"At age 20, I fell head over heels in love with opera. It happened after seeing Joseph Losey's film adaptation of Don Giovanni. Something clicked in me. I became a fervent subscriber to the Australian Opera and saw every opera I possibly could. A few years later, I was travelling in France with my parents and discovered that Don Giovanni was being performed in Avignon while we were there, with Jose van Dam, who had played Leporello in the film, starring as Don Giovanni."
"That evening, as we were about to go and get some dinner, the concierge stopped me to let me know that his mother would love for me to have her ticket. Shocked, I gratefully accepted and tried to offer him money for the ticket. But he wouldn't hear of it. So my parents went off to the bistro and I headed to the opera. It was such a thrilling night. The seat was in absolute prime position there wasn't a better view in the house."
"I was so flabbergasted by the kind gesture of that woman, whom I never met. You could have knocked me over with a feather. I can only hope I've done something similarly kind for someone else in my life since then. I still remember that gesture to this day, at age 66, when I can no longer afford to go to live opera but continue to lovingly listen on vinyl. It's pure magic."
At age 20 I fell head over heels in love with opera after seeing Joseph Losey's film adaptation of Don Giovanni. I became a fervent subscriber to the Australian Opera and saw every opera I possibly could. A few years later, while travelling in France with my parents, I discovered Don Giovanni was being performed in Avignon with Jose van Dam starring. The hotel concierge initially said it was booked out, but later told me his mother wanted me to have her ticket. I gratefully accepted, refused to pay, enjoyed a prime-seat, and remember that kindness at age 66 while listening to opera on vinyl.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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