Without any expectation of understanding, I close my eyes and drift in the sounds of the music. For me, classical music is not only something I hear, it’s something I feel with my entire being. I have the benefit of being completely judgement free, ignorant of the stories behind the compositions. It’s amazing how much a piece can differ before and after the story.
Being an amateur definitely has its perks, and from Verdi’s Dies Irae or Bellini’s Casta Diva, any amateur’s hearing interprets sacrilegiously, completely ignoring the mathematics behind the composer’s passions. Be it Prokofiev, Mahler, Korsakov or Vengerov, the amateur has the freedom of possession over the piece playing. It is mine, for me, and I can immerse myself in, making it, for a limited time, the masterpiece of my life.
I feel there is no art quite as dramatic as the Opera. And an important dimension in itself, the opera singers. Although many manage to keep their personal lives discreet, there are a few rare occasions where the public manages to grip a look, making the artist’s life outshine their work on stage. Look at Callas’ performances as her love story with Onassis fluctuated… Many still believe they hear her heart breaking in many of the pieces she performed in her late career.
Having the world at our fingertips has allowed us to open ourselves. Globalisation has provided the gift of transcending social class, age groups, gender, sexual preferences. Even though the world is nowhere near perfect, I can humbly state that now days, little is impossible, be that a good or a bad thing. Where our body is, no longer has any importance, we can listen to almost everything ever written, with the help of an internet connection.
Art births art. We experience it in a sacrilegious, religious or mathematical manner. Its beauty lies in its complicated intrinsic dimensions, brought about by the web of instruments, singers and the roles they need embody.
Classical music has outlived any other genre because of its poignant variety of interpretation and incredible dedication of some talented human beings. I don’t think there is a greater talent than the opera singers transcending the language barriers through their sung interpretation…
To sum it up, classical music is something I listen firstly with the heart…and…that being said, I shut my eyes and allow Nessum Dorma to fill my senses and listen to it as if it was written for me.
