Jones brings opera to new generation
Kym Jones loves opera. She loves it so much, in fact, she has devoted a great deal of her time over the last nine years to producing and hosting WCPI Public Radio?s local program ?Opera Showcase,? which is broadcast from 4-7 p.m. each Saturday, with an encore presentation from 4-7 a.m. on Sunday.
Jones? infatuation with opera actually grew out of her love of classical music, which led her to view her first opera, Boito?s ?Mefistofele,? after which she became totally enamored. Over the years Jones has become an enthusiastic proselytizer of the art, introducing it to a new generation of listeners with her informative and meticulously researched radio program.
?I have always been a fan of classical music,? Jones said, ?but never gave much thought to opera. Then sometime in the 80s I was looking for something to watch on a lazy Sunday afternoon and I came across the Lyric Opera of Chicago broadcast of Boito?s ?Mefistofele.? And I thought, well, I?ll listen to the overture, because the usually the overtures are really good, but I sat and listened and I became hooked.
?So when the singers came on the stage there were subtitles,? Jones continued, ?telling me what they were singing, and pretty soon I was in the middle of this and couldn?t leave. That?s the one that hooked me from then on.?
Jones sought out a recording of Boito?s work, which is based on Goethe?s Faust, and also began looking for recordings featuring bass-baritone singer Samuel Ramey, who sang the title role in ?Mefistofele.?
?I really enjoyed his performance,? Jones said, ?and it just went from there.?
Though opera is very much a visual, as well as musical, medium, Jones says you can get a good idea of what?s going on with a well produced audio presentation.
?If you have a good recording that includes a good information booklet with it and has the translation in English where you can follow along, it?s a lot like sitting down and reading a good book, except it?s got a soundtrack with it.?
Most of the works popular today are still the classic operas written prior to the 21st century, and Jones says there is a reason for that.
?Operas are still being written,? Jones said. ?But not very many, simply because to stage a work is very costly. For instance, at the Metropolitan Opera you have a chorus member that makes $95,000 a year. Just a chorus member. So you can imagine the cost when soloists are negotiating their salaries per performance. The cost is enormous.?
Jones inaugurated ?Opera Showcase? almost a decade ago in order to offer an informative and entertaining program for local aficionados, but also with the hope of bringing the art form to the attention of a new generation of audiences.
Jones finds it unfortunate that opera has become the object of jibes and low-brow humor these days, particularly because it was the popular music of its day.
?It?s a lot of fun, great entertainment, great music, interesting stories and deep character development,? Jones said, noting the form runs the gamut from hilarious comedy to dismal tragedy.
For neophyte listeners Jones recommends ?The Barber of Seville? by Gioachino Rossini.
?Simply because a lot of people have the idea that opera is a bunch of fat ladies with horns on their heads singing about death and destruction. But there?s a lot of comedic operas, and this one seems to me to be the kind of opera that would reach the most people. They can identify with it, the farce, the silliness, it?s just good comedy.?
For those who are interested in learning more about Jones and ?Opera Showcase,? she will be appearing on WCPI?s Focus, hosted by Bill Zechman, this Tuesday, Feb. 6, from 6:03 to 6:30 p.m., and Wednesday, Feb. 7, from 6:03 a.m. to 6:30 a.m., with a final airing on Thursday, Feb. 8, from 1:03 to 1:30 p.m.