About

This is a blog about music. It’s mostly about opera. I write about whatever I’ve been listening to or watching, and sometimes about concerts or performances that I’ve been to. The tone is sometimes snarky, but I try to avoid being mean-spirited. I have no interest in the personal lives of artists.

8 thoughts on “About”

  1. I know it was the middle of the night – but did I just imagine that you posted to the effect that you had changed your “about” in the light of getting the new job?
    If you DID get the job – CONGRATULATIONS. If I dreamt it – sorry ….. senior moment 🙂

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    1. I did, and then I unchanged it – I sometimes feel self-conscious calling attention to my real life too much on this blog. This is silly, I know. Anyhow.

      I don’t know if I got the San Francisco job – I haven’t heard back from them yet, but I did get a different job which is in some ways even better, even though it’s not in as wonderful a location. It’s a tenure track job, which in the academy is the holy grail of young scholars. I’ve been sort of all over the place this week as a result.

      Short version: thank you for the congratulations!

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  2. Hello earworm,

    I have 3 questions about opera that greatly interest me and I’d appreciate your thoughts (however brief):

    1) Have you ever met anyone who regards opera as pure music without any regard at all to the words, drama and visuals? In other words someone who adores opera solely for the aesthetic value of the orchestral and vocal sounds? Or to put it another way: someone who is solely interested in exploring the expressive qualities of the vocal and orchestral web.

    2) Have you ever met anyone who generally (and I stress the word generally) prefers to experience opera at home via audio recordings as opposed to hearing it live at the opera house?

    3) Have you ever seen this type of opera lover shake his head and look on with total bemusement at other opera lovers, critics and directors who constantly fuss about productions and all stage business?

    Thanks,

    Matthew

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    1. Hi Matthew,

      I haven’t met anyone who is like that in the strictest sense, but when I started listening to opera, I mostly listened to CDs – I rarely went to live productions (although I did enjoy them when I went) and I didn’t watch opera on DVD. I’ve changed my mind since then, and have come to really enjoy what the visual qualities of the stage can bring to the performance of the music. But I can understand why a person might take the audio-only approach to opera, and I certainly wouldn’t try to talk anyone out of that.

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