It just popped up again in the myriad of corridors, many-pillared halls and rooms in my brain. A room that had been closed suddenly opened as the door swung open wide if by magic, since there was no key visible. And there it was: Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s ‘How do I love thee.’
That door must have become unlocked during yesterday’s exchange with a.o. Rene Volpi about what we feel is one of the most beautiful and moving opera arias, Puccini’s ‘Nessun Dorma’ (no one sleeps) as sung by a younger Luciano Pavorotti…and an Italian tenor, Maurizio Marchini, who sang this from his balcony during a total lockdown in Italy. Check out the video if you like opera.
As soon as my mind starts wandering around those halls and corridors I know I need to let it go, slowly, step by step until it finds what it’s looking for.
This time it wasn’t me finding it, I was found.
I remembered that sonnet…
“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.”
I gently closed that door, keeping the words stored in their velvet box for another time. And time for me to get back to what I was doing before.
My cats are waiting for their dinner, and then I need to prepare my own.
Perhaps Pavarotti’s arias can accompany me while I’m cooking.
On website: KUSC.ORG 24 hours every day listen to classical. Mozart in morning and Friday night 9-10 opera moments. Saturday morning is opera performances from around world. Just an FYI to you to enjoy an aria or two. Carmen is one most beloved operas.
Thanks for this, Joyce. I have always been a Rocker. However, I appreciate great singing voices. My daughter studied voice for a while. I sat in on some of her lessons and gained an appreciation for singing as an art. Now, I can be moved by vocals regardless of genre. Nessun Dorma by Pavarotti is second to none.