I think I'm studying opera now?

I often find myself sitting around in silence while I work, not necessarily out of preference, but simply because it’s easier than thinking about selecting and playing music. Yup, sometimes my mind is apparently too full to even complete this task. Often, when I do pop open Spotify to work, I’ll opt for something “not distracting”, like instrumental “chill vibes” playlists, nature sounds, and sometimes even white noise.

The other night I leapfrogged a fleeting thought about playing classical music and landed instead on opera. Huh. Opera?

Why opera?

I had a sudden and quick dialogue with myself to justify this choice.

Why not opera? I’m not opposed to the sound of it. I appreciate art. It’d be nice in the background while I flex some brain muscles (here I pictured an aging, reclusive intellectual in an old study filled with books, sitting at a heavy desk by a roaring fireplace, playing opera on an old phonograph, thinking Big Thoughts and writing Smart Words).

I’m not unfamiliar with some opera: we studied Gerges Bizet’s Carmen in my grade 10 (11?) extended French class. In fact, I really enjoyed gettng to know the story that connected some of the more famous bits I’d heard in isolation in other contexts, and even downloaded the score into my personal music collection.

As I sat on that thought, it occurred to me that I’ve already been exposed to SO MUCH opera in the same way: in commercials, TV shows, movies, and even cartoons. Who doesn’t remember the Looney Tunes version of The Barber of Seville? Or the freedom felt in an entire prison brought by the soaring voices of “two Italian ladies”, courtesy of a clever and rebellious convicted banker? Wouldn’t it be nice to put all of these songs into the context of their original stories?

Also, just as Carmen did for my classmates in French class — less for me, as I was already fluent — examining some operas could challenge me to flirt with my limited knowledge of Italian and German.

And just like that, I decided to make opera an exploration project for the year.

The study begins

I know little about music and even less about opera, so I’m going to play it like a beginner and find some introductory guides and then…follow my nose, er, ear. YouTube and Spotify will be my steadfast companions in this quest, I’m sure. Stay tuned for updates!