Throughout this series, countless operas have been given the title of an "opera that changed my life." An art form such as opera, that is so diverse in terms of artistic output, is going to appeal to people in different ways. Here is the next instalment in our blog series that explores the moments when normal people became opera lovers.

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Boris Krivy

I am 81 years old. I hated opera until the time that I was 17 or 18 years old. To me, it was just loud noise and screaming. Then, my best buddy lent me his recording of Turandot and said, “Try it, you'll like it.”  I did, and it is still my favourite opera. But, more than that, it introduced me to a new and magnificent world of music. However, I still do not care much for Wagner, with one or two exceptions.

 

Above: a recording of Franco Corelli singing "Non piangere, Liu" from Puccini's Tosca.

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Horst Widl 

Something lasting I took away from [Die] Meistersinger [von Nürnberg]: embedded in enchanting music, that without respect for the wisdom of the old, it is very hard to create something new.

Above: a recording of the overture to Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg by the Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Sir Georg Solti.

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Banner image: A scene from ​Turandot ​(COC, 2004), photo by Michael Cooper.