When I was a little boy, tall as this fence...

How does the process of falling in love with opera begin?  Edward Lewis (Richard Gere), in Pretty Woman, explains to Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts) that "People's reactions to opera the first time they see it is very dramatic; they either love it or they hate it. If they love it, they will always love it. If they don't, they may learn to appreciate it, but it will never become part of their soul."

Well, I was seven years old, and my parents thought I was old enough to attend a performance, so they took me to see "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" at the Opéra Comique.  I was seated, with my father, in a side balcony box, on top of the orchestra (incidentally, balcony boxes have remained my favourite).  The performance began, and all I can remember is being completely enchanted and transported by what I was hearing.  An hour and twenty minutes or so later, the act ended, a man dressed in black approached my father, talked to him briefly in a hushed voice, and my father said "well, wasn't it great? Let's go home now."  I was thrilled I had attended my first opera, and went home still feeling the exuberance of Rossini's music.

It wasn't until I was a teenager, at a family dinner, that I learned I had never seen the second of Barber of Seville, when my mother made an comment about me getting kicked out of my first opera.  It turns out the music did more than impress me, it literally moved me.  From my seat, hanging over the ledge of the balcony box, I started conducting along, and moving in time to the music.  My father, apparently, tried to stop me a few times, but I just was so involved I never stopped.  The man in black who had spoken to my father at intermission was the house manager.  The singers onstage had noticed me.  Not only was I distracting them, but they were all afraid I was going to fall over into the pit.  The house manager had told my father that he either needed to make me stop, or remove me from the theater.  My father did the single best thing he could have done.  He simply pretended the show was over, so as to not crush my spirit.  He saw how enthusiastically I had responded to the music and the drama.  He did not see the point of quelling my excitement.  He did the right thing.

From that point on, my parents took me to as many performances as they possibly could. They gave me an opera subscription with my classmates by the time I was 11 (I saw unbelievable performances that year, including Natalie Dessay's Paris Opera debut as Olympia, and Gwyneth Jones and Leonie Rysanek in Elektra!)  They figured out music fed my soul, and they fostered that. I am deeply grateful to them that for prodding me along my musical education. Today, it still is music, more than any other art form, that can transport me.

When I was seven, I fell in love with Opera when I first heard it.  For those of you who also did, I hope this blog will help you explore and discover new things you might not already know.  For those of you who did not but are trying to learn to appreciate it, I'll do my best to try to show you why this art form is exceptional. 

I look forward to your comments and your experiences.

Amusing side notes: It took me 16 years before I ever got to see the second act of Barbiere.  It was at the Metropolitan Opera in 2002, and the cast included Vivica Genaux, Earle Patriarco and Juan Diego Florez! Also, when I was in college, I sang in the chorus of a production of Rigoletto.  The tenor in that production, Noel Espiritu, turned out to have been the one that had sung Almaviva on the night I got kicked out!