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Bel Canto means literally, beautiful singing.
Here is an excerpt from the opening of Ann Patchett´s novel, Bel Canto: When the lights went off the accompanist kissed her. Maybe he had been turning towards her just before it was completely dark, maybe he was lifting his hands. There must have been some movement, a gesture, because every person in the living room would later remember a kiss....Would he have kissed her like that had the room been lit? Was his mind so full of her that in the very instant of darkness he reached for her, did he think so quickly? Or was it that they wanted her too, all of the men and women in the room, and so they imagined it collectively. They were so taken by the beauty of her voice that they wanted to cover her mouth with their mouth, drink in. Maybe music could be transferred, devoured, owned. What would it mean to kiss the lips that had held such a sound? What a transfixing scene.
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Dear musicians, music lovers, writers and all the rest of you,
I have spent most of my life singing and teaching. Now I have discovered another passion, and have just finished writing my first novel, based on my experiences in the opera world. Two of my favorite novels which inspired me are The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather and Bel Cantoby Ann Patchett. Here's a quote for the day, from one of my mentors, George Trovillo (1913-2003): If singing is to reflect life, then it must, at all times, be alive. And it must flow, flow, flow. |
AuthorANNE MCMILLAN - Archives
December 2018
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