I Needed A Short Break Today So I Listened to German Opera
The voices of the sopranos coupled with the beautiful language helped relax me
Deborah and Jessye, the fat ladies sing
I spent about the last half hour or so just listening to the soothing, piercing, beautiful soprano voices in German opera. I started with Deborah Voigt and the late, great Jessye Norman. I absolutely love the big voices of those beautiful soprano voices. I prefer Jessye’s voice to Deborah's as I find it more layered, powerful, and intricate.
They were both very talented classically trained singers. The stretch of songs I listened to started with a joke. I was thinking of one of my favorite opera singers of all time in a comment response to a fellow editor friend of mine, Adrienne Beaumont. She had just mentioned that the series against the 76ers had looked very bleak for them but the series wouldn’t be “over until the fat lady sings.” I don’t know if she’d seen the comment yet but the link was just the start of a very relaxing and entertaining break from writing.
Letting my German opera playlist ride and inspire me
I have been studying German since 2018, about a few months after I couldn’t work anymore so when I was listening to her words, I was also exploring the meaning behind the words and listening to the beautiful melodies and instruments accompanying each subsequent voice in my playlist. By the time I got to the end of my playlist, I found a new spark of inspiration to write even more.
I don’t know if the English language or a different language’s opera music would’ve accomplished the same thing. I just got in the mood for German opera at that particular moment. Any other language might’ve distracted me much longer.
Love for opera and beautiful voices throughout my life
I still find myself at times listening to and belting along with Luciano Pavarotti singing “Nessun Dorma”. It’s been years since I’ve successfully belted the famous note near the end but I can still keep up with him most of the song, even with the amount of power needed to get through that song.
When it comes to the female soprano singers, I don’t need to sing along, I can enjoy the high pitches and the depth of power and color in their voices. I used to prefer listening to female voices in music as a child but now that has balanced out as I’ve gotten older, but I digress.
The special effect of German opera and a special, untranslated German message
The question I have to ask myself is, did it have to be German at this particular moment to inspire my creative flow? Probably.
Ich höre sehr gerne deutsche Opernmusik. Sie macht meine Gedanken frei und gibt mir die Möglichkeit, Gefühle in einer Sprache zu empfinden, die ich fließend beherrschen möchte.
Did I have to be still and silent for a little to regain my focus? Definitely. Opera seems to calm me more than any other type of music and there is so much beautiful opera music, especially in German, to entertain, relax, and make me think.
This story was about a specific genre, so I decided against sharing it in Christopher Robin’s Suite 1984 publication, Songstories. If you have a specific song that resonates with you and you want to write a story about it or you’re a huge music fan, you should check it out. I’m also proud to be an editor there and at two other Suite 1984 publications. Check out the “suite” of publications that we have to offer. Special thanks to KiKi Walter and Gaurav Jain for building something awesome.
