Not everyone can enjoy opera. But when you feel it, you think it. feel And sometimes you just need the right artist, the right genre, or the right way to introduce it. There’s something about opera that feels very strange. I mean, there’s something very silly and very creepy and over the top. But at the end of the day, it’s a song, a voice. It’s such beautiful music that I’m still obsessed with it and probably always will be.
You said that for some people, it takes the right artist to get started in opera. Is that what you want to be for new listeners?
That gateway artist? There are a few voices that I think have crossover appeal. Usually I think of Leontyne Price, Jessye Norman, Pavarotti, and Andrea Bocelli. These are the voices you usually hear, no matter who you are. [you think], “It’s a beautiful sound.” I mean, Pavarotti’s three tenor moment, I think it was in the late ’80s, early ’90s. I don’t know if we’ll ever have a moment like that again in pop culture.
But I don’t know. If this allows more people to discover opera and love it, that’s great. I think this is a beautiful art form that people should know about and explore. It’s interesting because a lot of the operas that are being performed today are from the last century, two centuries, or even older, and people don’t necessarily relate to newer works.
My boyfriend is actually not good at ballet. He’s just a working class guy from Long Island, but I brought him into contemporary work. Lucia di Lammermoor At the Met. In fact, he loves music. Because I always play opera and I always sing. He understands music, but modern staging was really good for him. That’s why contemporary productions can sometimes come in handy, since Broadway shows include elements that older opera leaders dislike. Bringing a little bit of that to opera can be helpful. In some cases, the right artist can too. I don’t know if I’m that artist, but I think if people connect with that music, that’s great.