Introduction, or Why I Made these Pages......

I fell in love with opera in the Spring of 1998. I was at Half Price Books in Dallas and they had a complete version of Madama Butterfly by Puccini with libretto. It was cheap, so I bought it--Madame Butterfly was one of those cultural references that I always recognized but knew nothing about, so I thought it might be interesting.

When I got home that night I put in the first CD and I couldn't believe my ears. The orchestral prelude to the opera was a piece of music I had heard in the movie Hannah and Her Sisters and had been trying to identify for years, and I had finally found it by coincidence.

After that, my interest was piqued, and so I listened to the entire opera while reading along with the libretto. This was the turning point. Although I had been to the opera numerous times, and even held season tickets to the Opera Company of Philadelphia with my wife, I had never really developed an interest in opera. However, following along with the libretto gave me a new insight into the music because I finally understood what was going on and how the music supported that action.

Now, my personal policy is to try to never see an opera until I have listened to it while reading the libretto. I also try to do some research, usually using the internet (click here for my list of links) and some of the books on opera that I own (click here for my list of opera and classical music books).

As for me, I am 30 years old and married to a wonderful woman; we have a beautiful daughter born June 21, 1999. I work in the computer consulting industry, but my real loves are my family and, as you can see, Opera.