Don Giovanni
- Episode aired Mar 16, 1978
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8.5/10
19
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- ConnectionsFollowed by The Metropolitan Opera Presents: Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci (1978)
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Turned Me On To Opera
A licentious nobleman will insist on deflowering maidens. But when he invites a statue to supper, what will happen?
Like so many I was an experimental teen back in the 1970s. I was experimenting with different kinds of music (classical, show tunes, crooners of my parents' day). Shakespeare (he earned my approval early and rests more peacefully in Stratford on Avon because of that, I'm sure).
Since I had a bent for classical music unlike my family (my parents didn't like it and my brother was a Beatles addict) I decided, in my 16-year-old wisdom to give opera a try to see if it was any good or just something propped up by self-identified sophisticates (whom I disdained, being a poor country boy).
I had two bad experiences with opera on TV. Famous ones, too. Being a baseball fan, too, I said one more strike and opera's out of my life.
The next one up happened to be this version of Don Giovanni. I had no idea what it was about or who Mozart was, but I dutifully watched it. And sat enthralled. A beautiful production with great singers and wonderful music. I had never suspected opera could be so entertaining.
Most importantly for that moment in my life I realized opera was as subjective as anything else. Whether opera entertained me or nor depended on my personal taste.
Since then I've enjoyed dozens of operas since and have a selection of carefully-selected dvds ranging from baroque opera to Wagner. I'm not an "opera buff" to this day nearly 50 years later but this Don Giovanni opened the door to a lifelong exploration of and appreciation for opera. Thank you, Mozart, than you James Morris, thank you, Metropolitan opera for making this choice for that night. It deepened a teenager's life for the better.
Like so many I was an experimental teen back in the 1970s. I was experimenting with different kinds of music (classical, show tunes, crooners of my parents' day). Shakespeare (he earned my approval early and rests more peacefully in Stratford on Avon because of that, I'm sure).
Since I had a bent for classical music unlike my family (my parents didn't like it and my brother was a Beatles addict) I decided, in my 16-year-old wisdom to give opera a try to see if it was any good or just something propped up by self-identified sophisticates (whom I disdained, being a poor country boy).
I had two bad experiences with opera on TV. Famous ones, too. Being a baseball fan, too, I said one more strike and opera's out of my life.
The next one up happened to be this version of Don Giovanni. I had no idea what it was about or who Mozart was, but I dutifully watched it. And sat enthralled. A beautiful production with great singers and wonderful music. I had never suspected opera could be so entertaining.
Most importantly for that moment in my life I realized opera was as subjective as anything else. Whether opera entertained me or nor depended on my personal taste.
Since then I've enjoyed dozens of operas since and have a selection of carefully-selected dvds ranging from baroque opera to Wagner. I'm not an "opera buff" to this day nearly 50 years later but this Don Giovanni opened the door to a lifelong exploration of and appreciation for opera. Thank you, Mozart, than you James Morris, thank you, Metropolitan opera for making this choice for that night. It deepened a teenager's life for the better.
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- aramis-112-804880
- Oct 1, 2022
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