My memory of the first time I ever saw a live opera is vague in terms of details, but as an experience I remember it very well. It was in 1998, I had just turned eleven, the company was the Los Angeles Opera, and the performance was The Magic Flute. I had first become familiar with Flute several years earlier, through an abridged English version Read the rest of this entry »

This is my first post that isn’t a review. In addition to discussing recordings, I like to write down my various thoughts about opera in general, as well as the books and articles I read on the subject.

Recently I reread Peter Fox Smith’s excellent book “A Passion For Opera.” With its detailed chapters discussing both libretti and music of every standard repertoire opera, as well as Smith’s experiences with each opera both as a music lover and as a professor, that book is a good source of information and understanding for any newcomer to opera. But one aspect of it baffles me slightly. In the chapter on Madama Butterfly the main emotion Read the rest of this entry »