Opus (n. singular) – work
Opera (n. plural of opus) – works, theatrical performance set to music

The Opus of Opera is baaaad Latin.  What I mean to communicate in the title is the toil it takes to put an opera on, Labor Operum.   Opus means creative work.  So please excuse my Latin and let’s move on.

Some of you know that my brother is an opera singer, a tenor to be specific.   Guess what?  Next week, I get to be an opera singer for one night!  The Portland Opera is sending a team out to the hinterlands to  put on  an abridged version of Carmen by Bizet.  The local Children’s Choir, the Community Choir and the university Chamber Choir will sing the chorus parts of the final act.

We’ve been rehearsing, getting the music memorized, singing ourselves silly with the final, famous chorus. Altos are singing high Es and F#s at full-bore!  I’ve been looking for a sample of the dum DEE da dum dum tune we’re singing and this is the closest I could get.  Go to Disc 2, track 2, Les Voici La Quadrille.  Alas, we’re singing a perfectly wretched English translation.  I’ve always wanted a chance to use my high school French.

Next week we rehease with the Opera Company and learn to move and dance on stage while we sing.  There is safety in numbers, right? Yikes!  Oh, what great fun it will be for this middle-aged mama!