Note by Tom Jones

I have never been much of an opera fan. For one thing, I was never exposed to it when I was young, not even at the University of Texas, where the Music Department and the Drama Department were sworn enemies. It was too expensive for me to attend when I arrived in New York. And despite my appreciation of the rich music and the sumptuous settings, I missed hearing and understanding the words. I missed the “magic” of the words. I missed the power and the nuance that words joined with music are capable of producing. So it came as a surprise to me when, sometime in the early eighties, I happened to see a bit of an opera being broadcast on Public Television. I was channel surfing and this “bit” caught my eye. I lingered to look, and the next “bit” was even better. What a great piece of staging, I thought. And how brilliant the camera work. And how sparkling the music. True, it wasn’t in English, but it didn’t seem to matter. I thought to myself “what a wonderful experience,” and then, busy with my life and work, I promptly forgot about it. See more…

Drawings by Harvey Schmidt

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