I’m no longer denying the truth to myself. After a couple weeks of prowling youtube, looking for more videos to give me goosebumps, I’m coming out of the musical closet as an opera lover. This is not the way I was raised. I don’t know what my friends will think. As a very young man, my peers know me as a fan of rock/punk/metal. How do I disclose my new passion?
I yearn for sonic satisfaction, so give me some suggestions. Remember, I’m still an opera newbie. It’s a work in progress, overcoming all that brainwashing conventional people drill into you (like opera is all a bunch of shrieking caterwauling), so I’m a bit timid. I’ve been listening to what I assume are standards:Puccini, Donizetti, Magic Flute. I don’t want to get turned off with stuff that’s too much like what people say opera is, so I need good entry level material.
Best entry-level operas: *Carmen, Rigoletto, *and The Marriage of Figaro.
The important thing is that you’re (I assume) a consenting adult and you’re not alone. The hardest part, of course, is telling your parents. It will shock them at first, but they’ll probably come around. After all, you’re the same person they’ve always loved.
OMG, you can’t let the family know! Perhaps a copple of weeks at the Grand Old Opry will put things right. Otherwise, just listen to all Waylon Jennings and pray!
You could start out by casually leaving around CD cases of more modern/edgy operatic works, like Kurt Weill’s Mahagonny or something by Philip Glass if you find something you don’t hate.
This is sort of the opera-lover’s version of calling yourself “bisexual” until you muster up the confidence to identify simply as “gay”. It blurs the issue a little bit and gives an impression of being daring and bohemian and unconventional rather than OMG YOU’RE ONE OF THOSE???!!!?!?.
