For the Love of Opera

Last weekend I went to 2 nights of opera at the Harpa. The recitals were wonderful and soul-filling and inspired this post.

Opera makes me happy, and it has made me happy since I was very young. The seeds must have been planted by my dad, who made us listen to it on the radio Saturday mornings (and boy did I think he was a genius for knowing what they were singing about even though it was in another language). But my true love of opera bloomed when I watched the end of Madam Butterfly on KBYU with my Grandma when I was no older than about 6 years old. Learning the reasoning behind the frightening silhouette of the dagger rising and falling made me horribly sad (but in a sad-is-deep-people's-happy sort of way). It was most likely my first exposure to a tragic love story, and it was something I thought about for years-- not quite sure how to voice the turmoil, internal anxiety, and fascination the narrative brought me. But then I learned I didn't have to. When I familiarized myself with the arias a few years later, I realized words alone were not a fit medium for description, and the best way to illustrate how the story made me feel was through the music that always had accompanied it. Experiencing the glorious sounds that make up Un Bel Di in particular was the perfect cathartic baptism that offered me closure (and closure, and closure, and closure). The younger version of me learned something awfully remarkable from this: sometimes life is really not fair, and often times it is very sad, but we can turn that horribleness into beauty to make others feel not so alone.

So far in my 24 years of living, I still haven't quite found a better interpretation for certain emotions than opera listened to with headphones in and eyes closed. I appreciate much more than I will list here, and I really don't care if any of you opera snobs out there poo-poo my somewhat cliché selection, but these songs are important to record as a great value to my life so far.

For longing and hopeful loneliness, it's Un Bel Di Vedremo from Madame Butterfly by Puccini.

For love at first sight, it's O Soave Fanciulla from La Boheme by Puccini.

And for the excellence that is a Bromance, Au Fond du Temple Saint from Bizet's Les Pêcheurs de Perles. This song is more or less an operatic "bros before hoes".

Ah, everything just feels so beautiful after listening to opera. :-)