Opera for Dummies (Cd Included)

"Pogue is a Wonderful Teacher...He Can Teach Anybody." --Gay Talese, Bestselling Author of Honor Thy Father "Scott Speck is a Great Communicator of Classical Music...Concert Audiences and Readers Alike Can't Help Getting Caught Up in the Joy of His Subject." --David Styers, American Symphony Orchestra League Opera is Weird. Everybody Wears Makeup and Sings All the Time. Even When They're Singing Your Language, Which is Rare, You Still Can't Understand the Words. Women Play Men, Men Play Women, and 45--Year--Olds Play Teenagers. All the Main Characters Seem to Get Killed Off. and When Somebody Dies, He Takes Ten Minutes to Sing About It. Yet, for All Its Weirdness, an Operatic Experience is an Experience in Breathtaking Beauty. When You Hear a Soprano Float a Soft High C, or a Tenor Singing a Love Song, or a Full--Throated Chorus in the Climax of a Scene's Dramatic Finale, You Can't Help Getting Goosebumps. Want to Experience All That Beauty for Yourself, but Don't Know Where to Begin?