New Year's Resolutions

I was greatly heartened this morning to hear some resolutions of WFMT listeners being read on air: two out of three of them wanted to learn more about opera (and how to 'tolerate' it!). Well, well! Your old auntie here has LOTS of info and ideas for them! I'm so impressed that there are such stout-hearted souls still out there! Those of us in the proverbial know have a cosmically important duty to help our seekers.

First off: don't play your umpteenth recording by various artists as a ploy to enrapture them. Netrebko, Callas, and Tebaldi will come AFTER other introductions are made. Those fine ladies will be the vehicles, thank you, not the stars-- at first.

There are many user-friendly operas. Start with the [weak] plot, give an aria and highlight, then move on. Give some time to digest in between, as it were. Carmen goes very well, exotic, erotic, tuneful. The Barber of Seville charms everyone in the first act. Puccini carries one away. Hummable is accesible; accessibility is key.

Again, it's all about the emotionalism. The passion of that well-trained BIG voice. Sumptous orchestrations. If you're over-the-top, this is for you. If you prefer quiet, this is for your inner feelings.

Not every opera is for every person all of the time. Me, I cannot tolerate Madame Butterfly. The music is so gorgeous that I weep just to hear it, but I don't need to cry these days (got enough of it elsewhere, you know?). I also despise that American imperialism and a deep chauvinism are chief themes. And that a nice, naive young woman with a baby suffers so mightily. TOO MUCH LONGING wears me out! Yet I very much recommend this opera to a neophyte in that it is so operatic and beautiful and sexy and and and.

I can see that my prose is suffering here, so I shall quit for now. More useful thoughts put eloquently will follow soon, I promise!