I grew up on rock n roll, country, pop, a little r&b. Opera seems at best inaccessible to me, at worst off-putting and unappealing.
I few years ago there was an Avedon photograph of opera singer Lorraine Hunt Lieberson in The New Yorker. She looked interesting; the picture compelled me to read the accompanying article. And she did seem like an interesting character, a bit of a late-bloomer who had worked as a freelance violist before she started singing. She was a mezzo soprano, not exactly a star or a diva, maybe a bit of a new age hippie, but she seemed smart and interesting and I got the impression she was someone I'd like to know. She had soulfullness.
In the lasted issue of The New Yorker, another article about her. A sad one. Her obituary. She died of breast cancer at the age of 53 on July 3.
Now I have iTunes and I can tell you that she has one of the most gorgeous voices I've ever heard. It almost doesn't matter that she's singing dreaded opera. Check out her singing "Angels bright and fair" from Handel's Theodora. Go ahead and spend the dollar to download it so you can hear the whole thing. Trust me. My heart is broken all over again.
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/040105fa_fact
http://www.newyorker.com/critics/music/articles/060925crmu_music
