My father loved opera. Strangely, though, while he lived less than 50 miles from the NYC Metropolitan Opera, he preferred to listen to opera at home either live on the radio or by wearing out his vinyl and tapes. And he adored Luciano Pavarotti. He had a dislike of coming to NYC, though, so he deprived himself of live performances. In late 1990, I got tickets to the opera LElisir dAmore, by Gaetano Donizetti, which was playing at the Met, headlined by Luciano Pavarotti and Kathleen Battle, with James Levine conducting -- a world class, all-star combo! And I told Dad that I would chauffeur him door to door, and take him out to a great restaurant to boot. The tickets were bought, I told him, so theres no saying no. I could have chosen to bring my mother, and she would have loved the experience, but since she was more of a fan of Broadway musicals -- singing and playing so many tunes around the house while I was growing up -- the first choice was correctly my dad. To my surprise and delight, he agreed to attend. I had been to the Met quite a few times before that night, so my attention as we sat in prime orchestra seats was half on my dad. The performances were of course superb. Dad expressed his delight time and again as the evening went on, especially during Lucianos aria, the famous Una Furtiva Lagrima from Act 2, Scene 8. Dad swooned as the musical vibrations went directly from Lucianos golden vocal cords to his ears with only the air as a medium, not vinyl, not tape, no speakers. I placed my hand on his wrist, and right away he gripped my hand with his. At the end of the aria Dad stood and cheered with all the other opera lovers. The rendition of Una Furtiva Lagrima posted below is not from that night, but from around that time, and what we heard is virtually the same as this. Dad also enjoyed his meal at the Italian restaurant afterward, and it was an evening Ill never forget. Dad died suddenly just days after that, and Ill always feel grateful that we were able to share that singular evening. This aria, sung by this man, will always bring me back to that moment with my dad. youtu.be/2J7JM0tGgRY
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 03:23:27 +0000
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