"I adore art...when I am alone with my notes, my heart pounds and the tears stream from my eyes, and my emotion and my joys are too much to bear." -Giuseppe Verdi
I love opera--the beauty, the emotion, the blending of words and music, the set and costumes. I wish it didn't seem so unapproachable, or stuffy, or whatever it is that people think about opera. Get to know it a little bit and you'll find stories and beautiful melodies--how can you go wrong with that? True, there's often a lot of death, and realism is not always high priority. You can end up with a diva singing an amazingly beautiful and difficult aria while she is supposedly drawing her last tuberculosis-wracked breaths. But honestly, how many times have you found yourself watching an action movie and wishing everybody would just die so the car chase/fight with the alien/gun battle would end? (Or maybe that's just me.) Opera is definitely its own thing. But it's worth looking into and introducing your children to (just preview the stories, because they're not all rated "G"). Here are a few books to get you started:
Aïda told by Leontyne Price, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon
The Barefoot Book of Opera Storiesby Sharukh Husain, illustrated by James Mayhew
Bravo! Brava! A Night at the Opera: Behind the Scenes with Composers, Cast and Crew
by Anne Siberell, introduction by Frederica von Stade
Brundibar retold by Tony Kushner after the opera by Hans Krása and Adolf Hoffmeister, pictures by Maurice Sendak
The Dog Who Sang at the Opera by Jim West & Marshall Izen, illustrated by Erika Oller
The Great Poochini by Gary Clement
The Magic Flute adapted by Anne Gatti, illustrated by Peter Malone
Opera Cat by Tess Weaver, illustrated by Andrea Wesson
Encore, Opera Cat! by Tess Weaver, illustrated by Andrea Wesson
The Random House Book of Opera Stories retold by Adèle Geras
Sing Me a Story: The Metropolitan Opera’s Book of Opera Stories for Children by Jane Rosenberg, introduction by Luciano Pavarotti
A Soup Opera by Jim Gill, illustrated by David Moose
When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson, The Voice of a Century by Pam Munoz Ryan, illustrated by Brian
