Unconditional Love?

"Love Thy Neighbor." "Well, maybe, show me why I should!"

Love is a concept that is close to losing all meaning and coherence because of its misuse, and over-use, in popular culture. The reason is clear enough: common notions of "unconditional love"—unconditional self-love, unconditional love of others, unconditional love of our enemies—have led to an idea that cannot be intelligibly defined and employed in our languages. To put it simply, the concept of love can be meaningful "only in contrast to what cannot or should not be loved."

Click to read more ...

Discovering Frank Sinatra

When I first heard Sinatra's voice as a teenager, I was unimpressed. To be honest, I thought his singing was boring. He was not, like my idol, pop/operatic tenor Mario Lanza (1921-1959), a high-note singer. (His single “Be My Love” sold more than two million copies, unprecedented for a classical singer). As a teenager, with a healthy dose of testosterone running through my veins, high notes are what turned me on. It’s for this reason that Sinatra’s voice seemed unemotional to me—especially in comparison to the pathos that one finds in operatic singing.

Click to read more ...

The Beauty That Surrounds Us

The presence of what is beautiful is the most profound of all experiences because of its mystifying ability to transform how we see the world—it becomes brighter, warmer, and more joyful—happier. The beautified world has a natural necessity to it: everything is in its proper place, everything feels just right, everything tickles my fancy—this smile and gesture, that tuft of hair flowing in the breeze, those bodies lost in passionate embrace—all are present to delight and please me.

Click to read more ...

The Thrill Of Life

Why do we lose that cheerful twinkle in our eyes and easy smile as we age, as well as forfeit our keen mental agility and creative muscle? Are these diminishing qualities nothing more than the unavoidable consequences of our atrophying instincts and our bodies and minds slowly becoming depleted of life's vital energies? The answer is that advancing age often diminishes what in youth there was in abundance.

Click to read more ...

The Castrati And Intuitive Genius

Most, if not all, of the great voice teachers of the day were retired castrati. Their remarkable success is interesting in light of the fact that they were able to produce artists of exceptional quality without the benefit of an accurate, scientific understanding of physiology or voice mechanics. This curious point clearly suggests that their expertise was based on experiential knowledge and pure intuition. The brilliant accomplishments of these singing masters consist largely in marrying experience and tradition in such a fruitful way so as to create correct formulas for vocal development.

Click to read more ...