by Merlin Compton
Saturday night I went to the historic Assembly Hall to enjoy a concert. It turned out to be one of the most memorable I have ever attended. I went a half hour early because I thought the Hall would be filled to capacity. I was wrong. Barber-shop music and country and western and blue-grass music shows pack the hall. But not this type of music! What a pity! So what was it? A night of songs. Songs by Bach, Mozart, Handel, Massenet, Liszt, Puccini, Strauss II, Offenbach and others. Doesn’t that make for goose bumps for all true lovers of classical music? What a rich program! And it was divided into the following sections: Love of God, Love of Life, Loss of Love, Love of Others and Joy of Love. (I would be happy to send a copy of the program to anyone who might wish it.) I could hardly wait! Concerts of this type often cost a lot of money. This one was free.
Who were the singers, and how many were there? They were all sopranos and there were not two or three, but seven! And they were all very accomplished vocal artists. This is where Will Rogers comes in. “We are all ignorant, only on different subjects.” I soon found out I was ignorant about sopranos. Maybe some of you are well versed in this subject, but I was not. I knew there were mezzo-sopranos, but that was about all I knew about them. So what did I learn? There are dramatic mezzo-sopranos, lyric sopranos, coloratura sopranos, lyric coloratura sopranos, dramatic sopranos and spinto sopranos. And probably more. How will that increase my store of knowledge and how will that benefit me? The next time I hear sopranos sing I will know what style to listen for. How many of you know what a spinto soprano is? I sure didn’t. I had to look it up.
Some of the songs were my favorites, such as “Rejoice Greatly” from “The Messiah,” “O Mio Babbino” from”GianniSchicct” by Puccini, “Mein Herr Marquis” from “Die Fledermaus” by Johan Strauss II and “Belle Nuit” from “Les Contes d’ Hoffman” by Offenbach. This last number was sung by an ensemble of all seven sopranos. Glorious. I thought I had died and gone to Heaven! It was a night of sheer enchantment. The world with all its cares and trivialities had gone away.
I wish I had the skill to describe the music I experienced that night. A Chilean author did that very effectively. I think she was a short story writer by the name of Maria Luisa Bombal. (Tim, if I’m mistaken, let me know.) The main character in one of Bombal’s short stories not only heard but “saw” and “felt” the music. A good example of synesthesia. I don’t remember the names of all of the composers (It’s been more than 25 years ago) but I think some of them were Chopin, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert and Wagner. She “saw” fountains playing, waterfalls, babbling brooks, waves on the sea shore, rivers rolling placidly along. And she “felt” what the water was doing. That was similar to the effect the music had on me that night. Too many superlatives? Probably. But I am sure that a night like that will never happen to me again! But something else was happening to me. Even though Avon was far away, I felt her spirit close at my side.
October 23, 2012
Salt Lake City
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