| Trying to get your 16 year old acid rocker son to | | | | Bjoerling, having been born in 1873. At the time |
| go to an Opera is like trying to get President Bill | | | | he was considered the greatest tenor of all time. |
| Clinton to admit that he had sex with that | | | | After the arrival of Bjoerling, the debate began. |
| Lewinsky gal. You've got one big fight ahead of | | | | Most opera lovers are torn between the two as |
| you. The truth is, if we didn't have the opera, we | | | | to who is the greatest. Caruso actually had |
| wouldn't have some of the other great music of | | | | technical problems early in his career that he did |
| our time as ultimately every form of music, | | | | not overcome until the turn of the century when |
| especially Broadway musicals, comes from the | | | | he was finally able to move away from resorting |
| classics. And there is no more classic than grand | | | | to falsetto or transposition. Caruso gave many |
| opera.There's a reason that most operas are | | | | memorable performances during his all too brief |
| sung in Italian. Most of the great writers of opera | | | | career which included probably his most popular |
| were Italian. The few English language operas we | | | | role in "I Pagliacci" where he sings what has |
| have, like "The Barber Of Seville" don't compare | | | | become his most famous aria, "Vesti La |
| to the old grand Italian operas. And it is those | | | | Giubba".The opera world did not just belong to the |
| operas that have given us some of the greatest | | | | men. There have been many great women who |
| singers in the history of music.Great singers go | | | | have come to the opera stage over the years. |
| back many years. Keeping this discussion to the | | | | One of the most famous of these is Leontyne |
| 20th century, one needs to go no farther than | | | | Price who was born in 1927 and still lives today, |
| the incomparable Jussi Bjoerling, as he was called. | | | | though she has long stopped her operatic career. |
| Bjoerling lived from 1911 to 1960. He actually | | | | Price had many victories in her career. Her biggest |
| wasn't even Italian but Swedish born. But he was | | | | was probably on January 27, 1961, when she |
| one of the greatest of our time. He was the | | | | made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera House |
| leading tenor at the New York Metropolitan Opera | | | | while playing Leonora in the Verdi classic "Il |
| for more than 20 years. Some of this most | | | | Trovatore". Her performance was so incredible |
| memorable performances however were not | | | | that it resulted in her getting a 42 minute standing |
| done at the Met but at the Rome Opera House | | | | ovation. This was one of the longest in the history |
| under the direction of Jonel Perlea where he | | | | of the Met. The critics reviews of her |
| appeared in some of the greatest operas ever | | | | performance labeled it as "flawless".These few |
| written, including "Cavalleria Rusticana" and "Tosca" | | | | greats only scratch the surface of what opera |
| and "Carmen", just to name a few.In the opera | | | | has given us. If you've never been to the grand |
| world, many people were constantly comparing | | | | opera, by all means go. Even if you have to leave |
| Bjoerling to another great tenor by the name of | | | | your 16 year old acid rocker home. |
| Enrico Caruso. Caruso actually came long before | | | | |