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Date:         Thu, 27 Aug 1992 14:53:28 -0500
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From: James Swanton <swanton@aecom.yu.edu>
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Subject: RE:  Getting "hooked" on opera (fwd)
To: Merlo_Loretta@qmcUMC.mail.cornell.edu
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 92 13:08:38 EDT
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Jill McAllister writes:
From postmaster%BRFAPESP.BITNET@UICVM.UIC.EDU Wed Aug 26 19:16:04 1992
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Date: Wed, 26 Aug 92 17:20:19 CDT
From: jill@cherry.cray.com (Jill McAllister)
Subject: RE:  Getting "hooked" on opera
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How did I come to love opera?  Well, my parents also loved Broadway
musicals, so I heard LOTS of those growing up.  Then when my grandfather
died, we got his records.  He had older "musicals" like "The Desert
Song" and "The Merry Widow" and "Die Fledermaus."  (I hope I spelled
that right.)  I loved those!  I was also planning on majoring in music
so I listened to the local classical music station all the time (but
I didn't like the opera they played).  My senior year in high school,
a touring production of "Carmen" came to town (Columbus, Ohio).  Of
course I had to go since I was going to major in music.  I really
liked it.  I went off to Michigan State and majored in music history
and sang in the chorus of "Faust," and really liked that, too.  But
I was so shy in those days that I was terrified of my piano teacher
and terrified of having to play a jury (end of quarter test), so I
changed my major.  Next event was transferring to Indiana University
for their folklore major and discovering their incredible opera
productions.  I was totally hooked.  Then I moved to Minnesota (for
the graduate program in museum practice) and immediately got season
tickets for the Minnesota Opera.  This was the early '70s and after
Indiana U., this company was terrible.  The artistic director at that
time was ONLY interested in doing avant garde and world premieres.
And the community support was pretty low, because the audience for
that sort of thing is fairly small.  Finally the board let him go.
(He's still a mover and shaker in the local music scene.)  Ever since
then, each season includes one warhorse, one lesser-seen opera, one
twentieth century great, and one avant garde/world premiere.  This
works really well, in my view.  Then Sally Ordway decided that she
wanted St. Paul to have a world class opera house and a home for the
Minnesota Opera, so she saw to it that the Ordway Music Theater was
built.  It's wonderful!  Visit it if you're ever up here.  Opera
support has grown tremendously.  We get world class singers for the
leads.  Also world class people for set and costume design and directing.
The educational department has been built up into a terrific organization.
I've taken many classes there, and they are both entertaining and educational.
Some of the productions I've seen here have permanently printed themselves
on my psyche.  Year before last, the warhorse was "Carmen" (my fourth
live production of this opera), and I hadn't been looking forward to it
because there were so many others that I'd never seen.  It was stunning!
It really shook me.  And it was so popular that they added a couple of
extra performances and sold standing room tickets.  This coming season,
I'll be seeing "Flying Dutchman" in October, "Armida" in January, and
"Madama Butterfly" in March.  (I'm going to miss the May production,
because I'll be on my honeymoon; I guess that means I shouldn't feel
sad about it.  :-)  )  The Minnesota Opera is also one of the co-sponsors
bring "Phantom of the Opera," so I'll be seeing that this year, also.

I guess that's enough rambling.

Jill McAllister
(jill@cray.com)


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