Hitting the high notes

Like a lot of people, I caught the opera bug relatively late.

And I have my son’s Academic Decathlon team at Monroe High School to thank for that.

One year, their Super Quiz subject was opera, and I was treated to strains of great works like “Carmen,” “Aida” and  “La Traviata”  coming from David’s room each night as he listened to audiotapes in preparation.

And, to my surprise, I liked what I heard—a lot.

Fast forward a few years. I was in Salzburg on a mission to try to secure a major donation for our county’s Music Center. Though jet-lagged, Barbara and I went to hear Plácido Domingo perform in “Parsifal,” a Wagner opera that goes on at Wagnerian length—easily 5½ to 6 hours.

Afterwards, we had a chance to go backstage and meet Domingo. Wagnerian operas are not among my favorites but I was thrilled at the prospect of meeting the most renowned tenor on the planet, and we had a memorable exchange.

“Oh, you don’t know what it’s like to stand up there and sing for 5½ hours,” he told us.

“You don’t know what it’s like to sit there and listen for 5½ hours!” Barbara retorted.

And that, to paraphrase the old line from “Casablanca,” marked the beginning of a beautiful collaboration. I’ve been fortunate to work with Domingo and James Conlon and other leaders as they’ve put opera on the map in Los Angeles. I even had a chance to interview Domingo at the Hollywood Bowl a couple of years back.

As L.A. Opera celebrates its 25^th birthday this month, its artistic successes coincide with what I like to think of as the golden age of arts in Los Angeles.

With remarkable new facilities ranging from Disney Hall to the Valley Performing Arts Center at Cal State Northridge to the Broad Stage in Santa Monica—to name just a few—we’re truly in the midst of a cultural explosion.

Local audiences and arts lovers are big winners in this boom, of course. But the benefits don’t stop there. The arts now employ more people than the defense industry in Southern California. Aside from those directly involved, arts institutions create new customers for surrounding businesses.

And cultural tourists from around the world flock here for performances at the county’s Music Center and other venues—enhancing our global arts reputation and serving as an important engine of our economy.

I’m grateful that our Board of Supervisors has long realized that investment in the arts, far from being a frivolous expenditure, is smart public policy—both from an economic and quality of life point of view.

That’s why, in an effort to make sure our top musicians reach the broadest possible audience, regardless of means or mobility, my office has underwritten L.A. Opera and L.A. Philharmonic broadcasts on KUSC 91.5 FM.

If you can make it to the opera’s 25^th birthday open house at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Saturday, November 5, I hope you will. You certainly can’t beat the price—free. And if you can’t make it, I hope you will tune in to KUSC’s live broadcast of “The Opera Show” from the lobby from 9 a.m. to noon.

Because, as my own experience shows, you never know where listening in on a little opera will take you.

Posted 10/27/11