Everyone, I love high culture and I adore opera, my favorite kind of entertainment.  Although I can't sing, I hope I recognize fine singing when I hear it.  You decide.

Mascagni


Bach/Gounod


William Gomez

Always partial to Luciano Pavarotti and his versions.
That and his Pieta Signore.

Always partial to Luciano Pavarotti and his versions.
That and his Pieta Signore.

Pavarotti portrayed Pinkerton in one of my favorite recordings of Madama Butterfly and I enjoyed the way he sang "O Holy Night" in Latin.  But I'm afraid I can't say I've ever been a fan of his.

Is there a father who could resist such a daughter's plea?

 

That is a very worrisome admission, one that is echoed by many artists who describe being taken over when they perform.

I hadn't thought of it that way.  Now that you mention the worry, the change frightens me, especially  when I remember what Fr. Ripperger says about possession.  Here's the interview.  I don't know what religion she practiced before she became a Jєω for her husband.  I  admire her deeply.  So I'll add her conversion to the intentions for my daily Rosary.
 
On a lighter note, I'm glad I'm not the one who wants to jump into the Arno River to commit ѕυιcιdє. :)  That's because I fell in love with opera when I had a crush on Kiri.  Heartbreak of heartbreaks, although she's Catholic, she's 17 years older than me and divorced with children.  So my next unattainable sweetheart was Elina Garanca.But both women don't need to worry, since I vowed to be a lifelong virgin.  Luckily for them, puppy love always fades away.

It begs the question, that indeed there is possession, what did the artist do to warrant the takeover? Rock musicians and certain writers I would see diabolical influences far more clearly, but opera and such higher arts, I scratch my head.Maybe those heavenly Muses are not celestial after awith ightll.

As for opera, I am another soul who doth enjoy it. I have the most highly recommended version of Parsifal that I need to get around to viewing. I find one has to be in the correct frame of mind though before sitting down and undertaking a Wagner work.

Her forgetfulness still frightens me because it reminds me of dissociative disorder.  Fr. Ripperger described a college student who knew about Tarot cards because her grandmother introduced them to her.  The young women hadn't read them.  But after she offered to tell others what she learned from her grandmother, the granddaughter got possessed.  Maybe to invite possession, it's enough to show demons that demonic things interest us, even when we don't know they're demonic.  Miss Dessay may have a sanguine temperament, too, that makes her prone to demonic attacks.
I became a Wagner fan, surprisingly, when I watched this video.

I hope you listened to the videos with hi-fi speakers because I'm an audiophile who knows that my laptop speakers sound terrible.

Yes, headphones are the necessity which make a huge difference.

The demonic does work in strange ways. I too have listened to all of Fr Rippenbergers talks on the subject and others. Not obsessed though as that is also dangerous.

Feel like watching Rabbit of Seville and What’s Opera Doc

I hope and pray I'll never obsess about the demonic.  Sadly, after my honorary little brother Jake died, I almost hired a medium because I wanted to know that Jake understood that I longed to save his life before he died in 2007.  Now I'm glad I didn't hire the  medium.  Sometimes I still wish my buddy's soul would visit me.  But I don't  dare ask him to do that because a demon may pretend to  be him.
But Our Lord may have done something wonderful for Jake and me,  I prayed, "Dearest Lord, if you want me to arrange a Gregorian Mass set for my little brother's soul, please tell the credit card company to mail me a check for the Mass stipend,"  It came the next day.
Rabbit of Seville?  That's high culture. :)
Here's Largo al factotum with three more arias.

by Polish contemporary composer Pawel Lukaszewski

Franz Biebl

The Russian church approximation. Rachmaninoff.

Ave Maria Stella, Grieg

That's fine choral singing.