The leitmotif is essentially a continuous musical theme. To give an example of this I think everyone should know, 36 years later, would be Darth Vadars theme in the Star Wars series. The leitmotif is usually attributed to Richard Wagner and his operas, even though he did not originate the concept or even reference it with regards to his work.
I often say I am my father’s daughter and in many regards this is true. One aspect in which this rings especially true is my appreciation of opera. Now everyone in our family has a musical ear and can carry a tune, harmonize and what have you. Heck, my parents first met singing in the choir at the church they both happen to be going to in Livingston NJ. My Opa played the guitar, the cello and the accordion. At one time he even played in a band.
My dad played the recorder and cello. PJ and I played instruments all throughout our youth, trombone, piano, trumpet, clarinet. PJ even sang in Oratorio Society of the University of Maine when he was in college. You hear people talk about genres of music and what they like or don’t like. “I like everything but country” or “I like everything but rap,” are the two I hear the most. The one that gets me though is “I like classical music but not opera.” PJ is famous for this one (and he definitely has a musical appreciation, so I never understood why he wasn’t so much a fan of opera)! I suppose there are certain tastes you acquire, kind of like acquiring a taste for martinis (because those are an acquired taste if ever there was one). Well, opera is also an acquired taste and to loosely paraphrase Richard Gere in Pretty Woman, you either like it or you don’t.
With everything that’s happened recently with Dad there have been good moments and moments of normalcy. One such moment was the first Saturday Mom and I went to see him in rehab. He has a Grundig radio he purchased for himself a couple of years ago. He loves this radio and there were countless times I would hear his radio playing while he quietly sat in the dining room, sipping a glass of wine and looking out at the birds in his backyard. Never really one for the TV, I brought his radio in for him to listen to. This particular Saturday I said to him, let’s turn on the radio and see if we can get Maine Public Radio. I knew they always played an opera on Saturday afternoons and I knew Dad would often listen to them. We turned it on just as they were giving the rundown of the story. Dad’s eyes lit up as he listened. Once the music started he closed his eyes. Mom thought he was going to sleep. He hand came up and started moving around like he was conducting the opera and I knew he was quietly just listening. So we all sat there and listened with him. It was a good Saturday.
I mention the leitmotif and Wagner because his greatest work, The Ring Cycle or Der Ring des Nibelungen is something Dad always wanted to see a live production of. A decade or so ago, The Metropolitan Opera Company in NYC did a production of the four operas, encompassed in the cycle, over the course of a week or so and I remember Dad and I had talked about getting tickets. It is definitely a time commitment to devote yourself to these works. We never did go, but always talked about it. A few years ago I purchased an amazing production of the series on CD and gave them to Dad for Christmas (as well as a copy for myself). Personally I have listened to them countless times. Below is a link to a scene from a documentary about the Ring Cycle put forth by the Met last year. There have been many debates about this particular production and I'm not here to have an opinion about it one way or the other, just to present the magic of what opera music represents for me and for Dad. You either like it or you don't. Enjoy!
I often say I am my father’s daughter and in many regards this is true. One aspect in which this rings especially true is my appreciation of opera. Now everyone in our family has a musical ear and can carry a tune, harmonize and what have you. Heck, my parents first met singing in the choir at the church they both happen to be going to in Livingston NJ. My Opa played the guitar, the cello and the accordion. At one time he even played in a band.
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| Opa posing with his accordian |
With everything that’s happened recently with Dad there have been good moments and moments of normalcy. One such moment was the first Saturday Mom and I went to see him in rehab. He has a Grundig radio he purchased for himself a couple of years ago. He loves this radio and there were countless times I would hear his radio playing while he quietly sat in the dining room, sipping a glass of wine and looking out at the birds in his backyard. Never really one for the TV, I brought his radio in for him to listen to. This particular Saturday I said to him, let’s turn on the radio and see if we can get Maine Public Radio. I knew they always played an opera on Saturday afternoons and I knew Dad would often listen to them. We turned it on just as they were giving the rundown of the story. Dad’s eyes lit up as he listened. Once the music started he closed his eyes. Mom thought he was going to sleep. He hand came up and started moving around like he was conducting the opera and I knew he was quietly just listening. So we all sat there and listened with him. It was a good Saturday.
I mention the leitmotif and Wagner because his greatest work, The Ring Cycle or Der Ring des Nibelungen is something Dad always wanted to see a live production of. A decade or so ago, The Metropolitan Opera Company in NYC did a production of the four operas, encompassed in the cycle, over the course of a week or so and I remember Dad and I had talked about getting tickets. It is definitely a time commitment to devote yourself to these works. We never did go, but always talked about it. A few years ago I purchased an amazing production of the series on CD and gave them to Dad for Christmas (as well as a copy for myself). Personally I have listened to them countless times. Below is a link to a scene from a documentary about the Ring Cycle put forth by the Met last year. There have been many debates about this particular production and I'm not here to have an opinion about it one way or the other, just to present the magic of what opera music represents for me and for Dad. You either like it or you don't. Enjoy!
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