137 -- Opera in the Afternoon

Today Christ Episcopal Church  in Temple presents the 5th  Sunday afternoon "Music to Help Others" which they do periodically.  Today the program features the Hogans, a married couple, on the  UMHB opera music faculty, presenting arias from various operas.  Having really no ear for,  nor appreciation of opera, I have never attended anything with the word "opera" in it.  This program will benefit Churches Touching Lives for Christ, an ecumenical organization to help homeless, elderly, disabled, and those marginally employed or unemployed--mostly with food at their food pantry but also with providing Bibles, toiletries and clothing to newly released prisoners undergoing substance-abuse counseling.  Considering how much my children in CASA are touched by these various problems in society, I decided I should support this effort--and try to polish up my appreciation for opera at the same time.  Who knows, this may be just what gets me hooked on it!

Post-program addendum:
What a great musical performance Penny and George Hogan presented for a solid hour.  It was not just opera.  The first part was old songs of the faith done in very classical renditions with their beautiful soprano and bass voices.  Some were duets and some were solos--several were old spirituals which were just beautiful.  The second half started with two operatic pieces in Italian which of course I couldn't understand at all.  What I did discover about opera, is that is is really visual art as much as a vocal art, because without knowing the words, you get an idea of the lyrics by the facial expressions and movements of the singer.  The control of their voices were amazing to listen to.  After those two forays into opera, they then turned to tunes from some of the famous musicals such as South Pacific and others.  Every song was beautiful, and gave me a new appreciation for the classically trained voice!  So glad I went.

I wanted to share pictures of the venue--this is one of the prettiest churches in our area I think.