Puccini and Wagner defeat ABBA and Yacht Rock

As 2022 comes to an end, Spotify informed me that I was in the top 0.5 percent of ABBA listeners for the year. I wasn’t surprised. ABBA is musical gold and I was all about “Angel Eyes” before it became a thing on TikTok. I also spent a lot of time listening to Yacht Rock in 2022. Neil Diamond got a fair share as well.

I spent a lot of time driving and don’t find classical music to be car friendly. The recording levels are generally lower and the vast range of dynamics makes it difficult to hear one moment and devastatingly loud the next. I also spent a lot of time working with others and in a situation where we can have music and classical isn’t at the top of my co-worker’s list.

However, this week, my 2022 listening habits came home to roost. I had an uncharacteristic feeling of heaviness and general disappointment yet my circumstances were unchanged. Nothing drastic happened in a positive or negative way.

I found myself listening to one of my operatic stand-bys, Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini. As is always the case with this opera, I was astonished by the consistent revelation of melodic beauty in Puccini’s composing. I found myself getting goosebumps during Butterfly’s entrance music in the first act, along with certain choice moments in the second and third acts. It occurred to me that I need opera more than it needs me.

That appears to be an obvious observation but I will admit, at times, I feel as though I’m doing opera a favor by being a fan. Yet here I was having my mood revitalized by one of the war horses of the operatic repertoire.

I went on to listen to two more of my operatic mood enhancers—Tannhäuser and Lohengrin both of which are composed by Richard Wagner. It became clear that I had been neglecting my primary musical relationship, opera.

Lo and behold, my feeling of general disappointment evaporated in the mists of Lohengrin’s “Grail Music.” My heaviness lightened during the singing contest in the second act of Tannhäuser.

I’m sorry to break the news to you ABBA but the winner takes it all and the winner is opera when it comes to my emotional equilibrium. With that being said, I have specific performances of these operas that work. I’ve seen plenty of opera performances that encourage me to consider the abyss of Yacht Rock.

The only version of Madama Butterfly that I listen to is the 1974 studio recording with Mirella Freni and Luciano Pavarotti. I have two versions of Lohengrin both with Placido Domingo in the title role. I find his 1990 live performance from the Vienna State Opera, with Cheryl Studer, to be undeniable. For Tannhäuser I also have two. The first is a studio recording with Domingo and Jesse Norman under the baton of Sir Georg Solti. My top Tannhäuser is a live version from the 1978 Bayreuth Festival with the obscure Spas Wenkoff in the title role and dame Gwenyth Jones singing the roles of both Venus and Elisabeth.