Memories...

I recently got into a debate with an online friend about the merits of a no longer active tenor. My friend off-handedly remarked that his career was indefensible and couldn't understand why he was ubiquitous on opera stages for so many years.

I, on the other hand, remember seeing some performances during my early opera-going days by this tenor that were quite remarkable. I resolutely maintain that the promise of those early hearings justified his prominence, even if that promise quickly faded.

The problem is that for my argument I was relying on the memory of performances that I heard nearly 30 years ago, while I was in my teens. Doubts began to cross my mind. Was my taste developed enough at that point to adequately evaluate? Were the performances that I recall so vividly really that good, or perhaps the passing of time has improved them in my mind?

Well with great trepidation (lest my teenage memories be exploded) I obtained a pirate recording of one of those performances. And I'm happy to say that the performance was as fabulous as I remembered. The tenor was in spectacular voice: a true heroic sound, with ringing high notes, and superior musicality (for a tenor).

Whew! So I'm not crazy.