Imagine you've just received a letter from a company you've been dealing with for quite some time.
The letter is four pages long.
The company is offering you seven thousand dollars.
It's all legit.
In order to receive the seven grand, you have to follow the instructions in the letter (everything's perfectly legal).
In order to follow the instructions, you have to know exactly what they are.
On Page Two, it gets a bit complicated.
You're trying to concentrate.
The phone rings.
You answer.
It's your aunt.
You spend a few minutes talking to her.
You get back to the letter and realize you have lost the thread, and now you have to start from the beginning.
You do so.
Your girlfriend comes in and asks you a question.
You answer it.
She wants you to clarify the answer.
You do.
Five minutes later, you get back to the letter.
You've lost your thread again.
You go back to the beginning and start again.
Your mom calls.
You pick up the phone.
And so on.
Eventually, you realize you have to switch off the phone, close the windows, give your girlfriend some money to go shopping, lock the door, turn off the TV, and dedicate twenty minutes to reading the letter.
Finally, you get it! And that's how you listen to opera - if you expect to enjoy, understand, and appreciate ANYTHING about it.
Unlike any other kind of music, opera requires or undivided, uninterrupted attention.
If you miss a note, you might as well start from the beginning.
Opera highlights (very popular today) won't do much for you.
Folks listen to highlights the way they listen to popular songs - pleasant background noise.
Highlights usually include individual arias, duets, scenes - out of context.
Opera is dramatic action set to music.
Opera melodies differ from all other melodies in that they actually DEPICT - the action, feelings, thoughts, drama, scene; pretty much everything.
However lame this may sound, listening to opera is like watching a movie with your ears.
Stay tuned.