It isn't surprising, it was my attempt to goad Mr. K with a little light-hearted ribbing. I tried to convey that with my 'serious' suggestion that he play some ZZ Top to snap the kid out of it.Why is this surprising?
-Nick
It isn't surprising, it was my attempt to goad Mr. K with a little light-hearted ribbing. I tried to convey that with my 'serious' suggestion that he play some ZZ Top to snap the kid out of it.Why is this surprising?
I have to disagree. One doesn't start with complete operas, but with arias, which is the great thing about operas, that they are great but can be enjoyed in extracts called arias.
I have to recommend discs of arias sung by Jussi Bjorling on Naxos Historical. Any are great. They will haunt your child forever and may be the inspiration he needs to become musical. His voice is not-quite human, perhaps angelic.
Recently took my 8 and 15 yr old boys with SWMBO to the NYC Opera - Performance of Pirates of Penzance. Reasoning was that it is in English, is funny and goofy sort of like Monty Python comes to Opera, and it is very very short. They had a good time, and I would recommend it for the knee high crowd.
There is nothing on the planet like Verdi's Otello. It was a seminal moment in my life when I first saw it. There are lots of good recordings, but I have a special place in my heart for the Domingo/Milnes/Scotto rendition. Soul wrenching....
My favorite opera is the one with Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. I don't know the title (The Hare of Seville?), but one of the memorable parts goes "Kill da wabbit, kill da wabbit".
Of course, I have viewed "A Night at the Opera" with the immortal Marx Brothers many times.
I was just going to post an update. The answer is very much yes. I received a CD of favorite arias by a very nice gentleman of this forum. We listened to it in the car on our way to dinner last night. My son was clapping at the end of every aria and calls it his "special music". I can't tell you how nice it was to listen to that instead of Veggie Tales or Seasame Street for the 43,639th time.
I haven't seen him completely fixated on it like that one night in the restaurant, but I believe that had something to do with the lady singing to him only a few feet away. It's always better live.