Opera

This morning, NPR had a story about an opera commissioned to celebrate five paintings by Edward Hopper. Great idea; certainly his art is well deserving. The problem is the genre. Opera, especially contemporary American opera, in my opinion, is one of the least beautiful, in fact I would even use the term ugly, uses of the human voice imaginable. Listen to the clips from the radio piece and tell me you don't agree. I like classical music a lot. I especially like to hear contemporary classical music becuase it's interesting and often explores new musical territory. But putting that dissonant caterwauling over the top of it makes it unlistenable. Yes, this is art. And art doesn't have to be about beauty. But for me, music has to be at least somewhat about beauty, or I simply don't have time for it.