Thoughts on a High School Reunion
A month or so ago I received an email through Classmates.com asking if I would be interested in the 30th anniversary of my high school. I half-heartedly said that I might if I happened to be in Idaho at the time. I am planning on a trip to Idaho in August to see family and take some time off.
The next thing I know is that I was added to the list. Then, a couple of weeks later I received an invitation in the mail. It was an RSVP to the "Emmett Class of 1974" and is to be held on July 16th and 17th in Emmett, Idaho.
On July 16th at 7:00pm, on "Highway 16", they are having "Swing Scene". I have no idea what that is, but I was never much of a swinger. ;-)
On July 17th from 11:00am-4:00pm there will a picnic at "Wild Rose Park, below the dam". Now, that park had special significance to me. You see, I knew I was gay when I was six year old. So, I grew up knowing I was very different. Unlike so many kids today who can safely be open about themselves, I didn't feel that I had that option. Even today, looking back on that time in my life, I think I was right.
When I was in high school. one of the places that I went to get away from my reality was the Wild Rose Park. I don't believe it had that name then. I simply called it the "Dam Park" (or damn park, depending on how you wanted to look at it). No one else went there. Every time that I went, the only people there were those who took care of the dam.
I would park, and get situated on the lawn. I'd put my blanket out on the lawn, and the food, and would get my radio out. It was always a Saturday afternoon that I would do this. I would tune into "Live from the Met" and listen to the opera. As the opera was being performed, I was laid out on my blanket, reading, or just thinking about life, all the while I could hear the water far away from the spillway of the dam as I was listening to Maria Callas in Tosca. Keep in mind, I was listening to this live, so I was actually hearing opera legends such as Theresa Stratas, Maria Callas, Di Steffano, Jussi Björling, Renata Tebaldi, Christa Ludwig, Sherrill Milnes, Franco Corelli, and many others when they were in the prime of their careers.
So to me, the Dam Park was a way to escape and go somewhere else. That was all Emmett had to offer me. To go back to that same park and have a picnic with some of the people who made my life in high school a living hell seems to be somewhat repulsive to me.
On the second page is a list of around thirty people who are "missing". They are asking for help in locating them. Most of them were kids who were also outcasts like myself. Why do I get the idea that a class reunion is a reunion of the popular? Maybe I just don't get it. The people on the list were among the most unpopular people at the school. And as Kent and I were eating dinner, I was reading the list of names. As I read through the list, at least one unfortunate incident came to mind for every single name. I'm pretty certain that the people on this list would not want to be found. At any rate, I spent 45 minutes on the internet and found 16 of the 30, just for the sake of curiosity. I figure if they wanted to be found, they would make their location known more easily.
I haven't honestly decided if I will be going or not. If I do, I will be going back to Idaho a month later for a vacation. I think that might be a little too much Idaho for me in one decade. I should be fair though. People can change for the better and it's no secret to anyone that kids can be very cruel. In my mind at least, I would be confronting my demons by meeting with some of them.
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HI BILL OR 74 CLASS REUNION WAS A LOT OF FUN SEEN A LOT OF GOOD PEOPLE AND FRIEND WOULD OF LIKED TO SEEN YOU . HAVE A GOOD LIFE TAKE CARE AN OLD FRIEND DON
Wagner is a tough composer for me to listen to (I have the same problem with Mahler, whose outlook on life is a bit too close to suicidal for me). I always feel like I'm being screamed at by voices that have the subtlety (and size) of a barn. The music is wonderful in it's own rite, but you have to accept it for what it is, and not try to make it what it is not. Wagner is a bit overbearing to me, at least at this point in my life.
But then again, just ten years ago I would not have appreciated the subtleties and nuances in flavor of 25 year-old single malt scotch whiskey. So apparently, I'm changing.
Although... I have come to appreciate the art of Kirsten Flagstad. Odd, when I listen to her performing Wagner or Schubert lieder, it's very personal, as though she's singing to... just me.
I'm on the internet chat list opera-l. All you read is guys arguing over which voice is bigger or louder or more massively focused than somebody else's candidate for The Loudest. I agree with you--even in Wagner. The sopranos Wagner wrote for were not the Nordic Powerhouse voices we have come to believe should be the norm. They may be thrilling in their way but they can't negotiate the trills in Brunnhilde's music or play with the dynamics that are written into the scores. He was writing for Donna Anna and Cherubini Medee and Norma voices and he expected them to have techniques that were complete.
LOL I think you are right Will! :)
But as long as we're on the subject of opera...
I always loved the voice of Victoria de las Angeles. I always thought that her voice was greatly underrated. She sung like an angel (no pun intended).
I'm a bit disappointed overall in the direction opera has taken in the last 20 or so years. It seems that today all people want is pure power in the voice. If you listen to Puccini, Verdi, and at times earlier composers (even Mozart), you hear people doing certain roles they have no business performing. Puccini is heavy, I won't argue that. But it seems that it is more desireable to have huge voices doing Puccini and Verdi roles at the expense of everything else.
I can't tell you how many times I've heard Visi d'arte (Tosca), Nessun Dorma (Turandot), or Estrano (La Traviata) sung by big voices magnificently (in weight) only to be left... well, wanting more.
I'm willing to settle for a smaller voice where the musicianship is flawless and the phrases are perfect that will take my breath away and bring tears to my eyes.
I remember ten years ago or so we went to see Turandot at The Met. Teresa Stratus was performing Liu. I didn't think she was still singing at the time. I never heard such mastery in my life, as she sung Signore, ascolta. I remember at the end, the phrasing was so perfect and well placed that it occured to me afterward that I hadn't taken a breath in the longest time, and I suddenly found myself on my feet in disbelief, along with everyone else, wondering what the hell just happened. The ovation must of lasted 3 minutes. People wouldn't stop. I leaned over to Kent and said, "Well, at least I've lived long enough to hear that!"
Oh, Bill Victoria de los Angeles!! My favorite soprano of all time. The purity and beautiful color of that voice was just astounding. I heard her live only once but I think i have every album of Spanish Songs she ever put out and most of her complete opera sets.
Here is the tragedy: when he died, Bjorling was scheduled to record Lohengrin (it went to Jess Thomas), Don Jose in the de los Angeles Carmen (went to Gedda) and Dick Johnson in LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST with Callas and Gobbi (it got made but with a completely different cast). Earlier, he was to have been with de los Angeles on her MANON recording but dropped out for whatever reason. I think he probably had the most naturally beautiful tenor voice ever recorded, let alone the style and taste with which he used it.
Toto, I don't think we're in the high school reunion thread any more. :-)
Thanks Buck... actually Jussi Bjorling died in 1960 so I never heard him live. I added his name without thinking about the timeline.
I totally agree with you about him being the greatest tenor who ever lived (and yes, that includes Caruso). I love many of the tenors of the last 30 years, but when I hear Jussi, it absolutely sends chills down my spine. I can only describe his voice as "pure light". It's like sunshine.
I have a recording of Jussi and Victoria de las Angeles singing "Bimba dogli occhi pieni di malia" from Madame Butterfly. The passion and excitement in his voice as he's singing "Vieni! Vieni! Sei mia.". It's almost orgasmic.
I want to thank you all for your input on the reunion. I was leaning on not going, and you confirmed much of what I feel. Many of those who will attend live in Emmett and have all their lives. There's really not a lot of growth you can have there. I know things have physically changed, but from the wording in the invitation, I can tell that the small town mentality is very much the same.
Will, excellent idea about celebrating the evening with Kent. And, why should I have to ever face the people who made my life hell so many years ago?
As Alan said, I have resolved my issues with them - not forgotten them, and perhaps not forgiven them, but I have resolved them. I've moved on with my life, and things are great now.
The best revenge is to live a great life! :-)
As I've said, the best 'revenge' is living a 'good life'. ('Good' being defined as good friends, job, family, relationships, etc not necessarily having money or things.)
Don't know that I'd want to go to my reunion - I might break down one of these days -- 25 is coming up. Funny though - I was listed on the "we can't find" list and I've not lost one night's sleep over it. Still in same town, listed in same phone book, had this job at 2 yr college over 20 years, so I can't be _THAT_ hard to track down if you're really looking!?
As I've said, "I didn't really like many of them back then. Why would I want to hang around with them now?" (Admittedly a sad attitude and judgemental on my part that they've not "grown" some over 20+ years. But... hell in Jr high/High school takes years to resolve. Notice I didn't say "get over" or "forget" but "resolve".
I KNEW I liked you, Bill. Jussi Bjorling. Greatest tenor who ever lived.
This year is my 20th... so far I don't think anyone from my class has even considered a reunion. Thank God!
I would never, ever, consider going to my high school reunions. I, like you, grew up with the Saturday Met Opera broadcasts until I was able to go myself. It was an all-boys Catholic high school my parents insisted on that had no use for art or music. I knew I was "different" from other boys, although many of us were so repressed sexually that it would be years before I could put it all together and realize I was gay. My adolescence was absolute hell in that school, but I know now who my real community is. My thought: don't go. Have a great dinner out with Kent, celebrate your graduation with the one who values you and understands.
I waited thirty years to go to my first high school reunion. In retrospect, I think I should have missed it. There was more bad than good to recount. I've moved on. Most of my classmates have not. It was a bit depressing to see so many of my former classmates who had accomplished so little in life.