On Fri, 8 Aug 2008 16:27:02 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:


"hk" wrote in message
...

Eisboch wrote:

STOP. I have this bizzare image of you on stage with one of those
pointy Viking hats with the horns on the side, hands clasped before you,
belting out a "tune".

Eisboch




Wish it were so. These days, I can't carry a tune with a bucket. Back in
junior high, though, before my voice changed from boy soprano to gravel, I
could sing. A little.

At that first opera, we had seats on the side of the house, probably the
second balcony, and one of the female leads had absolutely spectacular
cleavage. That hooked me. The same weekend, we got to see "West Side
Story" on Broadway.

I think the kids in the choir were charged about $20 for the whole trip,
including trainfare. The school picked up the rest. That was in the days
schools had a little money.

Opera has fascinated me for a long, long time. Virtually every aspect of
it is way, way, way over the top.

BTW, if you want a real treat, listen to Anna Netrebko's "Violetta" CD.
Violetta Valery, the woman who "strayed." Some of the most beautiful vocal
music ever.

No thanks. Opera does absolutely nothing for me. However, I *can*
understand your early introduction to it.
My intro was the Boston Symphony Orchestra, probably at about the same age.
The power of the orchestra blew me away and stuck in my head. Even today,
once in a while, Mrs.E. and I get tickets and journey into Boston just to
hear a beautifully played piece of music.

But .... NOT opera!

Classical music I can buy into - I was introduced to classical music
by one of my mother's step-brothers who was a classical musician with
the Chicago Symphony.

Opera - sorry, I can't buy into that for a variety of reasons.