Julian Matthias and I: Evening of Opera

My last orchestra concert featured Italian opera music, and this piece was my favorite, hands down.   Opera music is generally boring for the second violin because it usually features lots of repitition and little opportunity to play the melody or some kind of rhythm.  If we do get to play the melody, it's usually an octave below the firsts.  That was how it was in the case of "O Soave Fanciulla", but I didn't mind it.  The beginning part follows the tenor voice and allows for more hammy, dramatic playing.  For the performance the tenor and soprano did in fact sing the last part of the song from off-stage, just as Pavarotti and Freni did above.  They sing "amor" three times as the music gradually gets softer until it's just a whisper of the sustained note.  But, of course, the audience does it's best to savor the magic quietness before erupting in applause.

I love opera music.  Does that make me a romantic?  I love how it's so dramatic and passionate, and it never bores me.  It doesn't matter that it's sung in a language I can't understand-- even if the lyrics have been translated into English it's difficult to make out the words.  As much as I love words, they don't even really matter that much to me when it comes to opera because I can make out the emotions and the character's motivation through the way it is sung and how it fits into the orchestral accompaniment.  Music is a universal language, and no matter how silly or improbable the plots and situations in operas they all deal with real and powerful human emotions.