A Night at the Opera

I like opera. Don’t listen to it too often – have far too much else on my playlist – but sometimes it pops up and reminds me of how incredible it can be.

So this morning, the iPod Nano that I’ve had for probably 10 years and isn’t feeling that well any more was being a little sickly.  The screen wasn’t turning on. When this happens, I just hit “play” and most times it gives me whatever comes up.  Kind of a nice feature actually (even if it’s accidental) because on occasion I’m reminded of something I hadn’t heard for a while…like opera.

And not just any opera. Perhaps the greatest operatic song ever recorded by the greatest tenor ever.

Back in spring of 2000 we went to see Andrea Bocelli in Suwon. We enjoyed it, but what was more memorable from the concert was that when we left, someone handed us a postcard advertising an upcoming concert by Luciano Pavarotti at Seoul’s Olympic Stadium.  When we got home, Micha looked at it and said, “Do you want to go?”  There was a number we could call to get on a waiting list for tickets, so she went ahead and registered us. 

Within a few weeks, we got our tickets — only about $100 apiece — and went to the concert. I still remember entering the stadium. We were at field level, so I was hoping the seats would be decent. As we looked at our tickets, we had to go closer and closer to the front…until we ended up in the center of the third row. It was incredible to turn around and see 50,000 people sitting behind us.

But more than ever, I especially remember this: from the first note out of his mouth, I was blown away by the absolute power and control in Pavarotti’s voice.  I liked Bocelli when I saw him, but this guy was in another league by far. It was like being hit by a sonic force that set your eyes wide open and dropped your jaw.

It’s those kind of memories that make me love listening to his stuff when it comes around.  I’ve got plenty of it hidden on my Nano, including this song (which was the one that came up) — perhaps his greatest song ever.  Glad the thing didn’t work this morning.