Puccini

I was a weird kid. I wasn’t interested in music for a large part of my childhood. I didn’t dislike music; I just wasn’t particularly enamored by it either. Dad was a fan of Jazz. Mo-Ma listened to R&B and Soul. I listened to whatever they were listening to up until age 12, or so. At puberty I began a quest to learn more about myself and wanted to define myself. I liked what my parents like, fine enough, but I didn’t have anything that I really was into. That was when I discovered 91.5 FM WXXI. I was just searching through the radio for something to listen to when I heard these strings. I didn’t know what it was but I liked it. I liked it a lot. My first musical love became classical and opera. I never really learned who did what but I would still just listen.

When I was 14, I received one of those music club solicitations. You know the ones. They offer you X number of free albums if you agree to buy 1 at the regular price. I decided to go for it. I got music from a variety of genres (by then my pallet was more developed). One I got stood out the most to me. Puccini in Love was the name of my first opera album. It was a compellation of love songs from his operas. I loved this album. I was probably the only Black kid in my school bumping “Sì. Mi chiamano Mimì” in his walkman.

Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (yeah, that whole thing is his name) composed some of the most well known operas of our time. You may have never listened to a single opera before, but you’ve likely heard of Madame Butterfly. Most of Puccini’s catalog reads like a laymen’s list of operas they’re aware of. La bohème, Turandot, these are universally known operas. These are pop culture references. That’s reflective of genius. Genius is often inescapable and undeniable. You should be listening to Puccini.