And when I was in high school we went to the opera for a couple of years. I didn't get it. It was pretty, but I didn't understand what was going on.

Then, in 1990, for no particular reason except to expand a young person's mind, I took my baby sitter's teenaged son to see "Samson and Delilah".

They had Surtitles (TM) in English, and I GOT IT!!!

Surtitles totally changed my understanding of opera, and now I really dig it. I even took voice lessons for a couple of years, and learned to sing in foreign languages. I found out what my range is. I'm more or less a mezzo and lyric soprano.

I get unhappy at people who say they don't like opera, and I ask them if they've ever seen one and they say "No". I explain about special effects, and lighting, and surtitles and how spectacular they are now, and they just don't get it.

They think opera is Porky Pig in a Brunnhilde costume with horns, apparently.

My fave opera is "Don Giovanni". My favorite aria to sing is "Non so piu" from The Marriage of Figaro.

I would recommend Mozart or Puccini to anybody, although Puccini didn't write anything for mezzos. Grrr!!!

And yes, Nessun dorma is the Pavarotti National Anthem.