I have a secret. Maybe not so much of a secret, because I think I included it in the 100 Things About Me post that's buried in the archives, but in case you don't remember, here it is -

I'm an opera snob. Sure, my iPod is loaded with alternative and indie rock, electronic and Brit Pop and Eighties stuff that makes my husband cringe... but underneath it all, the opera and Classical music still has my heart. Mozart and Beethoven, of course. And Chopin and Rachmaninoff. Yo Yo Ma makes me swoon.

It's my mother's fault. She planted the seed, with all the record albums she bought back when Columbia House was actually a record club. She was so careful to slice the cellophane wrapper open along the opening of the album sleeve, so she could slide the album out and listen to it before deciding whether or not to buy it. Her record collection was boundless and it fascinated me.

Berea College may not have been the place to go for a music degree, but the professors were passionate about what they did (most of them, at least). I heard an opera from start to finish for the first time, and I was in love. Carmen. The Marriage of Figaro. Turandot. It's true, when it comes to opera, you either love it or hate it.



The angels surely must be rejoicing, to have this incredible voice now in their choir.