The Love of Opera

Where does the love of opera come from?

The story of my life can probably be summed up by thinking of an opera lover who lives in Nashville, or Branson, that's even better.

The people I that I love -they love country and western. So I guess I love country and western because I love them.

But I love Opera. I watched the Movie "Moonstruck" and it spoke to me. In that movie Loretta Castorini (played by Cher) meets Rommy Cammareri (played by 23 year old Nicholas Cage). In the course of their date to the New York Opera to hear La Boheme, Loretta leaves the opera learning that she loves both Rommy and opera even though she does not understand either. Cher got an academy award for her role as Loretta and Nicholas Cage got a movie career.

I fell into love with opera, I believe, as a young boy. I remember laying in the bed with windows open (we had no airconditioning) and hearing opera played by our next door neighbors Dick and Ginny Wiseample. Dick had been a soldier in World War II and had lots of German coins that he gave me as a young boy. He would also let me hang around his shop in his garage and ask those questions that every young kid asks. People are not so kind these days, unfortunately. He was a simple man, but he and his wife had somehow come to love opera.

At any rate, I would hear the beautiful music. Also my folks had one of two recordings of operas including LaTraviata. Somehow it got into my blood. Like Cher's character, I was touched by it even though I did not know the words. It was the music of the soul.

Later I would take music appreciation and I actually learned somehow to really appreciate music but opera was my first love, and I loved it before I came to appreciate it.

As a teenager I would occasionally go to operas in New Orleans. I would take dates but none of them succumbed to the love of opera like Cher did in Moonstruck. Generally they were too long, too boring and in a foreign language for people who did not already love it to show any patience. But I loved it anyway.

As I have grown older the love of opera has become more intense, more deep. Rest assured I don't much spend much time going to operas in Ozarklandia. We have none.

Operas are about tragedies and the tragedies in our hearts respond somehow to the tragedies that are found in opera. The plaintiff cry of the soul goes out and is answered in turn by the cry in our own hearts as though two rare birds call and respond to each other in the night.

For whatever reason, my love for Puccini has grown with age.. It was Puccini that wrote La Boheme. I have a number of collections of Puccini's music and I often play them as I drive through the Wilderness. Puccini's music speaks to the deep emotions of the heart. In particular, I love Madame Butterfly.

One of the great pieces of music is Nessun Dorma (No One's Sleeping from the opera Turandot). To hear the molody of Nessun Dorma, click here. To hear Nessun Dorma sung, click here.

Opera speaks to the deep recesses of the heart.

To the rest of the world, we are the mad, insane people-having a deep love and affection for something they do not like.

Opera must be like caviar and great Russian vodka, to those who love it --it is wonderful. To those who do not, they do not.

I love opera.

HarleyDad