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I feel very lucky that my parents actually took me to see opera and musicals while I was growing up, and didn't just leave me at home. I will never forget watching Liza Minnelli in "The Act". The absolute power that emanated from the stage when she was performing was breathtaking. My love affair with opera, and its meaning to me, has changed over the years as I have changed. When I was younger and my feelings and personality were less developed, opera did not touch me as deeply as it does today. However, it still sparked something in me as a young boy, it had an intrinsic beauty that I could not ignore. Now, the only way I can describe opera, is that it is something that touches me soul deep. Take Aida for example. In act 4 when Aida's love Radames is sentenced to be buried alive, he enters the tomb and surprised finds Aida has hidden herself in the vault and she says "My heart forewarned me of your condemnation. In this tomb that was opened for you I entered secretly. Here, away from human sight, in your arms I wish to die." Together they accept their terrible fate and bid farewell to the earth and its sorrows. Imagine while this is happening, the artists voices hitting their crescendos. The whole thing made me feel like reaching into my heart, and pulling it out of my chest, holding it there . . . beating . . . in my hands, while tears were streaming down my face as pure emotion, from the stage, washed over me like waves from the ocean. It was an incredible, moving, experience. That is what opera means to me now. How are we going to get kids to watch? Your guess is as good as mine. With all of the intense audio/visual stimulation in the various forms of modern electronic media getting kids to read books, let alone go to the opera, has become a real challenge and I do not profess to understand where the answer lies.

posted 4 years, 7 months ago
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