I have always been fascinated by the ways in which people discover their musical preferences and how those preferences were developed and nurtured.  Especially people that prefer the coloratura soprano voice since that is such a specialized area of vocalism.  I have often wondered if other people's stories were like mine.  And if not, how were they different?  So I decided to write this piece, enlisting the help of some friends and people on the Coloratura List in Yahoo Groups.

The wonderful thing about all the stories I received was the confirmation that when young we truly are like sponges.  When something captures our attention, our mind reaches out as if with tentacles to pursue information.  If we are fortunate, we easily find sources.  If not so lucky we have to work to find that knowledge.  No matter what, however, it is always worth the fight.  How we come by the information shows our initiative, creative imagination and determination.

Sometimes, how we are first exposed to opera singers has much to do with our outlook and also sculpts our tastes and opinions.  I know for a fact that had I been introduced to Maria Callas's voice via her later recordings, my impression of her might have been quite different.  For an uninformed, impressionable 14 year old, it might have been disastrous.

One thread repeatedly appeared through all the stories I received.  Almost invariably it was a particular "sound" that attracted each person.  Sometimes it was not the sound of a voice but rather the "sound" of the music being sung.  This is admittedly simplistic since the whole story is always more complex.  Another commonality was that in many cases there was a "mentor" figure - either an older person or a contemporary - a friend who helped fuel the novice's excitement and who acted as a guide.  This mentoring was sometimes very casual, other times more structured.  The other thing I realized, while writing this article, was that you cannot get the unique flavor of a person's experiences from a couple of paragraphs.  No one's life experiences are so easily reconstructed since many variables come into play.  But I have tried to extract a certain quality unique to each person.

Van remembers that it was a highlight recording of Madama Butterfly with Victoria De Los Angeles and Jussi Bjoerling that he heard at the age of 10, that originally fueled his passion for opera.

"From there I very gradually moved on to some Puccini scenes and arias with old RCA stars like Bjoerling, Peerce, Milanov and Albanese and highlights of Carmen with Bumbry and Vickers."

Although Van listened to various operas on the Met broadcasts and local radio shows, it was Puccini that he responded to most easily and he preferred singers from the 40s - 60s.  They were the ones he listened to most during his years of musical discovery.  Once he was fourteen and able to have a part time job (and buy records) he started to branch out, collecting such LPs sets as Pons' Columbia Lucia di Lammermoor, Callas' Trovatore and Sutherland's now classic Art of the Prima Donna album.  His journey was a very gradual one and more embracing of varying operatic styles than often happens in similar situations.  A recital record of Lily Pons was countered by a Rossini disc of Marilyn Horne.  One of the most crucial moments during this period of absorbing information was when he saw his first live opera.  It was La Traviata with Joan Sutherland (on his 14th birthday).  That signaled the beginning of his love for florid music and high notes.  "I can still remember all the details and how she sounded in key points." What is interesting in Van's case, however, is the fact that because his initial exposure to operatic voices was through Puccini and voices of more heavy weight, that type of voice remains what he prefers - even in florid singers.

"I've always responded to a meatier tone, and a less highly placed voice than one currently hears." Different from many other coloratura lovers, he prefers the more "well-rounded middle and lower registers" of singers and admits that he would prefer hearing a full-toned 'Sempre libera' without a high E flat, than a slimmer, more highly placed voice that can sing such a note."

Although one could easily assume that this is just a matter of preference, I suspect the reasons are much more complex and have to do with how each of us hears and perceives sound.

It is a fact that we all hear things differently.  Some people's ears are more sensitive to high pitches, some to low.  Similarly, some people prefer voices based on the "spin" (with a fast vibrato) like Leontyne Price, Lily Pons, Leila ben Sedira, and Beverly Sills while others prefer voices that have slower vibratos and are based more on the "float" (like Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, Ruth Welting and Roberta Peters).  Some like both.  Some people prefer lighter, crystalline timbres while others prefer darker, more luscious vocal weights.  But, to take this further, we all also hear the actual "sound" of a voice differently.  This even includes the particular "color" of a voice.  For instance, I hear a voice like Sylvia Geszty's as a beautiful, focused (full of darkish overtones), floated instrument.  Others consider it wiry.  (I have heard the same criticism leveled at the American Roberta Peters.) Ironically, both opinions are right.

The difference lies in how our minds interpret what our ears hear.  While studying for my Bachelors of Music at the University of West Virginia, I worked in the music library on evenings when I didn't have rehearsals.  I usually worked with a soprano friend who had the same schedule.  One night we got into a ripping argument over Anna Moffo's singing.  My soprano friend stated that Moffo's singing and voice were "cold." I thought she was out of her mind.  How could she possibly think that?  I thought Moffo had one of the most voluptuous, warm sounds I had ever heard from a soprano.  Neither one of us would concede to the other's opinions and the argument got so heated and out of control that we eventually ended up not speaking to each other for a couple of days.  When I was able to sit back and take an honest look at all the silliness of what had happened and analyze what each of us had said in defense of our opinions, I realized that our ears heard the same sounds but our minds interpreted them differently.

When it comes to preferences and the complicated reasons for them, I once read something which clarified things for me.  I wish I could remember where I read it, but in essence what the article said was that various voice types physiologically affect individual listeners in different ways.  It is for this reason that some people prefer the tenor voice to the bass voice or the bass voice to a soprano voice.  It is the peculiar action of that voice on the listener's physiological makeup.  This is what makes you excited or gives you chills when hearing a voice that appeals to you.  I remember my mother once telling me that she got gooseflesh when she heard Boris Christoff sing.  Sopranos did nothing for her.  With me (although I love Boris Christoff) it is the opposite.  The chills I get are only caused by the high soprano voice.  And the higher the better.

So I believe that sometimes it is not so much a matter of preference as it is a matter of how a particular sound physically affects you.  I know for a fact that if I have a headache or am suffering from inertia, I can rid myself of it by listening to a high coloratura.  For many other people that would probably drive them mad.

When I was singing professionally and wanted to wash my head out of all the early music I was performing, or wanted to charge myself up, I had a little ritual: I would put on the Act I finale from the Sutherland recording of Les Huguenots - full volume.  For readers who can't place that ensemble, it's the one where, at the end, Huguette Tourangeau lets rip with a sustained high D.  The affect of the crashing chords, the chromatic ascents of Meyerbeer's music, the combination of the chorus and Tourangeau's brilliant high D riding over everything, makes my blood rush and my whole body relieves its tension.  For me it is definitely cathartic.

Often the reason we like a certain type of music has to do with the way we are exposed to it when young and impressionable, and what we associate that music with.  Sometimes we come to it despite intense pressures from outside.  Dean didn't discover the coloratura voice until about 6 or 7 years ago.  As he remembers:

"I had always assumed that I didn't like opera.  I don't know why I just automatically assumed that, but perhaps it is the stereotype these days.  I was born in the 80s and opera didn't get a lot of good press when I was growing up (most often) it was more of a punch line to a joke."

When young, Dean played the piano for at least 10 years.  His piano background helped introduce him to a varied repertoire although he found he preferred playing Chopin, Bach and Liszt.  What turned Dean on to opera was the movie Amadeus.  Forced to watch it with a friend, his turning point came with one of the simplest of things - an upward scale sung by a soprano who then broke into "Martern aller arten" from Entfuhrung.  Dean was immediately captivated by the sound of that voice and this triggered an emotional response to classical singing and in particular to opera that has never left him.  "I actually remember repeating how beautiful the woman's voice was a few times sporadically throughout the evening.  I was mystified by it"

It was that simple.  He became entranced by a beautiful voice.  A love for "Martern aller arten" has never left Dean who now collects recordings of the aria and considers himself a "Martern completist." Not surprisingly, it remains one of his three favorite arias, the Queen of the Night's "Der holle rache" being another.  Dean is a good example of the intense loyalty a listener often feel towards their "composer of discovery."

Amadeus also played an important part in the operatic journey of Helen from Australia.

"My first coloratura experience came, too, from Amadeus, perhaps a side effect of being a young person in the 80s - cinema was the most influential art form for many youngsters."

Naturally, with her mind focused on the subject of opera, she began to notice it popping up everywhere.  This was around the time that Joan Sutherland was preparing to retire, and Helen was fascinated by the "nationwide frenzy surrounding (Sutherland) and her husband Richard Bonynge." At first she did not particularly care for Sutherland's singing but that changed after she started "digging around for recordings" and heard her sing the Bell Song from Lakmé.  "I was completely enthralled with what singers with the coloratura gift could do." This fascination eventually led to Helen's own study of voice.

What I found interesting in Helen's story were certain coincidences that, inadvertently, played into Helen's operatic education.  At the same time that Helen was learning about opera, Andrew Lloyd Weber's Phantom of the Opera was popular.  Not only did that particular musical spotlight the high soprano voice and operatic convention, for many it raised the level of appreciation for the sound of a high soprano voice.  Sarah Brightman's popularity at the time also served to underline, reinforce and essentially putt a stamp of approval on this type of voice.

Helen remembers that another singer "who had some impact on me was Kiri Te Kanawa, and yes, this also started with a movie: A Room With a View.  Her recordings of "O mio babbino caro" and "Chi bel sogno" have ever since been two of my favorite recordings." When Helen bought an EMI CD called "Royal Opera - Best of Opera Sopranos" she learned about such singers as Reri Grist, Anna Moffo, and Edita Gruberova.  While studying for her Bachelors of Music she also discovered such disparate things as the recordings of Florence Foster Jenkins, and Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle.  Mozart and Vivaldi remain her favorite composers and she makes the point that: "Appreciation of singing and then coloratura seems to be something which only comes with experience and the acquired taste for the best in this 'Haute Ecole' of music.  Everyday I am grateful that I can appreciate this art form."

Another who discovered his love of the high soprano voice from watching movies was Olivier from France.  When very young (around 6) he remembers being aurally fascinated by the voice of Billie Burke as Glenda the "Good Witch" in the Judy Garland movie The Wizard of Oz.  The very sound of the high soprano voice appealed to him.  While growing up he saw many French musicals and MGM movie musicals - loving Kathryn Grayson.  Although, when Olivier was growing up there was no particular love for opera in his home, there was an appreciation for classical music - especially symphonic music.  His first operatic CD was Die Walkure.

"I remember that I liked the Walkyries ride but my parents only had an orchestral version.  A friend told me that it was originally composed for voice and orchestra.  So I bought the CD and it was a shock!  Ever since, I have loved this opera and the high notes of the Walkyries.  But then someone told me that the notes in the 'ride' were not that high.  To show me what they meant they played a recording of Sumi Jo.  WOW!  I was so impressed by her voice and high notes that I went and bought her "Carnaval" recording.  From that day on, I fell in love with coloratura voices."

Olivier began a quest to learn about other coloratura singers, quickly discovering Joan Sutherland, Edita Gruberova, and Mady Mesple.  Along with Sumi Jo, these four remain among his favorites because, as he says: "each time I hear them I feel 'at home.'" Continuing his quest, he has since discovered such rarefied high note specialists as Erna Sack, Mado Robin, Beverly Hoch and Elisabeth Vidal.

Sometimes people come to the coloratura voice through an entirely different kind of voice or music - their preferences lying almost dormant until a chance occurrence, or the action of someone else, opens the gateway.  A good example of this is Gontran who is also from France.  He wrote to me that his "first encounter with classic singing was a contralto voice - Carol Brice singing DeFalla's El Amor Brujo.  Encouraged by his mother to listen to classical music, a turning point was reached when he heard Maria Callas' Coloratura/Lyric LP album.  He fell in love with the Bell Song.  His mother, although appreciating his enthusiasm for Callas, explained that the music didn't really suit her voice.  She told him that who he should hear was Lily Pons.  So he went and found a recording of Pons singing the aria and he loved that version too.

As so often happens in situations like this, fate sneaks in to give one a nudge.  By chance Gontran's first live performance was shortly after his discovery of Lily Pons: Lucia di Lammermoor at the Paris Opera with Mady Mesple.  "I went on discovering the magic world of opera and coloratura with a friend of mine but I still often wonder how and why I got such an interest in voices when I was not really influenced at the beginning."

As is true in so many life experiences, sometimes one love leads to another.  Peter, who lives in Australia, succinctly explained that his love of coloratura was immediate.  It started with his countrywoman, Joan Sutherland.  From her he discovered Maria Callas, then, in 1986, he bought his first Edita Gruberova disc: highlights from Die Zauberflote.

"I was hooked instantly," he remarked.  With tongue firmly in cheek, Peter declared, "It has caused me severe financial damage in buying CDs, videos and DVDs and numerous trips to Austria, Germany and USA to ease my cravings."

Then he said something interesting.  "However, I now usually listen to Wagner, Strauss or Schubert Lieder.  Is there a connection?"

Yes there is.

What Peter experienced is not that unusual.  One will often start off preferring one voice type and then their tastes evolve or change.  A fascination with one singer can lead into all sorts of repertoire and fach directions.  While sampling (or testing) other repertoire you often find that you like that music as well.  There is no reason why one can't love both Lakmé and Lulu.  If anything such diversity helps inform one's musical palate and keep the learning process fresh.  And, as in everything, our musical tastes are constantly shifting: maturing, changing.

Sometimes, a love for florid singing is sparked by exposure to a diva of a former era.  This was the case with Rick. He now hosts the Yahoo group called Cadenza (see my article, "Sister Sites," elsewhere on this site.) As Rick explains:

"When I was in high school and studying piano at the local community college, I often checked out records at the library and among the LPs was this ancient record, housed in a plastic slipcover.  Curiosity got the better of me (I did own a Victrola and a stack of 20s dance-band records) so I checked it out."

It turns out that the recording was of the Shadow Song from Meyerbeer's Dinorah sung by Amelita Galli-Curci.  "I was hooked.  I had no idea who Amelita Galli-Curci was or what the hell she was singing about, but it was easy to revel in her virtuosity, as if she were a clarinetist or other wind player.  I now have all of her acoustic Victor discs and someday hope to stumble across the few electrics I lack.  I even have copies of two unpublished Galli-Curci discs."

Although a piano major, when in college Rick studied voice for two years and found that he enjoyed singing the florid tenor repertoire and composing his own variants for such things as the tenor arias from The Messiah.  His exposure to Galli-Curci gave him a better understanding of just how accurate florid singing should sound.  "I tried to achieve the same clarity in my runs that Galli-Curci had in hers." Perhaps, not surprisingly, the Italian soprano remains his first coloratura love.  He admits, however, to a fondness for the more modern Edita Gruberova and Natalie Dessay.

Often, it is not necessarily a recording that hooks a listener but rather a live performance.  Sergio, from Madrid, recalls that a former partner, who was a singer and who loved Mozart, was responsible for introducing him to all sorts of classical music.  An actor, Sergio was fascinated by the way singers expressed their feelings through music.  He found that he had a preference for arias such as the Queen of the Night's "Der holle rache" and the concert aria "Vorrei spiegarvi." He soon realized that he was especially fascinated with high notes.  His partner, recognizing this, decided to give Sergio a gift that ended up changing his life.  It was a ticket to a concert featuring Edita Gruberova.  As he remembers:

"I was fascinated with her voice.  She started with "Ah se il crudel periglio" then Grossmachtige Prinzessin (Ariadne).  At that point I couldn't believe my ears!  Then the Mad Scene (from I Puritani).  I was so moved that I couldn't stop crying." For the rest of the concert Sergio was in another world.  He admits: "Gruberova changed my life and showed me the door to that wonderful world of coloratura and high notes." After this he sought out other coloratura specialists: Sills, Callas, Moffo, Sutherland.

Another person who discovered coloratura singing and even opera through Edita Gruberova was Maurice, who lives in France.  As he said in his letter:

"I have always been interested in voices but I was not especially interested in opera.  That is until one day when I was viewing a video of a French television program featuring Edita Gruberova singing arias from Bellini's I Puritani.  I can't find the words to explain how I felt when I first heard her voice.  I was taken away by the beauty of the music and her voice.  It was as if I was experiencing some kind of moment of grace!  That was about two years ago and since that day I have become a real Gruberova fan and started to get information about her (mostly on the internet) and that is how I learned about and joined the coloratura List."

Maurice has remained true in his devotion of Gruberova - even though he now is familiar with the singing of many other florid divas.  For him it is her singing of high notes which clinches most comparisons.  "Sometimes," he noted, "I find high notes not very pleasant to hear when they are too piercing.  That never seems to happen with Gruberova.  Even when she sings the highest notes she manages to keep a kind of softness in her voice that, for me at least, remindes me of honey."

The discovery of coloratura singing most often happens from the discovery of a voice - as we have seen in Maurice and Sergios's stories.  Felicia discovered opera and coloratura through the voice of Lily Pons.  "(Pons) was singing The rose and the Nightingale on the opera music station on th e cable music channel.  The clarity of her voice, the agility and the way she sang fascinated me.  So I decided to go to Barnes and Noble and ordered some CDs with her."

Felicia also attributes her love of colroaturas to Kathleen Battle.  "She was one of the most prettiest lyric coloratura/soubrette voices that I had ever heard.  I have especially enjoyed her singing of "Amor", and the arias from Entfuhrung - especially "Martern aller arten."

"Another favorite of mine," Felicia commented, "is Cecilia Bartoli.  I think she has an unmatched coloratura technique, and with a range from low G to high E flat she can use her voice in an interesting way.  I also like the fact that she sings music that is rarely sung by others."

Nathan also discovered coloratura singing through Lily Pons.

"The first coloratura soprano, indeed the first opera singer I ever heard was Lily Pons.  It was on my father's old 78 album of Fille du Regiment which consisted of the four major arias from the opera.  I must have been about 15 at the time and I was bowled over by the birdlike quality of Pons' voice and the intricate embroidery of her embellishments.  I also liked her voice's purity and, of course, the high notes.  Soon after I discovered Amelita Galli-Curci and I found her sound thrilling if different from what I was used to with Lily Pons.  I became hooked on the coloratura voice!

"It was also around this time that I discovered Joan Sutherland.  I heard her voice for the first time in high school music class singing the Bell Song from Lakmé and noticed that her rendition of the aria was quite different from that of Pons.  I soon began collecting recordings of coloraturas both past and present and eventually branched out to other voice types as well.

"Although my tastes and opinions concerning what constitutes good and great coloratura singing have somewhat evolved in the intervening 40 years since listening to Pons' recordings, I must admit to still be thrilled, at least on a visceral if not intellectual level, when I hear agile scales, high notes and pin-point staccati - the same as when I first began my opera record collecting days at the age of 15."

Deborah discovered the joys of florid singing not from a coloratura soprano but rather from the work of the mezzo soprano, Ewa Podles who first caught her attention through her dynamic singing of Rossini arias.  Although she was familiar with classical music and opera, (mostly Mozart and Verdi) Deborah had never bothered to further explore it.  She knew, however, that she did NOT like Verismo.

Deborah bought the Podles disc on a whim - since she liked the contralto voice and it was cheap.  It opened a whole new world for her.  Her quest demonstrates the merits of growing up in today's Internet culture.  Once she realized that she liked florid singing, Deborah went exploring.

"Thanks to my local library, and WinMX I was then able to explore more of the bel canto repertoire, and despite what the record companies claim, the result was that I spend far more on CDs now than I ever did before.  And I am really grateful to Opera Rara and to all the people who contributed to the Rossinii and belcanto revival."

John, who hosts the Coloratura Soprano website and writes for this site as well, had an interesting introduction to the coloratura voice.  While in high school John sang in the school choir.  A friend invited him to watch a tape of the Beverly Sills Farewell Concert that had been on TV.  Although Sills was the star, John's friend wanted him to hear the up and coming Gianna Rolandi.  Used to sopranos in his choir who could "barely squeeze out a thin little tone on a G" John was amazed at Rolandi's full-voiced facility and high Ds.

Jim, his friend, explained that Sills had once been a much better singer and this intrigued John, who decided to look for some of her recordings.  He went to the library to see what they had and checked out her La Traviata recording.  "I was hooked forever." "It all came together almost immediately for me.  I memorized the entire score in my head, imitating every inflection of hers.  Not just the big arias, but also the little phrases in passing.  It was those vivid details that made it so cinematic!  I would sit in the dark and watch the glamorous movie of 'Violetta Sills' in my head, while the opera played through.  (Sill's recording of Manon is the same way for me - so intimate that it feels like a film.)"

"Later, I was working part-time as a proofreader (for a company that made old-fashioned standard training filmstrips for the US Army!), and I pulled into the parking lot one afternoon after school in my green 1966 Sunbeam Alpine and saw a much older male colleague sitting in his truck.  Turns out he was listening to Beverly Sills singing "Sempre libera" on a cassette tape!  What a marvelous "it's a small world" coincidence.  He had more Sills records like Tales of Hoffmann, Manon, and Thais and I was curious to hear more.  So I went to a local used bookstore where they had many of her LP sets and recitals for about $10.00 each.  I picked them up a few at a time until I think I had them all."

Fortunately, the records' previous owner had saved the original reviews, putting them into the record sleeves.  These proved to be invaluable to John since they helped him learn not only about how critics felt about Sills but also about other singers who sang the same repertoire.  This eventually led John to explore their recordings as well.  Because he learned so much about singing and repertoire from Sills' recordings John feels that in many ways his operatic taste was shaped by the American soprano.  "To this day I prefer slimmer, smaller voices, very high-lying voices, feminine and elegant voices, and agile voices with impeccable control - and moreover, voices within this spectrum that also convey personality and conviction, as Sills did in my view."

Over the years, like a sponge, he has soaked up information about this type of soprano and sought out as many recordings as he could of the coloratura voice.  Not surprisingly because of his emphasis on this type of voice it took him a bit longer to get into Mozart and Puccini.  Once he moved to the East coast in the mid-80s to attend college, he discovered that there were live or "Pirate" recordings available of Sills.

"Having acquired nearly all of her studio things, this was a revelation.  I stumbled across the live Semele highlights LP and one of the aria LPs (the one with Zerbinetta on it) in one of those great, musty, NYC used record stores that were everywhere back then.  I have since acquired "every burp" of Sills and have even compiled a discography of hers on line."

There were certain singers who were pivotal during his musical maturation and experiences, several he still favors: Kathleen Battle, Gianna Rolandi, Kiri TeKanawa, Leontyne Price, Edita Gruberova, Edda Moser, Ingeborg Hallstein, Mado Robin, Mariella Devia, Amelita Galli-Curci, as well as newer artists like Annick Massis.  Because of his intense delving into the most arcane of coloratura recordings John has become a specialist in obscure LP releases of this voice type.  Even with that, he carefully keeps abreast of all newcomers in the field.  His knowledge has become truly prodigious.

Another person with prodigious knowledge is Ron from New York.  I have known him for over 20 years - having met him while I was working for Mr.  Tape.  Many of the most priceless things in my live opera collection have come from trading tapes with him.  His story, like many others has its own logic but with curious twists and turns.

"When I was in 6th grade, my music teacher, Mr Herman Hollingsworth, gave me a 45 rpm of a singer he thought I'd enjoy.  It was Lily Pons and the record was excerpts from Lakmé.  (still my favorite opera and aria today.)"

Also interested in musical theatre, Ron joined a local group and the first year among other works, they performed Herbert's Naughty Marietta.

"Anyone who could sing the 'Italian Street Song' was OK by me!.  One night while watching Ed Sullivan, a petite soprano sang the 'Italian Street Song.'  Luckily I had my tape recorder hooked up to the TV and recorded it.  She also sang another "song" with Al Hirt on the trumpet.  I was amazed at the agility and fluidity of her voice.  About a week later, in a local record store, I ran across an album by the soprano on the Ed Sullivan Show.  I bought it, played it, and was hooked.  The album was the complete Lucia di Lammermoor and the soprano was Roberta Peters.  (Incidentally, the "song" she sang with Al Hirt was the Shadow Song from Dinorah with trumpet obbligato!)"

"Later Ms.Peters and I became friends (and still are).  I will always be grateful to her and her wonderful voice and personality (with a special thanks to Lily Pons too)!"

Since I know my own journey so well, it is the longest of the entries here.  What is interesting is that within it are echos of all the others.  Tracing my own addiction to coloratura proved to be a nostalgic experience since I still have many of my original LPs and they are dated.

I was raised in a household of very eclectic musical tastes.  I grew up hearing music from Bizet's Pearl Fishers (the first Angel set with Legay and Angelici), Boris Godunov (with Chaliapin) Carmen and various broadway musicals and pop singers.  My parents even had an old Mercury LP of Erna Sack - which particularly intrigued me - although I wasn't sure I liked the music or the voice.  There was, however, something about the height and purity of her high notes which titillated my unformed tastes.

My first "conscious" introduction to opera, however, came when I was 14.  While singing as a boy soprano soloist at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Baltimore I became friends with another boy, Landon, who had a passion for opera and sopranos.  Although he was two years younger than me, he not only had a voracious appetite for opera but a matching knowledge.  We traded records.  This was in October of 1965.  I gave him an LP of music from the movie "Cleopatra" and, since I loved ancient Egypt, he gave me highlights from Aida with Zinka Milanov and Jussi Bjoerling.  It didn't sound like music from ancient Egypt to me but I loved every minute of it - especially Bjoerling.

Although I still knew practically nothing about opera, about a month later I forced my mother to take me to Korvettes (a store in the Baltimore suburbs at the time) to look for opera recordings.  After looking around for a while, it came down to either highlights from Tosca with Renata Tebaldi or highlights from Lucia with Joan Sutherland (her 1st).  I knew that Tosca jumped off a parapet and in my naivité, I thought it would be really cool to hear her scream as she jumped off.  So, I was opting for Tosca.  My mother, however, said she thought I would prefer Lucia since I would probably recognize some of the music - like the Sextet which I would have heard in cartoons.  Big mistake on her part.

I bought the Lucia and before long, my mother regretted having given me that advice as the house became a haven for one high soprano after another.

Another thing happened almost simultaneously.  It is a perfect example of strange coincidence, or fate if you will: I got sick one day and had to stay home from school.  It just happened to be a day when I usually went to the neighborhood "Bookmobile" after school.  (Does anyone remember those wonderful things?) When the woman who ran the bookmobile found out I was sick and that I was just getting into opera, she sent home a recording with my mother that she thought I might like: Maria Callas, Coloratura/Lyric arias.  That simple, kind gesture rocked my 14 year old world.  That was the first time I heard the Bell Song from Lakmé, the Shadow Song from Dinorah, the Bolero from I Vespri and all the verismo arias.  I didn't know anything about the music, but I knew that I liked those arias and I was fascinated by that dark, smoky voice and "wiry" top.  I can remember playing the last refrain of the Bell Song over and over.  Although I have known that recording intimately for forty years, it remains my one desert island disc.

Around March 1966 a Baltimore radio station played the Decca recording of Lakmé with Mado Robin.  When I heard the whole opera, I knew I had to have it.  Secretly, I went without lunch at school so I could save up money.  On April 14, 1966 I took the trolley (yes, they still had trolleys in 1966!) and went to the General Radio and Record Shop in downtown Baltimore and bought my first complete opera recordings: Robin's Lakmé (on London LPs) and Milanov's Tosca (on Victrola LPs).

Not realizing that I was becoming obsessive, by August I had done another lunch fasting and I made another trip downtown to the General Radio and Record.  I bought my first aria albums - a 2-LP disc of Luisa Tetrazzini on the ASCO label - because she sang the Bell Song, Shadow Song, and the Mad Scene from Lucia, and "Twenty Great Coloratura Sopranos" on TAP Records.  It was from those two recordings that I began learning about the extent of the florid repertoire.  They also taught me to love coloratura singers from the dawn of recording.  Completely preoccupied with my new obsession, everything else took a back seat.

One story my father likes to tell about this time period was when he took me to my first baseball game at the Oriole stadium.  Although I was not that keen on the idea, I asked if Landon could go too.  Well, I had a great time at the game.  Landon and I ate hot dogs and talked bout opera and singers the entire time and never once paid attention to the baseball game.  Afterwards, my father, somewhat irritated, asked why I even bothered to go.  I didn't understand.  I had had a GREAT time!

In 1967, during my 16th summer, my parents decided I was spending too much money on records.  They had caught on to the fact that I was not eating lunch at school and spending all my money on records and (worse) that I was sneaking them into the house so they wouldn't know.  When told this, I said fine - I would just go and get a job.  And, as my father laughingly remembers, I marched my 16 year old, smart-ass self downtown and got a job at the General Radio and Record Shop.  To be honest, I don't know how I managed to convince the guy to give me the job and I don't remember even how much I made, but by the end of June I had a job stocking record shelves and advising interested customers about what operatic records they should buy.  I learned a lot that summer - about what was in and out of print and how extensive the operatic repertoire really is.  Needless to say I spent almost all my pay on recordings.

Each recording I discovered inspired me to seek out recordings of other singers or music.  Early on came Moffo, Streich, Peters, more Sutherland and Callas (lots of Callas).  Landon introduced me to recordings by Maria Ivogun, Mattiwilda Dobbs, Jeanette Scovotti, Leonie Rysanek, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Nancy Tatum, Leontyne Price, Birgit Nilsson, and many, many others.  Despite his youth, his knowledge was amazing and far ranging and together we fed each other's desire for operatic knowledge.  Although I did not realize it at the time, he also helped temper my vocal obsessions.  My craving for coloratura singers was constant.  He made sure I learned about all the other types of fachs and voices as well so that my "education" was surprisingly balanced. 

Because of all these things, my operatic tastes have remained eclectic.  The Bell Song remains my favorite aria but I also have a passion for Richard Strauss and good old-fashioned, gutsy Verismo.  I like most Wagner and when I came to New York I even went to a performance of Lulu at the Met so I could explore my dark side.  I did and I loved it. 

I have to tell you that this was a most rewarding piece to write - the responses were so interesting and varied.  It was also rather nostalgic to look back on my own coloratura education and remember the many people who were so instrumental in helping form my tastes.

But I also found the experience rather errie.  Even with differences in culture, up-bringing, exposure and circumstances, a common truth ran through all the stories: no matter how we got there, a high soprano stirs something within our blood that nothing else will satisfy.  We may enjoy other voice types but to hear Edda Moser singing the Queen of the Night, or Maria Ivogun's classic Zerbinetta's aria -- that feeds our soul; that is coming home.  For us nothing evokes the same visceral excitement as hearing a new coloratura for the first time or revisiting old friends like Luisa Tetrazzini or Frieda Hemple.

As for me, when it comes to special occasions (like trying out a new sound system or CD player, or the first record to be played in a new home), out comes Maria Callas' EMI Bell Song from Lakmé to baptize and bless with her tintinnabulations.  (April, 2005)