2022-12-10 - 2:11 p.m.

I volunteered for a funeral, and as there was a parade in town I had to take a circitous route.
I put on the radio, and it was a classical station

broadcasting a Met Opera. I luckily turned it on at the beginning.

It struck me first of all-

with wonder
as honestly the very first number reminded me of the opera my oldest wrote in the construction. I mean the style of the writing- something about it-
and really reminded me of it immediately.

I then was listening and having a hard time following the story as my signal in the car was not great. But I caught enough to hear that it was based on work of Virginia Woolf. ( or life"? I Was not sure)

I turned on the radio at home and it is a pleasure to hear a CLEAR signal and be able to follow it much better- hearing the dialogue clearly!

It is an opera based on the Novel Mrs. Dalloway which frankly I never heard of. I never studied the works of Virginia Wolf other than reading her essays.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs_Dalloway

So I found it is an Opera called The Hours based on a book by the same name by Michael Cunningham’s which won a Pulitzer in 1999. ( I also never heard of that)

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/dec/07/the-woolf-pack-renee-fleming-and-joyce-didonato-on-turning-the-hours-into-opera

I really planned on coming home and digging into my chores... but I am now listening and will work on the chores after this is over.

I am really enjoying it.
The thing about Opera is that it is storytelling with music and it does have an acquired taste to be able to hear the oft high pitched of a Soprano Voice, and Tenore telling much of the story with the occasional deep Bass or Baritone and Alto voices. It is a skill in a way to be able to hear the voices, lyrics and follow the story while also processing the music.

I think it actually takes practice and familiarity- cause there is alot going on. BUT
once get acclimated I think there is nothing Iike a well written opera to tell a story with mood set by the soundscape while the vocal tells the story.

�

�