A Friendly Musical Visit Every Day

 I heard this piece on the radio the other night and it absolutely captured me. I'd never heard it before and I didn't know what it was. Then the radio host came on and referred to the piece in English as "I Want to Die" and I laughed on the inside. No wonder I like it so much. I think a lot of people with chronic illness (and chronic depression) probably get the drift. Pain is hard. If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for adults only!) or check them out from your local library.  Supporting my  AudioErotica  endeavour on  Patreon  would also help me hugely. I'm also an  Amazon Influencer,  so hopefully I can make a little pocket change when you buy stuff by clicking through  my affiliate links . I also recommend subscribing to my newsletter. I generally e-mail subscribers with a weekly update, and I would LOVE to have you on the list.  ...

This is a rehearsal session from a fun production of The Barber of Seville that my partner and I saw together. It came to mind today because we drove past a barber shop called The Barber of Seville (better than the hair salon I used to walk by called Sweeny Todd's...) and about five seconds later we arrived at a lift bridge that was... ummm... lifted? There was a huge ship going through, so we had to wait for a while, but that was okay because it gave me an opportunity to sing this aria at my partner. You know how much he loves being sung at by me--I talk about it all the time. And, of course, there's very little of this aria I actually know, so I was basically just singing the "della citta" (sp?) part at the end over and over. It was great. While we're on the topic of the Canadian Opera Company, one year at Toronto Pride they were handing out rainbow buttons that said I Love COC. I think I still have mine. If you're wondering how you can support me in br...

I do still own this CD. I bought it when it first came out (in 1999? Wow...) and I remember being so proud of it. When I had my best friend over for dinner at my first apartment, I played this album and she was like, "Ugh, turn it off! I HATE baroque music!" heh It came to mind the other week when I was isolating my diseased self at my apartment and my partner was three hours away at his house. He wrote me an email one evening to tell me the classical radio station we listen to had just played Karina Gauvin singing Where'er You Walk, and it brought him to tears. We've listened to Where'er You Walk here on more than one occasion, because it's a song that holds meaning for my partner. You can read why in this previous post: https://friendlymusicvisitor.blogspot.com/2020/05/songoftheday-whereer-you-walk-from.html If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for a...

As I mentioned yesterday, the most strenuous thing I've been able to do lately is watch cozy mysteries (or just listen to them, if my eyes were hurting too much).  For a while, now, I've been trying to figure out which Midsomer Murders episode taught me the very important lesson that detectives on mystery shows aren't allowed to make friends. All I could remember about the episode was that Barnaby (the original Barnaby) goes to some seaside town and befriends a guy who sells fish.  It took me quite some time, but I finally tracked down the episode: it was Season 9, Episode 4. Down Among the Dead Men .  At the start of the episode, Jones questions the murder victim's taste in music and holds up a couple CDs, one of which is Mario Lanza.  Barnaby replies, "Mario Lanza is very good." That made me laugh, because the classical music station my partner and I listen to often plays Mario Lanza and we both groan, then chuckle. My partner's late parents loved Mario ...

I was taking out the recycling at my apartment the other night. I take the stairs whenever I'm able to, which leads me through the first floor of my building and past a bunch of different suites.  The one in the corner was blaring Amazing Grace. Not this version. I've never been fond of this tune (for trauma-related reasons--I won't get into it), but hearing it played as loudly as it was being played made me very, very glad that my apartment doesn't touch that person's apartment. One my way back up, after dumping my recycling, the volume from that unit was equally loud, but this time it wasn't Amazing Grace. This time it was a life insurance commercial. And this time it made me very glad I don't live in an old age home (yet...) because loud TV sort of goes with the territory, there. If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for adults only!) or check them ou...

I was perusing my partner's bookshelf last night when he asked me what I was looking for. "A book," I said. I wasn't looking for any book in particular, just something to read. Most of his collection is literary fiction, but I wasn't in the market for anything too heavy. He said, "What about Lorna Doone?" Lorna Doone is a book he mentions often. He and his brother loved it when they were children, so I thought it might be a suitable palate cleanser. I said sure, now was the perfect time to read it. He handed me the book. It was 600 pages. The font size was probably... I don't know... 4? Even with my reading glasses, I'm not sure I could make out what it said. And 600 pages is a lot of pages! I'm a slow reader. I was like, "You and your brother read this book when you were children?" "Well," he admitted, "we read the abridged edition." Find me an abridged edition and maybe I'll read that. In the mea...

 Before I had to put this blog on hiatus, I had been featuring trans opera singers. We're back with non-binary super-soprano Teiya Kasahara 笠原 貞野 and a balcony performance. Make sure to stay until the end--there's a cat at the end. Both my elderly cats died during the pandemic. My partner is very allergic, so adopting another one would be kind of a big "fuck you" in his face. I just gotta say... I miss cats. This is the first time in 20 years that I haven't had cats, and it's an adjustment.  I want cats. If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for adults only!) or check them out from your local library.  Supporting my  AudioErotica  endeavour on  Patreon  would also help me hugely. I'm also an  Amazon Influencer,  so hopefully I can make a little pocket change when you buy stuff by clicking through  my affiliate links . I also recommend...

Baritone Lucia Lucas probably has the best opera singer name in the world. When she took on the role of Don Giovanni at the Tulsa Opera, she was the first trans singer to do so--rather, she was the first trans singer to perform any leading role in the United States.  Today we're listening to her sing an aria from Verdi's Macbeth, an opera about which I know absolutely nothing. I didn't even know it existed until right now.  I'm going out on a limb, here, but I'm guessing it's based on that Shakespeare play? The one called Macbeth? If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and visits every day, the easiest thing you can do is tell your friends about the site. Tell anyone you know--particularly people who are isolated and enjoy music. Readers of adult fiction can also buy my books or check them out from your local library. Supporting my  AudioErotica  endeavour on  Patreon  would also help me hugely! I'm also an  Amazon Influence...

This week we're listening to trans opera singers here on the music blog. Adrian Angelico is up today. He's a Norwegian mezzo and one of the few men specializing in trouser roles. Also, he's sexy af--I am MELTING: https://www.adrianangelico.com/gallery If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and visits every day, the easiest thing you can do is tell your friends about the site. Tell anyone you know--particularly people who are isolated and enjoy music. Readers of adult fiction can also buy my books or check them out from your local library. Supporting my  AudioErotica  endeavour on  Patreon  would also help me hugely! I'm also an  Amazon Influencer,  so hopefully I can make a little pocket change when you buy stuff by clicking through  my affiliate links . But you don't HAVE to do any of that. I'm very happy to get a daily visit from you, so just keep coming back. Oh, and I also recommend hitting the "Subscribe" button a...

I'm researching trans opera singers this week, and I came across Breanna Sinclairé in my studies. There's an extensive introduction in the video, so I'll let you listen. If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and visits every day, the easiest thing you can do is tell your friends about the site. Tell anyone you know--particularly people who are isolated and enjoy music. Readers of adult fiction can also buy my books or check them out from your local library. Supporting my  AudioErotica  endeavour on  Patreon  would also help me hugely! I'm also an  Amazon Influencer,  so hopefully I can make a little pocket change when you buy stuff by clicking through  my affiliate links . But you don't HAVE to do any of that. I'm very happy to get a daily visit from you, so just keep coming back. Oh, and I also recommend hitting the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page so you won't miss a song! See you tomorrow! Giselle

I ask google a lot of questions. Just now, I realized I couldn't think of any trans opera singers. So I asked google, "Are there any trans opera singers?" I mean, I figured there must be. I'd just never heard them sing. Well, I can't say that anymore! And neither can you! Today we're listening to Holden Madagame, who trained as a mezzo and sings tenor roles now. The aria we're hearing is from Good Country, which Holden's website describes as "a newly composed opera about the life of transgender stagecoach driver Charley Parkhurst," composed by Keith Allegretti, libretto by Cecelia Raker Ehrenfeld. If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and visits every day, the easiest thing you can do is tell your friends about the site. Tell anyone you know--particularly people who are isolated and enjoy music. Readers of adult fiction can also buy my books or check them out from your local library. Supporting my  Audi...

"The first kiss of April is mine."  If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and visits every day, the easiest thing you can do is tell your friends about the site. Tell anyone you know--particularly people who are isolated and enjoy music. Readers of adult fiction can also buy my books or check them out from your local library. Supporting my  AudioErotica  endeavour on  Patreon  would also help me hugely! I'm also an  Amazon Influencer,  so hopefully I can make a little pocket change when you buy stuff by clicking through  my affiliate links . But you don't HAVE to do any of that. I'm very happy to get a daily visit from you, so just keep coming back. Oh, and I also recommend hitting the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page so you won't miss a song! See you tomorrow! Giselle

 Fellow Aquarius Leontyne Price had a birthday last week, turning 94 years old! Rusalka is one of the operas my partner and I were lucky enough to catch before the Canadian Opera Company had to end its 2019/2020 season prematurely due to covid.  It was a stunning production. Going to the opera feels like another lifetime. Strangely, because I'm a naturally anxious person, I'm not aching to go back to attending public events.  Covid has made me extremely cautious, even projecting forward into the future.   The future isn't even here yet and already I'm afraid of it.  If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and visits every day, the easiest thing you can do is tell your friends about the site. Tell anyone you know--particularly people who are isolated and enjoy music. Readers of adult fiction can also buy my books or check them out from your local library. Supporting my  AudioErotica  endeavour on  Patreon  would also h...

YouTube seems to have decided I want to watch giant tap-dancing noses. And you know what? YouTube is right. It put this video in front of my face, and I clicked on it. If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and visits every day, the easiest thing you can do is tell your friends about the site. Tell anyone you know--particularly people who are isolated and enjoy music. Readers of adult fiction can also buy my books or check them out from your local library. Supporting my  AudioErotica  endeavour on  Patreon  would also help me hugely! I'm also an  Amazon Influencer,  so hopefully I can make a little pocket change when you buy stuff by clicking through  my affiliate links . But you don't HAVE to do any of that. I'm very happy to get a daily visit from you, so just keep coming back. Oh, and I also recommend hitting the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page so you won't miss a song! See you tomorrow! Giselle

I'm glad I waited a day before writing this post, because yesterday I was going to write, "Wow, Camilla Williams was over a hundred years old when she died!" I woke up in the middle of the night thinking, "Wait... no she wasn't..."  My math was just a wee bit off.  She lived from 1919 until 2012. That's not 100 years. But it is a long time, and imagine the changes she would have seen in her lifetime. Soprano Camilla Williams was the first African American to score a regular contract with the New York City Opera and the first African American to sing a major role with the Vienna State Opera. She also sang the American national anthem prior to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. Today we're listening to her glorious rendition of Ritorna Vincitor from Verdi's Aida. I had bought tickets to a production of Aida for myself and my partner, this year. We were supposed to go in May. Obviously, that didn't happe...

You're not imagining things. We have listened to this aria previously. Don't worry--I have a good reason for the repeat. A while back, I posted a video of Kathleen Battle singing Where'er You Walk. She does a gorgeous job of it, but unfortunately the video I put up has since been taken down from YouTube. The reason I'd posted it in the first place is that my partner's father, who was a vocalist, used to sing this to his (my partner's) mother all the time. My partner adores his late parents. He had a great childhood, and he holds his mother and father in very high regard. Mother's Day was hard for him.  We were sitting at the table after dinner, and he started crying, telling me that just last week we'd done something and he'd thought, "I can't wait to tell Mom!"  And then he remembered that his mother died more than a decade ago. She's still the person he wants to turn to and, since he doesn't believe in an afterlife, he...

I have been waiting almost a year to bring you this song. It always reminds me of the 90s sitcom Third Rock from the Sun, because there's an episode where one character's madrigal group sings it. Took me forever to choose which video to bring you. Not that I mind listening to this tune over and over. It is, hands-down, my favourite madrigal. Every time I hear it, I get a little pep in my step. Ultimately, I chose this vintage King's Singers performance because of the outfits. And that one guy's moustache. Happy May Day! If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and visits every day, the easiest thing you can do is tell your friends about the site. Tell anyone you know--particularly people who are isolated and enjoy music. Readers of adult fiction can also buy my books or check them out from your local library. Supporting my  AudioErotica  endeavour on  Patreon  would also help me hugely! I'm also an  Amazon Influencer, ...

This Valentine's Day, my partner prepared a lovely steak for me. Over dinner, we managed to depress the hell out of each other.  All my fault. I made the mistake of saying, "Let's talking about love." After about three minutes of bewildered silence, I said something along the lines of, "I'm not so sure love really exists. I think most of what we consider to be love is just childhood stuff playing out. It's issues or needs or codependency or I-don't-know-what." My partner asked, "If love doesn't exist, then what's the point in all this?" I said, "I don't know." This version of Ave Maria, sung by Jessye Norman, came on the radio at that very moment and we both burst into tears. I do believe in love, but I suspect romantic relationships are its basest expression. Because I believe that love is kindness, and we are often most unkind to those we are supposed to love best. If you're wondering how you c...

My brother led me through the forest, from my mother's house to the hospital. After she was released prematurely, we'd rushed my mom to the emergency room. Horrible experience. It's hard enough spending your days caring for a loved on in hospital, but waiting in ER while staff fucks up everything that can possibly be fucked up is excruciating. Now I know why they post those "verbal aggression will not be tolerated" signs all over the place. The care my mother received was beyond careless, and what could we do? Wait, frustrated, only to find out someone else had screwed up something else. The next morning, after my mother had been readmitted, my brother offered to show me a shortcut from my mom's house to the hospital. This shortcut involved walking up a steep hill in the woods... in  the snow. I learned that I am too old and too out of shape for such undertakings. As we ducked through brambles, I could think of nothing else but Hansel and Gretel. Despite...

The thing about buying opera tickets in August is that you can't possibly anticipate that your mother will be undergoing surgery in February. Well, not when it's a cancer-related surgery, because those are the ones the medical professionals get on pretty fast. I had heaps of guilt leaving the hospital three days after my mom had surgery--especially to see an opera. But my mother encouraged me to go and enjoy the evening with my partner. She wanted to hear all about it, after the fact.  One year, we bought an opera subscription together, so hearing about the opera seemed nostalgic for her. The Barber of Seville was very colourful and entertaining--exactly what I needed at the end of a stressful week at the hospital. I'm glad we went. My mother has been released from hospital, by the way. She is strong and she's trying to do stuff she's not supposed to do, so it's a challenge to get her to lie down and recuperate, but my siblings and I are doing our best to ...