to say that opera is my favorite art form. I'm unable to explain why. I enjoy most kinds of music but there's something about opera that transcends my interest in music generally. There must be something about it that appeals to deep-seated wants and needs. Maybe it's the combination of the visual and the auditory, maybe it's the appeal to the emotions that comes from the sung, as opposed to the spoken, word, maybe it's the richness of the settings. Whatever it is, opera pulls me in a powerful way. I wonder if my mother would ever have guessed how much her gift matters to me all these years later. My love of opera illustrates one of my long-held theories about children. None of us who might be involved with children can know what will appeal to a child, what will last a lifetime, what will be discarded, what might form a career, what might contribute to the happiness and well-being of the child 60 years later. All we can do, as my mother apparently intuitively knew, is to expose children to as many different possibilities as we can imagine. In most cases, we'll never know whether we provided something important but all we can do is our best. Try to expose children (and, for that matter, everyone we encounter) to as many possibilities as you can. You might change a life for the better and you'll definitely change your own by approaching others with such good will. 1-8-07
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