For a Tenor

We went to the opera--Rossini's The Italian Girl in Algiers--this weekend. Stacia has been a really good sport about going to the opera with me. We both have many concerns with the portrayal of women in classic and romantic opera, but as a soprano and composer I also can appreciate the scale (pun intended) of writing and producing an opera. Not to mention the two or three acts of vocal gymnastics that the performers endure for you.

About a third of the way through the first act, I was uncomfortably listening to Vivica Genoux (beautifully) sing the role of Isabella, an "Italian girl" who uses her body and sexuality as her greatest asset in order to entice men (there was even a bathtub scene where she was presumably naked and singing about her seduction techniques while three men watched from the window--do you suppose Rossini's gaze is male? Maybe?) And let me clarify that if the character of Isabella seemed sexualized, it was only augmented (pun intended) by the misogynist character of Mustafa. Surprise, surprise, misogyny in 19th century opera? Although I will point out that the female lead does not die. That's progress. In fact, she is sort of the hero of the opera.

Anyway, I digress. I am not here to talk about feminist aesthetics (or the lack of) in Rossini's opera. I am here to tell you about a tenor.

So the sexist and sexualized plot was plodding along, and I kept exchanging knowing glances with Stacia, when suddenly, from nowhere, the clearest, loveliest, most amazing voice began soaring over a very gentle and soft orchestra.

Kenneth Tarver, playing the role of Lindoro, pretty much captured my heart in the first phrase of his first aria, Languir per una Bella. Here is J.D. Florez singing the aria--(but you should have heard Kenneth Tarver).


In complete sincerity, I turned to Stacia, who was similarly captivated. Under a terribly hypnotic spell, I whispered, "Honey, if I ever leave you, it will be for a tenor."

I love her a lot. But I could be dissuaded from lesbianism for a tenor voice. I'm only half serious.